Angel City Derby
⤏ IN CONVERSATION WITH KYLIE OBERMEIER
⤏ PHOTOS BY MADELINE KEYES-LEVINE | MAKE-UP BY KATIE MANN | STYLING BY BRANDEN RUIZ
⤏ ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JUNE 2019
At its simplest, Roller derby is a full-contact sport where players skate around a track and try to score points or defend against them. But in its big, beautiful reality, roller derby is a womxn-created and womxn-run community that supports fitness and camaraderie for everybody and every body. Since originating in Austin, Texas in the early 2000s, hundreds of derby leagues have formed worldwide and, unbeknownst to many, right here in Los Angeles. On any given night, women are lovingly — and strategically — pummeling each other in rinks, auditoriums, and a warehouse neighboring a stonemasonry facility in the middle of industrial Gardena. That is where Angel City Derby skate. In a male-dominated/everything-normative athletic sphere, ACD welcomes everyone and anyone and encourages them to hit each other with love.
KYLIE: Do y’all remember your first practice and what that was like?
BLAQ N BLUJEE: I came and I knew how to skate already, but I hadn’t in ten years. It was like riding a bike, though, you know? And then came contact. I was like, “I gotta find some aggression from somewhere,” because I’m generally a pretty lowkey, happy-go-lucky, chill person.
K: Where did you find it?
BLU: Work. [Laughs] I work with very challenging clients sometimes, and it’s a good outlet. But now I’m experiencing a different level of practice. It’s really about the strategy. Knowing how to skate is one thing, but—
MS. D’FIANT: But you’ve gotta think on your skates!
BLU: Yeah, there’s still so, so much to learn. Like, I’m always learning—and I’m at the beginning.
K: Do you remember your first scrimmage?
MS. D: I do! If you don’t actually play Roller derby, and you just read about it, like back around 2004, there are lots of misconceptions. I had a lot of misconceptions. So when Atlanta came to coach us — the Savannah Derby Devils — in contact, we stayed in a perfect foursome around the track. And Savannah was like, “What are you doing?” and helped us. I wasn’t there for the first game, because my husband got a job in LA. But I had started a cross-country trip. So me, my dog, and my car just stopped at all the derby stops on the way trying to find a match. I was on the Roller girls Yahoo board and contacted everybody. I went to Atlanta, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas. I hit them all. My first scrimmage happened in Atlanta. I got out there and just got my clock cleaned. I was like, “Whaaat?” [Dying face] I loved it so much.
K: Have y’all played other sports and, if so, how do they compare to playing derby?
BLU: I grew up dancing. I actually use that experience all the time when I’m skating. Like, thinking about where my weight is in my foot, how certain parts of my body react when other parts are doing something different, alignment. I’ve been part of quite a few team sports, too, like whitewater kayaking. We had a collegiate team; it was an all-women university, too. That’s why I love being a part of Angel City, because it’s reminding me of my college days. Once I left, it felt like something was missing. So coming to ACD, being surrounded by women supporting each other — that’s probably one of the real reasons I started derby. It’s kind of filling [the loss of] something else.
LO BETANCOURT: I was a figure skater since I was five. I had a lot of trouble with my weight and coaches just not wanting to coach me, and having issues with body image. So, after that I went to derby, and it was such a welcoming, accepting community. I have never even had to think about my size as a problem. It’s a benefit.
MS. D: Such an asset.
LO: I don’t feel like I’m a detriment to anybody. People want to see me excel, and that’s definitely beneficial. [To Blu] I feel that way with you, coaching you. I just want you to be an amazing skater.
BLU: There’s so much support in this league. I doubt myself a lot; I’m very hard on myself. So, you know, I have to keep convincing myself that somebody believes that I can do this. If someone else believes it, it must be true, right? Somebody thought I was good enough to let me come this far this quickly. Let me keep going.
K: What have you gotten out of playing Roller derby?
BLU: Well the easiest thing to say is physical fitness. But also the community; it was something that I didn’t really know was missing until I had it back. Because, like I said, I went to an all-women university. Having that support while I was figuring out who I was [was crucial]. And, you know, you go through a whole other identity crisis after you have kids.
MS. D: Yes!
BLU: It’s like, okay, well, who am I now? So I’ve been trying to figure that out. [With derby] I’m like, okay, this is me, this is my time with this community of people that really, genuinely care about me — whether it’s derby-related or not.
K: I think it’s so awesome that both of you make the time for yourself to do derby [while also parenting].
BLU: You have to or you’ll lose your mind.
MS. D: But there’s such an immense amount of guilt that comes along with it. Like, last weekend, while I’m at practice, [my kid’s] friend’s mom took them to a thing at the Apple store and they learned how to make movie trailers on their iPads and I was like [shrugs, at odds]. I think we’re in a time of competitive parenting, and everybody tries to see how much they can do for their children, at the complete sacrifice of themselves.
“...that’s probably one of the real reasons I started derby: it’s kind of filling [the loss of] something else.”
LO: I’ve met the people that are probably gonna be with me for the rest of my life, throughout getting married or having kids. I was homeschooled, so I’ve always lacked social interaction. Having people around me for hours at a time, three times a week — even when we’re at each other throats half the time — is actually so fulfilling. Being able to hug after and be like, “Hey wanna come over for a movie?” Just having friends and people on your team that you love, that is the biggest thing that derby has given to me.
K: Do you think that roller derby being created by women and run by women makes it different than other sports?
MS. D: One way that it makes us different is that [our Association is] much slower moving than other sports. They have top-down leadership. Like the basketball clock — their Association just decided to change that. For Roller derby to make changes to our rules is a year-long process. We ask the leagues what changes they want to see and then develop ballots, bring the ballots to the leagues, say, “Are you comfortable with this language, are we doing this right?” So there’s so much more collaboration in this sport because we were founded by women, we care about our members, and we want bottom-up leadership.
BLU: There is a history of excluding women in a lot of things. So something that’s created by women is [inherently] opening the doors to being inclusive of people that have been discriminated against. So we have something in common.
LO: [Derby allows] us to bond and relate to all of these other women. We have a sense of understanding and knowing of what each other is going through. It just makes it so much better.
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⤏ KYLIE OBERMEIER (SHE/HER) IS A WRITER, TEACHER, AND COOK FROM VENTURA, CALIFORNIA. SHE STARTED A FOOD POP-UP IN LATE 2019 CALLED KITCHEN SINK, BLENDING HER JAPANESE HERITAGE AND OBSESSION WITH FOOD. KITCHEN SINK HAS MOST RECENTLY TAKEN THE FORM OF A BI-MONTHLY PANCAKE STAND AT CUTIES COFFEE. KYLIE NO LONGER PLAYS ROLLER DERBY BUT SHE STILL THINKS IT'S THE BEST SPORT IN THE WORLD. SHE ALSO TEACHES KIDS HOW TO MAKE EGGS AND TIE THEIR SHOES AT A HIPPIE SCHOOL IN PASADENA.