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The Oakland Outlaws and the B.A.D.G
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Alison Peters
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November, 02 2007
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Ever heard of “rink rash?” It’s a very real affliction for the Oakland Outlaws, our local full contact, all female, flat-track amateur roller derby league.
The Bay Area Derby Girls league was founded in August 2004. Since then, the Richmond Wrecking Belles, the San Francisco ShEvil Dead, and the Oakland Outlaws compete in a seven-bout season with a championship game played to near sold-out crowds who are entertained by halftime burlesque shows, marching bands, and jam skaters. Matches have an underground, Mad-Max feel. |
The Bay Area Derby Girls Vs. Grave Danger Photos: Boss Hogg
Ever heard of “rink rash?” It’s a very real affliction for the Oakland Outlaws, our local full contact, all female, flat-track amateur roller derby league.
The Bay Area Derby Girls league was founded in August 2004. Since then, the Richmond Wrecking Belles, the San Francisco ShEvil Dead, and the Oakland Outlaws compete in a seven-bout season with a championship game played to near sold-out crowds who are entertained by halftime burlesque shows, marching bands, and jam skaters. Matches have an underground, Mad-Max feel. “You know you are a part of something unique. I have never seen the kind of energy we have at our bouts,” says Oakland Outlaws co-captain Taxi Scab, (aka Molly Salyk, blocker), whose husband got her interested in the sport. “It wasn’t until I came to a practice, and watched a scrimmage that I was hooked. I knew I wanted to play derby and be good at it,” she says.
Teams are formed on a draft-like basis, and women “Rinky-Dinks,” those that are picked, get three months to prove they’re worthy of being put on a team. They hold thrice-weekly practices from 10pm to midnight -- which, Taxi Scab admits, is “pretty brutal on us girls who have to get up for work early in the morning.” But, as the B.A.D. Girls saw in the 2007 season, playing is not always guaranteed: before their scheduled March 31st bout, the Oakland rink where the Outlaws practice and play was deemed unsafe for events by the Fire Marshall, so the remainder of the season was relocated to the San Jose Civic Auditorium.
With names like Chesty Gillespie, Ivanna Decker, and Lemmy Choke’Ya, the Oakland Outlaws skate to Too Short’s “Oakland, Oakland” in a de facto uniform of fishnets and skirts (carrying the risk of “fishnet rink rash”). Their official outfit consists of black, with white pinstriped dresses, names and numbers in red on the back. Their rep is for being strategic, sports minded, and focused. It’s the Richmond Wrecking Belles, however, who are the league “bad-asses,” going undefeated in 2007. And so, the challenge for year-end is on. Says Taxi Scab, the Outlaws “have tons of fun while skating, but it’s oh so much sweeter when you win.”
The downside, of course, is the very real possibility of losing front teeth.
Oakland’s last bout of the season was held on November 3, 2007. Next season's tryouts will be held on January 13, 2008. For more information, visit www.bayareaderbygirls.com. |
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