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AN INTERVIEW WITH D-BALL (Despina Markidis)
I recently visited Kellie's Bar & Grill, on Long Island, NY. While visiting the grill, I caught up with one of the flat track roller derby skaters named D-Ball. D-Ball skates for The Long Island Roller Rebels team and league. You can catch their website on www.longislandrollerrebels.com. When asking her what made her tryout for this rough sport, D-Ball said,..." I wanted to join a contact sport". So, she heard from a friend about this game, and decided that she wanted to join, even though she didn't know how to skate. "Well, I learned very fast, and loved this sport. I am a blocker! I love to hit hard, and I also loved to be put on the ground, as long as, I don't get hurt! I went to the W.F.T.D.A., (Women's Flat Track Derby Association). This is where I recieved my training. Captain Morgan, was one of my trainers. She, as well as, other trainers, taught me how to skate,(quads). I've also learned about some of the history of roller derby, and the rules of the game. They also taught me how to fall down onto the floor, and learned everything about the equipment of the game and the gear I wear. Now, before you can be picked up onto a team, you have to pass a written test of the game and be tested to see if you are good enough to skate the game on a flat track."
D-Ball who has been skating for approximately 2 years thinks she is a good skater out there. "I am a good blocker, and I have gotten better at the game, and of my skating. When they are trying to pass me for a point, I get the girls down on the ground!" She was always very competitive in sports in high school. "I used to play soccer and softball. When exhibition games occurred with roller derby, I got into some fights. Fighting is allowed in exhibition games but not on real games. I like to skate and if I am in a fight, I will be kicked out of the game. If I have fights in other games, the league will be forced to kick me out for the season. Besides, when we are off the track, all of us are friends. They are my roller derby family! We'll go for a beer when the game is over."
"Like in the banked track roller derby games, we do some traveling on the road. My team has skated in Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to name a few. We did very well and won a championship for the season! However, I will regret the day we got aniliated from the Virginia Dominion team. They beat us by a score of 300 to 16. My team will work much harder going against this team next time, and repay the favor! There are other differences between the bank tracked games and ours. For one, we skate on the skating room floor. We either play 3 period games lasting 20 minutes a period. Or 2 period games, and each period lasts 30 minutes. Our skating positions consists of an inside blockers,(these blockers try to keep the opponent's jammers from leaving the the pack). Then we have the pivot skater's position. They control the pack. Another position is the outside blockers. They are the skaters who block out the opponent's jammers who are trying to score points by passing the blocker."
I asked D-Ball what kinds of women would go for this rough sport? She replied, "all kinds! We have moms, young kids and middle aged women. The sport is very rough. I bruised my thigh pretty badly. Another skater broke her tibia."
At age 35 D-Ball said she will be "playing this game forever or when my body can't take it anymore. Then I will try and help new skaters learn the game."