Interview: Molly Hartshorn, Co-Founder of Demolition City Roller Derby

Where did you get the idea of bringing roller derby to Evansville?

I played roller derby in Massachusetts where I went to school and then I transferred to USI where the closest roller derby team was in Louisville, which is about two hours away. I didn’t want to drive that far, so I just started one in Evansville. We basically just setup a MySpace site and pretty much harassed whoever looked like they would be interested in Roller Derby.

Where in Evansville do you find the type of person that would be interested in playing roller derby?

We just message a lot of people on MySpace at first, but then it became a word of mouth thing: one person tells their friend who tells their friend. We are planning on having recruitment nights in the future at local bars and other establishments in town where we can just hand out information. It can be kind of intimidating to come to a practice and see what’s going on without any beforehand knowledge. The best thing to do is probably get on YouTube and search for Roller Derby and see what it’s about.

What’s the basic premise of the game?

There are two teams of 5 girls. There is a pivot at the front of the pack, and they set the pace. There are also three blockers whose primary job is to prevent the opposing team’s jammer from getting through. The jammer is the only one who can score points. The jammers have to get through the pack on the first time and then on the second pass through they can score points for each opposing person they pass legally. You can’t pass out of bounds or with an illegal hit for example. We play by the WFTDA [Women’s Flat Track Derby Association] rulebook. They have a full set of rules that define what a legal or illegal hit is.

So how do you determine when a match is over and you have a winner?

It’s kind of like a hockey game in that you skate in three 20 minute periods. Each period is broken up into as many 2 minute jams that you can fit in that 20 minutes.

Have you had any matches?

No, we are only practicing at this point because most of the girls we are getting don’t know how to skate or haven’t skated in so many years. Right now we are in the process of getting everyone’s basic skating skills up to par and teaching them how to play roller derby.

Once you get your team to that point, will you just play against each other or travel around the state?

We want to have two local teams in town so we can play against each other, but we also want to set up a travel team that travels around the region to play the other teams in cities like Nashville, Lousiville, St. Louis or Indianapolis.

What goes on at a typical Demolition City practice?

We do a lot of endurance and strengthening skills to teach girls not only how to hit people, but the basic skating skills they will need come match time. Most people have never heard of it or know what it is, so we are trying to each people that so we can start having matches in town.

What’s the timeframe to actually get a team started in town?

We don’t really have a goal set. We are hoping that maybe by the beginning of next year we will be able to have a travel team, or two teams to put on an exhibition with. We’d like to do an exhibition maybe at the Evansville Coliseum or somewhere.

Where do you see Roller Derby going?

The current revival of roller derby has been around for about six years. It started in Texas with the girls that were on the A&E reality show. There’s over 200 leagues worldwide and 170 in the US. At this point, it’s a very grassroots sport, but there are some established leagues in that pool. Roller derby has national tournaments and the WFTDA has rankings their leagues. I think it’ll stick around for a while.

What do you think it will take to get people around Evansville to stick with roller derby?

We’re hoping that when we put on exhibitions and tell people about the sport they will get excited and interested in what we’re doing. From the feedback we’ve gotten, people seem to be super excited about it.

Anything else going on, matches or otherwise that we should know about?

We’re always recruiting and looking for girls 18 and over to skate. We’re also looking for guys (or girls) 18 and over who would be interested in refereeing. You don’t have to know how to skate or have any previous roller derby experience. We will teach you everything. It’s a great way to workout and meet people, so check out our MySpace to find out more.

The Basics

Name: Molly Hartshorn

Describe yourself in one sentence: I’m not your typical college student.

Age and occupation 23-year-old USI student (Communications Major)

Hometown: St. Johnsbury, VT

Favorite place to spend time online: Any roller derby site

Favorite local business: Kurl Up & Dye Hair Salon

Favorite Evansville stereotype, and whether or not you buy into it: I thought that Evansville was in the Bible belt and that everyone was conservative, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.

Favorite local hangout: Skateworld!

Evansville has the BEST…: roller derby league

You’ve never lived in Evansville until you’ve…: been to the casino

Evansville would be so much better if only: there were more things to do than just go to bars.

Best restaurant: Chic-Fil-A

I want all the It’s Evansville out there to know: Roller derby isn’t a joke or passing thing. It’s a reality and we’re serious athletes. We’re going to be around for a long time.

Question you’d ask if you were doing this interview: Do you want to join roller derby?

You can find out more information on the Demolition City Roller Derby and how to join by visiting http://www.myspace.com/demolitioncity