Are You A FOODIE?

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Wanted Roller Derby Girls
Trends Staff
Sugar and spice and everything nice are not the only things roller derby girls are made of. They also have skating skills, stirred in with attitude, a dash of humor and a whole lot of team spirit.

If you’re like me, you remember Roller Towne in Visalia for 80’s big hair, mid-night skates, and maybe the place you experienced your first “real” kiss. Now that I’m a “grown-up” Roller Towne should be the place to hold my children’s birthday parties…right? However, if you visit the skating rink on Sunday, Tuesday or Wednesday evenings, you’ll find V Town Derby Dames, Visalia’s first women’s Flat Track Roller Derby team, adeptly swerving, ducking and crashing into one another as well as into the walls as they practice skating, stopping, blocking, falling and pushing. But these girls are not all booty shorts and fishnet stockings. The V Town Derby Dames is organized exclusively to raise funds for distribution to charitable organizations in the local community as well as to provide opportunities for women of all ages, professions and backgrounds to advance in the sport of roller derby while perhaps re-inventing themselves with an alter ego.
Flat-track roller derby is growing in popularity and derby girls are wanted. Skating attitude, minimizing injury and having fun are key in making the team. School psychologist by day and Liz “Busty Chops” Lawson by night grew up roller skating but explains many of the girls who come to the Derby clinics have little or no skating experience. “We will pair some of our more experienced skaters with the girls getting back on or new to roller skating. Once they accomplish the basics, they can move on to the excitement of team strategies in a bout.” Liz wants women to know they don’t need to be good at skating to come out and enjoy roller derby. She uses the sport as a great form of exercise and an outlet to relieve stress. “It’s the perfect sport for women because we get to be everything we want to be without any excuses or any apologies,” says Busty. “It’s an outlet for what you can’t do in your everyday life.
Correctional Officer “Leslie Bien”, VTown Derby Dames’ Vice-President, has been in love with Roller Derby since she began in 2007. “These women toss in mouthpieces, tape up cuts, shove and strike with all the intensity of a male counterpart but at the end of the day it’s all about the sisterhood the team shares”, says Bien. “There is nothing preconceived about any of the girls that come out to skate. Out on the floor, we are all just a team. I have gotten to know girls I may not have met had it not been for derby.” Roller derby brings these women together, and they will all tell you that the sport allows them to really let loose.
Each member of the VTown Dames team picks a nickname to represent the stray from the real world and feminine stereotypes they leave behind. “Fun Size” (because of her small stature) is a kindergarten teacher; “Buxom Blondy” a CPA; “Devious Dolly” a hairdresser; “Holly Lou’Ya” for her spirituality.
Michele Cortes, aka “Brakes” chose her name for the mere reason that she did not use them (brakes) when she began skating. “Heading straight for a wall to stop, the girls would tell me, ‘use your brakes!’ laughs Michele. A friend introduced Michele to Roller Derby three years ago. “I love the exercise, the amount of wonderful people I’ve met, but more importantly the bond of family/friendship that is on this team. We have experienced family deaths, divorces, sick babies, custody battles and more together. We are more than teammates. We are like sisters; that beat each other up for fun.” 
The VTown Derby Dames’ team members are hoping more women fall in love with the sport the way they have.
For more information on the VTown Derby Dames visit: www.rollertowne.com or become a fan on Facebook!