by Logan Gruber
operations@thenewsleaders.com
Summer Hall has been skating since she was 18 months old. Now, a few times a week, she straps on roller skates and blocks jammers at River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud.
Hall, a St. Joseph resident, is a St. Cloud Area Roller Doll. S.C.A.R Dolls was founded in 2011, and is the first and only women’s flat-track roller-derby league in Central Minnesota. S.C.A.R. Dolls, a non-profit, was created as an opportunity for women in the St. Cloud area to participate in modern roller derby.
Hall has been a S.C.A.R Doll on and off for two years. She is a blocker, which means she attempts to block the opposing team’s jammer as the jammer attempts to pass the blocker’s team. Each team deploys one jammer and a team of blockers during a match, so each team is playing both offense and defense at the same time. Each team has up to 14 players who field up to five members for each two-minute jam. As many jams as possible are fit into two periods of 30 minutes each. Hall’s roller-derby nickname, Road Block, comes from her position on the team. Players tend to choose roller-derby names to play under, many of which are creative examples of word play with satire, puns, alliteration, and allusions to pop culture.
“There aren’t many sports for women after college besides bar leagues,” Hall said in a Newsleader interview. “I wanted an activity that promoted women, athletics and sportsmanship. I haven’t looked back since.”
Roller derby is currently one of the fastest-growing sports in the world with more than 1,450 amateur leagues currently in existence and new leagues forming all the time, according to the S.C.A.R. Dolls website. The S.C.A.R. Dolls field two teams, the Pin-Up Prowlers and the Gargoyle Brigade. These two teams face off against each other at home. There is also a traveling team which faces off against other regional teams.
“Derby is a lifestyle, not just a sport, or hobby,” Hall said. “We practice all year long, and we take two months off a year. Roller derby gets into your blood and into your heart, from there your life molds around it, not the other way around . . . I even broke my ankle a few years ago and was going to give it up but I never can. All the people I know, all of my friends are part of roller derby. Derby is the first thing I think of when I get up and the last before I go to bed.”
The S.C.A.R. Dolls designate a charity for many of their events.
“We don’t just practice twice a week,” Hall said. “We do events for our sponsors, and volunteer within the community constantly.”
Special Olympics Minnesota is the charity for the home team playoff game at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27 at the convention center, where the Gargoyles will face off against the Prowlers. There are many local St. Cloud faces among the two teams, including at least one other St. Joseph resident, Alicia Peters, otherwise known as Artemisia Brutaleschi.
Hall said a typical roller-derby match in St. Cloud can bring in more than 700 spectators, though when she used to skate in Washington, D.C., she didn’t see nearly that many people.
If it’s your first time at a roller-derby match, be prepared to be overwhelmed.
“It is such a sensory overload of awesomeness that it’s hard to take it all in,” Hall said. “I would suggest finding a good spot to see the track, (sipping) a beverage, and sit(ting) back and watch(ing) a great game.”
Hall said in the past, roller derby had the reputation of being similar to television wrestling, in that it was scripted. She says they and other teams have fought hard to overcome that stigma and show people how real of a sport roller derby is.
“We train hard for these bouts, and we fight hard to get those points on the scoreboard,” Hall said. “As long as my body allows me to play, I will play.”
The S.C.A.R. Dolls Facebook page indicates they are recruiting both skaters and volunteers to be referees, scorekeepers and other positions. You can find out more about joining or watching them on their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SCARDolls.
The S.C.A.R Dolls faced off against the North Star Roller Girls’ Violent Femmes out of Minneapolis in this photo. The S.C.A.R. Dolls, in red, left to right, are: Molly Corner (Virginia Creeper), Summer Hall (Road Block), and MaryBeth Schaffer (Rollz4Damage). They are pushing the opposing jammer out of bounds.
The S.C.A.R Dolls faced off against the North Star Roller Girls’ Violent Femmes out of Minneapolis in this photo. The S.C.A.R. Dolls, in red, left to right, are: MaryBeth Schaffer (Rollz4Damage), Jessica Ward (Shirley Temper), and Summer Hall (Road Block). Ward is the jammer, and is grabbing onto Hall’s belt for a boost to get through the opposing team’s blockers. Meanwhile, Hall is attempting to block the opposing team’s jammer, at the far right.
