Amherst home to roller derby stars (Part 2)

This is part 2 of a 4 part series devoted to local members of the New Hampshire Roller Derby.
Read Part 1 here

Amherst resident Gina Kilby is a freelance web designer (WebGamut, LLC) by day but by night she is number 1772, the SS Trixie, Captain of New Hampshire Roller Derby’s (NHRD) traveling team, the Skate Free or Die! All-Stars.  I asked Gina what her job on the track was and her response was that she ”holds the inside line, makes holes for our jammer and can take a bitch out”. It was then I realized that I was not communicating with Gina, but in fact I was getting answers from SS Trixie. We all have another side of ourselves that we usually hide but not Gina.

Alter egos aside, the women of derby lead fairly normal lives with careers as journalists, real estate professionals, educators and house-moms to name a few. There is a camaraderie that brings the players, their families and friends together “like a giant extended family” according to referee Dan “Woody Yankabitch” Weldon.

Gina says that even on her worst day, “knowing that I have 80 amazing women to skate with will ultimately put a smile on my face.” In fact, she was introduced to her partner Brenda Bach (aka. Sin D. Lap-Her), who she met while playing roller derby.

As a kid, Gina says she was a terrible skater making visits to Dubriel’s Dance Hall in Lancaster, NH. She said she was always jealous of the other skaters that could do “crossovers” and skate really fast. While living in Florida she happened to room with the founder of the derby league in South Florida. When she moved back to New Hampshire she joined the NHRD. Gina admits she is still not the best skater on the team, “but I think I hold my own”.

Outside of roller derby, Gina spends her time with Brenda hiking, scuba diving, cooking, traveling, gardening, sampling from her collection of fine bourbons and whiskeys and playing with Sunny, their mini-longhaired Dachshund.

You can see her skate this weekend at the 3rd annual “Roller Consolation”, Saturday, July 31, 2010 hosted by the NHRD at the JFK Coliseum in Manchester, NH.

Visit the NHRD website for more details and a full schedule.

How is roller derby played?
NHRD matches are ten girls skating laps, often at high speeds, on a flat, circular track. Players try to stop the opponent’s jammer from passing their teammates while helping their own jammer skate past players from the other team. Points are scored for each opponent the jammer passes. It’s a rough sport and if you can imagine NASCAR combined with football on roller skates and add the flair of a professional wrestling match, you have something pretty close.

For more detailed rules, visit http://wftda.com/rules

PART ONE - http://amherstadvocate.com/2010/07/amherst-home-to-roller-derby-stars-part-1/

Main page slideshow photo used courtesy of Ryan Joseph and New Hampshire Roller Derby

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