Photo cutline: The Worcester Roller Derby consists of the Triple Deck-Hers (teal jerseys) and Hurt of the Commonwealth (purple jerseys).

Suzanne Karioki
Photos by Shawn Blythe

Inside one of the city’s many warehouses is Worcester’s best kept secret.

Worcester Roller Derby (WoRD) is a group of 25 incredibly dedicated women who volunteer their time every week to support their skater-run and owned league, even paying monthly dues to keep their rented space. They are an intensely cheerful and welcoming group that’s more than eager to share their love of roller derby. Even in the cold of the warehouse, they don’t waste a second of their practice time.

Their enthusiasm is infectious.

The league began in 2011 in this same warehouse, until 2014 when many of the original members left. Out of that migration sprung the Bay State Brawlers in Lancaster, and WoRD. It took a long recruiting effort and two missed seasons before WoRD returned in 2016 with enough members to make two new teams.

But the hard part didn’t end there: “We lost every game in our first season,” laughed Wildish Jambino, one of WoRD’s inter-league liaisons. But it meant that they learned to lose, so that winning felt that much better. This group of women is made up of computer programmers, nurses, botanists and even women running for office; some of them might have played rugby or hockey before they joined, but most would never have considered themselves athletes before. Inspired by everything from live games to 2009’s woefully inaccurate movie, “Whip It”, these women put on a pair of skates and never looked back.

“There are very few places for grown women to be physically (this way),” Wildish explained, especially as the sport has changed from “antics to athleticism”.

Roller derby first emerged in the 1920s but rose to prominence during the 60s as a scripted, theatrical form of televised entertainment, similar to WWE. But roller derby today has grown, through the dedicated enthusiasm of its athletes into a vibrant, competitive sport both in the United States and around the world. One holdover from the era of televised theatrics are derby names: some skaters create their own and others ask team members for suggestions, sometimes changing their names when they change leagues or locations.

WoRD’s vice president is Steely Ang (inspired by an injury that required a steel plate in her ankle). Wildish Jambino was once Kat Smash. On WoRD’s ATeam, the Triple Deck-Hers, include Lo Mean and Boston Strangle Her. The B-Team, Hurt of the Commonwealth, features Nancy Drew Blood and Ziggy Scardust.

As the sport picks up speed, some choose to play under their legal names. A roller derby name can be an alter-ego while on the track, Wildish explained, but she fully supports those who opt to play without one.

With their next season coming up in April, WoRD’s teams are practicing furiously. All players put in four hours a week, with the A-Team clocking in up to seven hours of practice. Even though they have important commitments off the track, there’s no slacking here. The moment a skater falls, she gets right back up, often laughing as she does.

Naturally, with a sport that Steely describes as, “the hits of hockey and close contact of football,” injuries do happen. The first things beginners learn are how to put on gear and how to stop and fall safely.

Starr de Chaos, an experienced skater who trains new and interested members, has a knack for knowing who’ll tough it out and join the league. The ones who struggle the most, she says, are the ones who’re most likely to come back. “It’s not about how much you fall, but your drive to get back up,” she says. When it comes to pushing beginners to new heights, she tells all her trainees the same thing: “I judge you against yourself…if you stayed on your skates for five seconds yesterday and today it was seven seconds, you improved.”

If you’re interested in trying roller derby yourself, WoRD holds their annual “Fresh Meat” orientation for beginner skaters in August. They also have a junior league for girls aged six and up. Plus, the league has a stock of gear for beginners to use while they save the money for their own.

They don’t stop there: WoRD is always looking for opportunities to give back to the community, volunteering every year at the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation’s Ride for Kids. They’d love to work with more youth organizations in Worcester and find more sponsors especially during their games, Wildish added.

None of the skaters shied away from the fact that learning this sport is incredibly difficult, but they wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

“I started seven years ago,” said one skater, proudly, “and I kept coming back.”