The squeal of skates skidding along the polished wood floor reverberates throughout the skating rink. For Bellingham’s Roller Betties this is a familiar sound. The Betties are a roller derby league comprised of four unique teams, all found on their website. Three days a week they don their skates and speed out on to the rink to practice and learn skills that will help them beat their opponents during their next bout. “You’ve got to be really on top of your physical fitness,” says Kimberly “Kim Carnage” Carnahan (right). “It’s battle ballet. It’s like, plié, now hit somebody.”Teammates Genevive “Sleezy Bake Oven” Haley and Sara “Quentin Tear-Into-You” Lyons sit out to take a break during practice and the two discuss the pains of falling on a roller skate. The Roller Betties are well accustomed to the bumps and bruises that come from their sport, and practices are no exception to injuries. When players are injured, either from falling or from a past injury, or they need a momentary break they are encouraged to either skate in larger circles around the main group or to step off of the rink and sit for a brief rest.Each Betties’ skates are as unique as the skaters are themselves. “It’s hard having wheels strapped to your feet and doing these really hard things,” says Samantha “Baconator” Poteet of the derby maneuvers. Roller derby is a high action, fast-paced sport that takes a toll on the skates and the skaters. The roller skates are not the only ones who take a beating out on the rink.Julian “Crash Test Honey” Grubb rolls up her pant leg to reveal a series of scars along her right knee and ankle. Tough Love, the Betties team that Grubb skates with, cheers for her as she walks out onto the rink. This is her first day back in shoes after breaking her tibia and fibula. “I heard it snap, but it didn’t register what had happened. I actually tried to straighten it out,” Grubb says. This is her second break that has resulted from roller derby.The women of the Bellingham Roller Betties come from a variety of walks of life, some are full time students’ others are mothers with careers. Brooke “Nacho Friend” Gatterman (center) is in her third year with the Betties and just started her new job working at Western Washington University as a dispatcher for the police. Her son works at the rink where the Betties practice and stays to support Gatterman as she trains with the Roller Betties.Lauren “Shreddy Bruisevelt” Sires laughs with the other Betties’ as they get ready for practice. After breaking her ankle during a practice session she is unable to skate with her team, Flash. It will be 12 weeks, according to her doctor, before she can get back out on the rink again but that doesn’t stop her from coming to support her Derby family. “We really need a reality T.V. show,” says Sires. “I’d call it Derby Wives.”Hot, tired and sore the Bellingham Roller Betties team Tough Love brings their hands in for a cheer at the end of their late night practice. The women of the Roller Betties train hard and work together to become a tight-knit cohesive team. Hadassah “H’Elanna Torrez” McGill (center) leads the post-practice chant, surrounded by her teammates.
