This guest post is by Rebecca Angel Maxwell
Jen Hanley, like many librarians, has an outlet. A way to express the vivacious individual she is beyond the stacks of quiet books. For Jen, that way is on skates. Jen belongs to a Roller Derby team called the Troy Hellions, where she is known as Reading Rambo. A librarian friend of mine works with Jen, and recently invited me to join her at one of these events.
Because it was close to Halloween, there was a zombies versus vampires theme. The women had scary make-up, some costume accessories, and theme music during the bouts. Before the derby began and during the break, there was also music by a cool Steampunk band called BEWARE! The Other Head of Science! which had us bopping in our seats.
The Hellions usually compete against other teams, but on the night we saw them they staged an in-team derby where they were playing against their own team members.
“We weren’t sure if we were going to go easy, or go for blood, but on that last jam I saw lightning,” Jen said, referring to how hard she was shoved to the floor. “We’ll be buying each other beers later, though.”
I was going to caution her to maybe sit out for the rest of the night, as a mild concussion can’t be good for her librarian career. But I guessed that being careful wasn’t why these women signed up to become roller derby queens.
They kinda scare me, to be honest. My friends and I agreed that we would be too wimpy to play. These ladies really kick ass out there. I wasn’t aware of the history of the sport, but apparently it started as staged bouts in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Now it’s all real. And really fun to watch. Since Jen was on the zombie team we rooted for them, and they won!
I will definitely go to another derby, and bring the whole family. Kids get a discount, and although it’s a contact sport, it’s not violent. Besides, what better role model for my teenage daughter than Reading Rambo, a women who is a librarian by day and roller derby fiend by night?
Rebecca Angel Maxwell is a homeschooling mother of two, a creative arts teacher, geek musician and teapunk .
