Jewish Roller Derby team skates into Agnes Scott for Atlanta match

The Jewish Roller Derby is skating into town on Saturday May when the company goes up against Atlanta s Toxic Shocks at Agnes Scott College in Decatur Roller derby is a full-contact sport played on an oval flat track with teams of about skaters five of whom are in the mix at one time With a -page rulebook the sport is serious about keeping players safe and the challenge fair While the sport of roller derby is rooted in splashy entertainment the last years of roller derby has opened a world of inclusivity and equity for LGBTQ skaters Atlanta Roller Derby board member Eleanor Bruise Bruisevelt explained modern roller derby as a product of the Austin Texas riot girl punk and drag scenes When people think of roller derby they remember bouts on banked tracks that were televised in the s comparable to professional wrestling in the sense that it was very theatrical Originally it was this very campy and radical grassroots sport It has still maintained a large number of of those qualities even as it s become more legitimized noted Bruise Jewish Roller Derby is a borderless band based on shared cultural heritage rather than geographical location uniting skaters from diverse backgrounds Borderless teams include Black Diaspora Roller Derby Indigenous Rising Roller Derby Unit Desi SALAAM Roller Derby and Fuego Latino Roller Derby Players often play in more than one league Jewish players from Minnesota Pennsylvania Oregon Michigan Illinois Alabama Texas Virginia and Atlanta will play this week Black Diaspora Roller Derby played Jewish Roller Derby in March Photo by Josh Sams Founded in the Jewish Roller Derby has grown to more than members and will compete at the Roller Derby World Cup in Innsbruck Austria in July The sport attracts a lot of people who have never been athletes before It s a very physical athletic experience but you tend to see a lot of people who have felt feel like they haven t fit in in other spaces Bruise declared Skating under the name Borscht Belt Bruise in the Jewish Roller Derby she disclosed players use their Hebrew names family history or Yiddish phrases for inspiration With names like Schindler s Fist Judith Smackabee and Mehshugga Nuff there s a lot of humor in the championship While every league is a little bit different Atlanta is known for creating spaces where people can fall down and get back up Bruise commented Something that s really special about Atlanta is that we have one of the most of racially diverse leagues in the women s flat track roller derby association Bruise revealed This league has done a lot of work to ensure that skaters of color feel welcome and feel connected to each other and feel supported and listened to The post Jewish Roller Derby association skates into Agnes Scott for Atlanta match appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta