GEORGIA HASS
"Mizz" Georgia Hase
In the year of 1954 my family of eight made the trip from a small town in Nebraska to Bellflower California. We rolled into a motel where all eight of us were crammed into a room, until my parents found us a home. In that crammed motel is where I first saw Roller Derby. "This is great", was my first thought, at long last a sport that the women have an option to compete in.
My family and I finally got settled into a home in Bellflower. Little did I know at the time that Russ Massro and Mary Youpelle lived just around the corner and that Baby Joyce Ray was a student at Bellflower High. I had just gotten to know Joyce Ray when she had her accident with the train and could no longer skate. I continued to watch Roller Derby every week and the desire to become a Roller Derby skater grew stronger and stronger and I knew that one day I would be a Skater, just like my idol Julie Patrick. My parents did not have the same dream for me so I had to wait until I was 18 to pursue my own dream. In the meantime I did get to go to live games at the Olympic to see my favorite skaters. Which as I mentioned earlier was Julie Patrick, and, George Copeland. Going to the games made my desire to be a skater even stronger. I can still hear the roar of those wheels as the skaters skated by me. The speed, the action all of it combined made it thrilling for me and I knew I wanted to be part of it.
In 1956 I graduated from high school, three months later I started training at the Leeward Training center in Los Angeles. It didn't last too long as I met my husband about that time and he was not too crazy about Roller Derby so I stopped training and got married. My daughter Christina was born in 1961.
My desire to skate never left me and in fact just grew stronger so in 1963 I started training again at the Olympic Auditorium under Terri Lynch. There I trained with Sally Vega, Danny Reilly, Larry Lewis and many more. I was picked up by Dave Pound and Liz Hernandez after about a year of training to skate on the San Francisco Clippers. My first game with Liz was not the best one to remember. We all know that she was super fast and I was super slow. Well in the warm up she took off and left me like I was standing still, I was very scared, very embarrassed and very disappointed. . .In my first game I Blew It . . .I never could keep up with her so I found myself on another team, Texas Outlaws with Shirley Hardman. She was great. I believe it was around 1965 when I went to skate with George Copeland at the El Monte Legion Stadium. This I believe is where I really came into my own as a skater, not the best by all means, but I held my own. George believed in me and my skating career began, only to end when George got drafted into the service.
I never went back to Roller Games until sometime in the late 70's when I was made Detroit Devils Manager. That position I held until Rockin Roller Games of which I was the manager of Bad Attitudes then back to Roller Games as Manager of the Detroit Devils again. Vicky Steppe is a Favorite in the Roller Games err. I now have my own business.
