The Women of Roller Derby

The Women of Roller Derby is an intimate view into the life of derby girls. Produced by Doug MacRostie of Northern Community Radio for Culturology on 91.7 KAXE.
 

The Women of Roller Derby
Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby has exploded across northern MN, with the Babe City Rollers in Bemidji, and the Iron Range Maidens. Derby is a very physical sport, known for hard hits and short skirts. Producer Doug MacRostie wondered, ‘who are these derby girls, and what draws them to this sport?’, and it isn’t who he expected. Doug set out to find a dominatrix derby girl, and instead discovered The Women of Roller Derby.

I Hulk said, "That was awesome and dare I say I got a bit teary. Which says a lot since I hate crying and being emotional!". Sarah Whalin' said, "I. M. Hulk, Olive Mayhem, Piece MakeHer, Vroom Vroom and the others give such an accurate portrayal of what it means to be a derby girl, it will give you goosebumps! Totally amazing. Go Maidens!!" and Butterscotch Bitch told us, "I was just sitting in my car the last 20 minutes listening. I wish I had my skates with to wear at work...".

Preflash Gordon, online manager of the North Star Roller Girls, said, "KAXE in Northern Minnesota does a documentary on derby women ... and by golly, it's like listening to This American Life! Absolutely fantastic! Give it a listen, or download the MP3 and podcast it later. Brilliant stuff. Congrats to Douglas MacRostie and everyone who made this wonderful show."

Read more about The Women of Roller Derby:
"Roller Derby Rockin' Northern MN" on 91.7 KAXE Notes
"Talk Derby to Me" on Doug MacRostie's Macedelic Studios

Photo donated by Jimmy Digital of the Sioux City Roller Dames.

WoRD was made possible with support from the MN Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Roller Derby Rockin' Northern MN

by Doug MacRostie. 

Justin Bieber couldn't get a room full of tweens more excited than I am the day before the debut of The Women of Roller Derby, an audio documentary I have been working on since August 2010 that airs tomorrow morning at 8 during Culturology on the 91.7 KAXE Morning Show, featuring interviews with Bemidji's Babe City Rollers and the Iron Range Maidens.

Women's Flat Track Roller Derby has exploded in Northern Minnesota with leagues in Bemidji and the Iron Range. Derby has a reputation of being a very physical sport with hard hits and scandalous clothing. I wondered, ‘Who are these derby girls and what draws them to the sport?’ The answer might surprise you...

What drew me to the topic was the conflict. Not on the track, but of the people. Who’s playing derby? I heard about girls with Masters Degrees in Peace Education rockin’ the track; lawyers, opera singers, community organizers. WTF would draw these women to a sport like Roller Derby?

For The Women of Roller Derby, I met with Olive Mayhem (Shannon Murray), Vroom Vroom Kaboom Boom (Karissa Korbel), Piece MakeHer (Brooke Wichmann), and Nenookaasi (Megan Treuer) of the Babe City Rollers. And their referee R.-Sin (R. Beyer) who tried to explain the sport to me. I also talked with Ingrid M. Hulk (Sarah Bignall), founder of the Iron Range Maidens.

The countless hours spent on this documentary have been the most rewarding time I have spent "working". There isn't anything much more inspiring than sitting down with someone to talk about their passions, and after all the time editing/producing it feels like I know each of them intimately. My wife told me that the look in my eye when I talk about WoRD is similar to when I tell a sweet story about our son. Yeah, it's like that.

I started off searching for the short skirt wearing dominatrix of the game and instead found the true women of roller derby :) Tune in online or on the radio on Thursday, Jan. 27th at 8a on 91.7 KAXE.

You can read more about the Women of Roller Derby on Doug's blog "Talk Derby to Me".

Photos donated by:
Preflash Gordon of the North Star Roller Girls
Jimmy Digital of the Sioux City Roller Dames
Cruel of Thirds of the Fargo Moorhead Derby Girls and Rock City Riot

Compelling Radio Coming to a Speaker Near You

by Doug MacRostie

When my wife saw this picture she said, "I can see the fear in your eyes..". And yeah, I'm facing off with Butterscotch Bitch, one of the Iron Range Maidens; also known as KAXE Producer Heidi Holtan. I walked into work today proudly wearing my Babe City Rollers t-shirt and as soon as I saw her Maidens shirt I knew there would be trouble... but things settled down. That's one of the amazing things about derby, such a sense of friendly community.

I have been working on a radio documentary, "The Women of Roller Derby," for months now; driving to homes, sitting on the floor, and chatting with people about Derby. I'm doing it as part of Documentary Production Training class for Northern Community Radio by Milt & Jamie Lee along with a few other staff members. It has been an amazing experience. We all have been doing interviews for years, but to make a documentary is an entirely higher level of production and commitment - and we are making some very compelling pieces to share.

Other topics include a hand bell choir, finding good food, and young golfers.

We plan to have a listening session on The KAXE Morning Show on Friday, Dec. 3rd and we are all racing to have our pieces ready for their debut. Milt and Jamie will join us in-studio to present the documentaries. This will be a morning of radio you won't want to miss as we bring local voices and stories onto the airwaves.