{"id":7234,"date":"2018-04-11T13:42:39","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T17:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/?p=7234"},"modified":"2018-04-11T14:12:54","modified_gmt":"2018-04-11T18:12:54","slug":"blocking-jamming-and-bouts-are-all-part-of-local-roller-derby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/blocking-jamming-and-bouts-are-all-part-of-local-roller-derby\/","title":{"rendered":"Blocking, jamming and bouts are all part of local roller derby"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Skaters warm up for the bout by skating laps around the rink. On Wednesday nights the Junior League scrimmages to prepare for future games.<\/p>\n

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Billie “HillBillie Hellion” Redner, a member of the Junior League, braces herself to block the opposing team’s jammer.<\/p>\n

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Stacey “Holly Hunter” Franklin is the Junior League founder and a captain on the Columbia Quad Squad.<\/p>\n

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Skate Station USA is home to the Columbia Quad Squad roller derby team.<\/p>\n

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The Columbia Quad Squad<\/a> is a hidden gem in Columbia, located in a roller rink that seems locked in time.<\/p>\n

With plastic red booths in the cafeteria area, an ’80s themed carpet and throwback pop songs playing on a loudspeaker through their practice, the venue sets a scene for the kind of roller derby you would expect from a movie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a movie called \u2018Whip It\u2019 about roller derby,\u201d Billie\u00a0“HillBillie Hellion” Redner, a junior league team member at the Columbia Roller Derby, said. \u201cOne of the characters said, \u2018Put some skates on. Be your own hero,\u2019 and that has kind of been my inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Redner is\u00a0known around the rink by her roller derby name, HillBillie Hellion.<\/p>\n

Redner explained that it only took watching roller derby one time for her to fall in love with the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just had to play it,” Redner said.<\/p>\n

Stacey Franklin, known as “Holly Hunter”\u00a0in the roller derby community, is the founder of the junior league. She says that working with kids like Redner are what make volunteering with the Columbia Quad Squad worthwhile.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all worth it when you train these kids and see them eventually grow up to skate in the adult league and\u00a0be your teammate,\u201d Franklin said.<\/p>\n

Franklin is also a captain on the Columbia Quad Squad. She grew up ice skating and has spent her life on a rink of some form. After graduating law school, she came back to Columbia where she discovered the Quad Squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really empowering to have a group of women running their own team,\u201d Franklin said.<\/p>\n

The Quad Squad sponsors a junior league and rookie league practice every Wednesday night. From 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., coaches and referees teach everyone how to stop, block, jam and skate. They hold scrimmages and even provide gear to people who need it.<\/p>\n

For those who are unfamiliar with roller derby, the basics of a game, or bout, are simple. Two teams of five, made up of four blockers and a jammer, compete on the rink.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The jammer has a star on her\u00a0helmet and serves as\u00a0the point-scorer for their team. The goal of a bout is to have the jammer lap the members of the opposing team, which is how points are awarded. Blockers have to try and stop the opposing jammer from lapping them, while assisting their own jammer in scoring,\u00a0playing offense and defense at the same time.<\/p>\n

The contact sport is aggressive, and the players are aware of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go out to play in a bout for the first time, it\u2019s like going through a washing machine with roller skates on,\u201d ‘Candy in my Van’, whose real name is Candice Sharp, said.<\/p>\n

The players joke that roller derby is a way for them to get frustration and aggression out.<\/p>\n

“But this isn’t the ’70s,” Franklin said. “There’s no hair-pulling or elbowing or any of that stuff. That will get you put in the box.”<\/p>\n

Redner laughs when asked about the competitive nature of the game. She recognizes the aggression in the game, but has never felt nervous to play.<\/p>\n

“Roller derby has helped make me more confident, improved my communication skills and given me friends I never thought I would have,” Redner said.<\/p>\n

For those\u00a0interested in trying out roller derby for the first time, adults can attend the rookie league practices on Wednesday nights at 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

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