Rolling and tumbling
with the QCRG
By Jana Eisenberg

The Queen City Roller Girls strike a pose. From left: Poison Ivy League (Amber Hayward), Mia Mauler (Maria Manno), Pummelina (Michelle O’Connell), Ace Bandage (Samantha Budniewski), Lamb Chop (Megan Lambright), Sissy Fit (Debra Hughes), and Crazy Legs (Maria Hollander). Photo by kc kratt.

Some women will do anything for a good time. Take the eighty-plus fun-loving members of the Queen City Roller Girls. The seriously competitive league, now four teams strong (plus a travel team, boot camp, and farm organization), was founded in 2006. They practice at the Rainbow Rink in North Tonawanda, two nights a week, with bouts throughout the season. They decompress and partake in ancient bonding rituals at local NT bars, such as Ava’s and Crazy Jake’s.

The league is completely self-sufficient, run by their own and volunteer labor, and they regularly engage in philanthropic outreach. To a woman, the QCRG have found a uniquely wholesome and supportive blend of fun, athleticism, camp, and true feminine bonding.

Four of the gals gave Spree their takes on the ins and outs of the sport, its meaning to them, and the relationships it encourages. Their real life and derby names are: Liz Brooks/Merry Mayhem, Debra Hughes/Sissy Fit, Megan Lambright/Lamb Chop, and Nicole Perla/Fetishly Divine.

Brooks, thirty-six, was born and raised in Dunkirk. She works in the accounts receivable department of a Buffalo law firm by day.

Hughes, also thirty-six, and a founder of the league, is the mother of two daughters, whom she is home-schooling. She is a native of Orchard Park.

Lambright, twenty-two, has lived in Buffalo most of her life; she is an assistant in a financial advisor’s office.

Perla, thirty-six, was born and raised in Buffalo, though she lived in Arizona for a time. She is studying education, and has worked in recruiting for the construction industry.

Why did you want to be a Queen City Roller Girl; what do you get out of it?
Brooks: I had done a car demolition derby; roller derby seemed like the next logical step [laughs]. I joined in 2007; everybody was fantastic and encouraging right from the start. I had never played team sports. The girls from school who played were cliquey and exclusive. The roller girls are not; they are welcoming. The relationship with the thing itself is different from any other; it’s got a physical and dynamic intensity.
Hughes: I love the all-female athleticism, which is hard to find once you are out of college. In addition, being at home with my kids was making me crazy—I was desperate for friends and socializing. Now I have this network of women—at any time you can call up any member of the league, and she will support you. We are like grown-up Girl Scouts.

Lambright: I heard about it when I turned eighteen. I had seen derby on TV, and I skated all my life. I found out that you have to be twenty-one [and insured] to play. The summer after I turned twenty-one, I went to boot camp. Since then, it’s consumed everything [else I do]. I love it. I got a family of eighty new female members who are always behind me. They support you in derby and in real life. I got a lot more out of it than I expected.
Perla: The founders invited me to join. My parents owned a hockey store; I’ve skated as long as I’ve walked. I’ve always wanted to be in roller derby, so I’m living my childhood dream! It’s been the best time in my life. I thought I would get a lot from the competitive aspect, but I’ve actually gotten more out of the women that I’ve met. I’ve made female friends for life. These women are a chosen extended family for me.
The Suicidal Saucies (in red) and Nickel City Knockouts (in navy) facing off.

What aspect of “Girls Night Out” does this fill for you? Can you give me an example?
Brooks: In the locker room after losing our last bout last season, one of our veteran players—a girl who’d been on the team for three years, who doesn’t always come out, she doesn’t really drink beer—she had us gather around. She pulled out a case of Molson, and said we had rocked her world this season, please have a beer. Everybody raised their can; it was all about “us girls together.”
Photos by Fritzenfrat Photography.

Lambright: We encourage and push each other’s physical limits. After kicking each other’s arses in the rink, we throw back a few.

I especially love bout nights; the instant I step on the track, I see 1,200 people crammed into the Rainbow Rink; it’s noisy and ridiculous. I have a giant smile on my face; there’s my mom—she cheers me on with Styrofoam lamb chops that she’s made. They’re all there to watch you play this sport that you are absolutely in love with! Not many people get a chance to do that, and have all those supporters screaming your name.

Perla: There’s a lot more variety. “Girls Night Out” is not just going out and drinking—it’s being a part of something. The best payoff is being somewhere like Wegmans and hearing somebody say: “That’s a Queen City Roller Girl.” They don’t know who you are, but they’ve seen you skate.

The Nickel City Knockouts on the move. Photo by Fritzenfrat Photography.

The Suicidal Saucies at rest. Photo by Fritzenfrat Photography.
Crazy Legs (Maria Hollander) shows off a mighty bruise. Photo by kc kratt.
What does being a part of this do for you, and for women in general?
Hughes: I have anger issues; that’s why my alter ego is “Sissy Fit.” It feels good to release the pressure in a healthy way, to go out there and hit legally. I don’t dress up too much; I’m more conservative. Sissy Fit is more aggressive; she’s my fiercer self. Derby has given me a lot of confidence. I’ve met new people, and I’m more athletic. It’s great to have discovered those parts of myself.

It is very physical; no matter what your body type there is a position on roller derby for you; we have women from twenty-two to forty-eight in the league. And our women fans range from my daughters, who love it, to my late mom’s best friend; she’s around seventy—she remembers the old roller derby.

Lambright: It’s okay for women to be serious athletes. Some people react to the fact that I’m small. They say: “You’re going to get hurt.” We have women who range in size from five feet, 100 pounds, to six feet, 200 pounds!
And what girl doesn’t like to get dressed up? You go to your 9-to-5 all day, then, when you go to practice, you’re a different person. Wearing the QCRG logo is a good excuse to get dressed up and act wacky.

Perla: It’s an amazing feeling to witness yourself and other women completely blossom—finding strength and individuality. A lot of women don’t have a healthy outlet to physically exert a positive aggression without being abused or abusive. Roller derby helps you find the strength in who you are.

Jana Eisenberg has donned roller skates a few times.


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