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Roller derby isn't a sport for those afraid to get body checked, elbowed, pushed and fall while zooming around a track on roller skates. It's a sport for tough women who fall down hard, get back up and have a friendly after-match beer with the person who just gave them a grapefruit size bruise on their thigh.

The Ballard News-Tribune sat down with some of the toughest roller skating Ballardites at the Rat City Rollergirls undisclosed Ballard-based training ground, The Rat's Nest.

"The tough girl stigma is a front but we run with it," said Carmin Thomas, better known as Clobberin Mame of the Sockit Wenches.

"I can give and take hard hits on the track but everyone knows I'm a big softy."

Thomas has been part of the Rat City Rollergirls since its founding days in 2004 and sits on the organization's Board of Directors.

"I like the tough girl image. I need it to remind me that I have the ability to be tough, to be a bad-ass," she said.

Thomas got involved after her fiance was asked to be an announcer.

"I watched roller derby on TV with my great uncle Jack when I was a kid. I would skate every Saturday and pretend I was playing rollerderby and got in trouble at the skating ring," she said.

When Jenn Harowicz, a sweet mother of two, picked up roller derby a mere 1.5 years ago it came to much surprise of her friends and family.

"They didn't think it sounded like me," she said.

"But it just seemed something crazy and exciting to take on. Being married with two sons, it was time for mom to take on something."

Harowicz was drafted by the Derby Liberation Front and on the track she's known as Know Mercy, "because there’s no mercy on the track," said the work-at-home graphic designer.

"What attracted me to derby was that it's women of all ages and walks of life. Each skater has a life outside of derby," she said. "It's fun to be a mom during the day and then come here and be intense. You hit eachother and then come off the track to hug eachother."

Harowicz said her sons think it's awesome and come out to the bouts with signs that read, "My mom is the bomb".

Melissa Carson, a.k.a Nikole Plated of Grave Danger is also in her second season as a rollergirl.

A Ballardite of five years, Carson asked her husband for roller skates three years ago to skate around town to the Farmer's Market and Golden Gardens.

One day, as she was looking for knee pads on the internet she stumbled across Potential Fresh Meat (PFM). PFM is an independent training group for women interested in becoming a rollergirl.
At PFM Carson learned the basics of roller derby - how to skate, form, the rules, and drills.

"It's fun. I learned how to skate and even did drills that ran in the tryouts." said Carson.

At tryouts she was picked up by Grave Danger and has since become the captain of Rain of Terror, the traveling B team.

"I use to be black and blue from hockey, now I'm black and blue from derby," she said.

Since 2004 the sport has grown tremendously. In the early days, they were happy to have a couple hundred spectators. Bouts now attract upwards of 6,000 people, enough to sell out the bottom bowl of the Key Arena.

"Looking at our humble beginnings, it really feels like we accomplished something," Thomas said.

The vast increase in popularity also means that the Rat City Rollergirls have seen a big influx in girls wanting to play.

"Nowadays the bar is set so high at tryouts. It can be intimidating," said Thomas and encourages women to attend PFM sessions. "You've got to know what you're doing before you tryout," she said.

"You don't know exactly what you're going into," Harowicz said laughing. "But you're constantly being pushed to improve and it's exciting to watch yourself improve like that."

Thomas said in addition to skills and the willingness to learn, being part of a team requires a big time commitment.

Despite the sport's increasing popularity, funding and sponsorship is still hard to come by and The Rat City Rollergirls is completely run by the teams themselves.

"We run the entire business side - the light production, script writing, renting the venue, ad placement, marketing, etc," said Carson. "It's a lot of work."

But despite the time commitment and the shiners and bruises that come with the sport, all three women said derby has become an important part of their lives.

"The best thing about derby is the community of rad women," Thomas said.

Carson echoed Thomas' sentiments.

"The best thing about derby is the camaraderie," she said. "After the bouts, everyone you've just been beating on get together to eat, drink and have a good time."

Teams can even win the after-party by being the most fun.

"I can't even imagine my life without all my team members and derby itself," Harowicz said.

On Saturday, the four home teams will take on their Portland counterparts, The Rose City Rollers, for their second bout of the season. The event starts at 5:30 p.m. in the Key Arena.
Tickets are available on the web via Ticketmaster .
After-parties take place after the bouts at nearby bars.