Sigourney Morrison isn’t the typical fifth-year fashion design student. Though her major is very time consuming, Morrison still finds time to play her favorite sport  — roller derby.Morrison is a member of the Red Stick Roller Derby team, which will hold its first home bout Saturday at the Baton Rouge River Center.Morrison first became interested in roller derby in New Orleans when she met a girl who was a member of the New Orleans team, the Big Easy Roller Girls.”I thought it sounded like a lot of fun, and I really wanted to do it,” Morrison said. “But I figured it would be to hard to commute and still be successful in school.”Morrison even thought about forming a team here in Baton Rouge but realized it would be a lot of work.”It takes a lot of time and organization,” Morrison said.Luckily for Morrison, another University student had the same idea and was able to start a team in Baton Rouge.Mary Koehler, psychology senior, founded the first women’s roller derby team here in the Red Stick.Koehler said she was interested in the sport after seeing the team in New Orleans and figured Baton Rouge would be a great place to start a new team.”Me and a friend got on Myspace and contacted females in our area in the same age group and invited them to come out and join us,” Koehler said. “We had about seven girls show up for our first practice, which was in July 2007.”Roller derby is not a new sport. The first games of roller derby were played back in the Depression era. But the new wave that has taken the country by storm is more contemporary and fitting to the times.Roller derby is played on a circuit track, which imitates the original track from the sport’s early years. The new track is easier to assemble and still allows a skater to obtain the same force you would get from using a bank track.Ten contestants play the track at a time. There is a jammer from each team, whose goal is to score points for their team. The remaining members consist of three blockers per team and a pivot. These players are considered the pack.When the first whistle sounds, the pack takes off skating around the track. On the second whistle, the jammers try to make it through the opposing pack with the ball. A jammer can only score points on the second lap by passing members of the opposing team.There are two 30-minute periods and a break for halftime.Koehler said she thinks the team has come a long way.”When we got to our first practice, none of us had any experience playing roller derby,” Koehler said. “In the first 3 to 4 months we had to teach ourselves how to skate. Then we went on to learn the basic fundamentals on how to play the game. Now we focus on strategizing and endurance.”The Red Stick Roller Derby will be taking on the Beach Brawl Sk8r Dolls of Ft. Walton, Fla., at the Baton Rouge River Center. Tickets are $10, and fans will not only be treated to the match, but also to great food and drinks. The Spring Break Shark Attack will also be performing at halftime. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit the Baton Rouge Youth, Inc.Along with the fun and excitement of the match is the Red Stick team’s secret weapon.The “Smearleaders,” as they call themselves, will be there rooting them on.The Smearleaders are not the average cheerleaders. Dressed in roller derby-esque attire, they will be doing original cheers, dances and will even provide a halftime show.The Smearleaders were started when the team came together in July 2007. Danielle Sears Vignes, also known as Dee Zasta, took the role of forming a group of supporters who would be at home bouts to cheer them on.Vignes, performance studies senior, said she called upon people she knew who had performed on stage at LSU or were cheerleaders in high school. She called upon people she knew would use their energetic spirits to support the team.”The men and women I chose were people I knew would bring excitement to the game,” Vignes said. “It was a great opportunity to form a support structure for our team and at the same time bring a unique form of entertainment to Baton Rouge.”Rebecca Walker, communication studies grad student, is a member of the Smearleading squad and said the activity is a lot of fun.”I think people who watch this first game will not only be excited about roller derby but also about Smearleading for the Red Stick Roller Girls,” Walker said. “And if they are, they are all welcome to come join us in cheering for the next game.Walker, who became a member of the squad through Vignes, said being a Smearleader is not that hard.”We’ve had a few practices and have come up with cheers and even a dance routine for halftime,” Walker said. “It can be time consuming, and being a graduate student and instructor, things can get really busy.”Koehler said she is hoping interest in roller derby in Baton Rouge continues to grow after Saturday’s matchup.”Baton Rouge is a very sports-oriented city because of LSU Football,” Koehler said. “We’re hoping that the people who come out Saturday enjoy themselves and share with others this new form of entertainment for the city.”Morrison said she hopes to see students come out to support the team and maybe even get a few recruits.”Mary and I have skated around Free Speech Plaza handing out flyers before, and we even skated at this year’s Battle of the Bands,” Morrison said. “Hopefully after Saturday more students will become interested, and this thing will take off.”—-Contact Josh Chenier at [email protected]