On a typical weekday, Sharon Tohline is in the classroom teaching English. But when the weekend rolls around, Tohline is buzzing around a track on roller skates sporting fishnet tights and a sleeveless jersey that reads “Villainelle,” the name of her alter ego.
She zooms quickly to her left, her work skates cutting against the track, dodging a player from the opposing team while trying to defend her own at the same time.
Tohline, a University alumna, discovered the spectacle of roller derby when her friend, then a player for Red Stick Roller Derby, handed her a flier at a burlesque show. At 31, she is now one of the oldest players on the team.
“I thought, ‘I need to do this,’” Tohline said.
With references to roller derby sprouting everywhere from Rolling Stone to the 2009 film “Whip It,” a grassroots roller derby movement has begun.
“I think this is a period in which a lot of things having to do with the empowerment of women is catching on,” Tohline said.
A game, or “bout,” is played by two teams of five skating around an oval-shaped track. The scoring player, or “jammer,” gains points for the team by breaking through a human wall posed by the other players, then making laps around the track. The game is broken into individual periods called “jams.”
While roller derby is sometimes depicted as a roughhousing sport consisting of women throwing punches, the game is anything but — especially for leagues like Red Stick Roller Derby that belong to the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. New rules are constantly enacted, making the sport less dangerous.
According to the team, few injuries come with roller derby. In training, the team stresses preventative steps, such as how to fall if knocked down. Most injuries come from disregarding these preventative measures.
“We’re not scary; we don’t bite,” said Valerie Miethe of Red Stick Roller Derby.
With monikers like “Beat Ho Ven” and “Val Killmore,” roller derby names become a form of self-expression for both players and referees.
Andrew Loreno, geography junior and Red Stick referee, chose his pseudonym “Velocireftor” thanks to a late-night study session. After inhaling countless energy drinks, he flipped on the television and watched “Jurassic Park.”
“I was trying to think of a name, and then I saw the velociraptor,” Loreno said.
Other players choose their names based on hobbies or academic endeavors. Greg Muller, a postdoctoral mathematics student, refs under the name “Dr. Math.”
The league also plays as a team in other facets of the sport.
“It’s such a big community that you get lots of resources,” Tohline said.
Muller is often called on to interpret statistics for the team. Likewise, Tohline calls on her English background when she checks Red Stick’s website for grammatical errors and word choice.
Even though the sport is exclusively for women, referees are traditionally men.
“It’s the only sport I’ve seen dominated by women,” Loreno said.
Skating on a roller derby team can build confidence, even for referees, he said. Before he started as a referee for Red Stick, Loreno was introverted and shy, but once he started skating, some of that apprehension began to melt away.
“You kind of have to,” Loreno said. “You’re skating around yelling at people.”
However, training for the league isn’t just skating practice and scrimmages.
“What people have to go through isn’t just physical, it’s emotional training,” Tohline said.
Many roller girls and referees face the task of balancing academia and the sport.
“It almost becomes a second job,” Miethe said. “Derby is willing to take as much as you’re willing to give.”
According to Miethe, the same sentiment goes for entering the world of derby.
“We never discourage someone. If you have the heart for it, we can teach you,” Miethe said.
Red Stick Roller Derby’s first bout is at 6 p.m. March 23 at the Baton Rouge River Center.
Editor’s note: This article has been changed to correct the following: the derby nickname “Villainelle” was incorrectly spelled “Villianelle,” and the nickname “Beat Ho Ven” was incorrectly spelled “Beat Hoven.”
“It’s the only sport I’ve seen dominated by women.”
