Texas started the rebirth of roller derby in the early 2000s, and that’s where you’ll find high-level coaches, tournaments and training.
The Durango Roller Girls will measure themselves against that pedigree when they face the Tex Pistols, the A-squad from the El Paso Roller Derby league, at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Chapman Hill rink. Doors will open at 6 p.m.
Convincing another team to make the seven-hour trip for a bout doesn’t take as much teeth-pulling as one might expect.
“We’ve known some of these ladies for a while. The derby community is pretty tight-knit,” said Kate Jones, the DRG president. “Through different workshops and conferences and boot camps, we’ve met some girls in El Paso and have been trying to play them for a while.
“We really wanted to bring a Texas team here because we know how Coloradans get fired up with the Texas rivalry.”
El Paso Roller Derby fields two teams – much like the DRG: a developmental B-Squad primarily for players looking to learn the game and the Tex Pistols, which travel and play teams from other leagues.
The league is not officially certified by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, roller derby’s highest governing body.
Neither are the Roller Girls, but they are waiting on pins and needles for confirmation.
“It’s every email I get, it’s ‘is this the one,’” Jones said. “They said this month. (The end of) this month is drawing near.”
The Tex Pistols skated June 21 like the DRG Derailers, so there won’t be any rest advantage.
“I don’t know where they’re at this season,” said Jones, aka Crossbones Jones. “I know they were struggling to fill their roster. I don’t know if that’s due to injury or whatever.”
There will be one bout Saturday compared to the season-opening doubleheader the DRG hosted last weekend.
That takes some burden off of the Derailers, who set up, manage and tear down the space for all of their bouts.
“It’s double the amount of work and energy,” Jones said of the doubleheader. “We felt it, and I thought it translated on the track.”
The Derailers climbed out of an early 19-9 hole to beat the Pueblo Jailhouse Jawbreakers 207-140.
There won’t be any first-match jitters or absent thoughts for the DRG this time, as Abby Smith, the DRG member who suffered a heart attack in late May, is expected to attend the match.
“I think having her there is going to pump people up,” Jones said.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
