Angie “Violet Conduct” Cleland, a jammer for the Classic City Roller Girls team, skates in the CCHS media center courtyard on Feb. 22. Cleland joined the CCRG team seven years ago and stayed because of the community it offered. “I really truly found my people when I found the league. Despite the fact that there are only about eight of us left since before the pandemic, even then it still feels like I’m home when I’m there,” Cleland said. Photo by Aza Khan
Sports Staffer Liya Taylor talked with Classic City Roller Girl, Angie “Violet Conduct” Cleland about the sport of roller derby and its impact on her.
Sports Staffer Liya Taylor: How does a roller derby match work?
Classic City Roller Girl Angie “Violet Conduct” Cleland: There are blockers and jammers and then there is a single blocker called the pivot. The blocker’s entire job is to keep the other team from scoring. The only way for a team to score is for their jammer to get through the entire pack of people, which includes four people from each team as blockers. (The jammer will) make a lap around the track and after they’ve made that first lap around, every person from the other team, (that) they pass their hips will be a point. The blocker’s job is to try to stop the opposing jammer from passing their hips and the jammer’s job is to try to pass all four of those hips, go around the track and do it again as many times as they can either before the end of the jam, which lasts two minutes, or until whoever got lead jam, (which) means the first person to pass everybody, gets the chance to call it off. If (the lead jam) decides they don’t want to play anymore, then they get to call it off by hitting their hips.
LT: If the jammer gets lead jam, do they want to call it off?
AC: There’s a lot of strategy involved. If the other jammer is stuck (and) if my blockers are doing a really good job of holding her and not letting her get out, then I’m going to keep going. I’m gonna pass as many people as I can and go around and come back and do it again. If she gets out and she’s right on my tail and she’s catching up with me, then I’m gonna call it because she could score just like I can. So, if she’s right behind me and she can score then I don’t want her to, so I’m going to keep her from doing that.
LT: What skills would you say are needed to start roller derby?
AC: Honestly, you don’t have to have a whole lot of skills because we teach you how to skate if you need to learn how to skate, but you don’t want to come and have never done anything athletically. What everyone always says when they come to a boot camp for the first time (and) didn’t know what to expect is that they’re always sore the next day (and) they used muscles that they didn’t even realize they had. So coming cold and having not exercised in a long time or ever is not necessarily recommended. We do recommend that people at least have a little bit of activity in their lives, just because you’re putting wheels on your feet (and you) need to be able to hold yourself up on those skates.
Classic City Roller Girls team jammer Angie “Violet Conduct” Cleland skates in the CCHS media center courtyard on Feb. 22. Cleland has skated since 2015 and has grown to love roller derby and the people in the sport. “More than anything, it is a community of badass women. It is a national sport and a legitimate sport with an entire, complicated rulebook that started as something completely different. It started as people just skating around for a long time and having fun and then evolved into something that was almost like WWE on skates. It was very scripted, very artistic and (had) lots of acting. Then somewhere around the early 2000s, somebody decided that it would be a good idea to put some rules in place and those rules have evolved a lot over the years but now it is really an incredible thing. I can go just about anywhere on the planet and find a roller derby team and be immediately accepted because it’s like a big giant club.
LT: What skills has roller derby taught you?
AC: It certainly made me a better roller skater. I knew how to roller skate going in, I knew a lot of basic skills but it’s taught me how to do things on wheels that I never thought possible, like jumping and spinning and going backward at an out-of-control pace. Mentally, I’ve been an athlete my whole life and I was always the kind of athlete that if something didn’t quite go the way that I’d hoped it would I’d get all up in my head and then really mess up. (Roller derby) has taught me a whole lot of patience with myself and I’ve learned how to get out of my head. I’ve also learned to depend on my teammates to help me out if I need them. If I’m having a bad day, then I will ask my teammates to tell me a really bad dad joke, that’s my kryptonite. (The joke) took care of whatever was keeping me in my head and I’m ready to go. Being able to learn that there was a way for me to get out my head was pretty huge.
LT: How does a person get their derby name?
AC: Derby names you come up with on your own and for everyone it’s a little bit different. For some people, there is personal significance. For some, they just want to come up with a really cool pun. Like, I took a training (course) back in September and the skater who was leading the training, her name is “Snot Rocket Science.” For others, it’s a combination of a pun and their real name. We have a skater on the team whose real name is Michelle and her skater name is “Miss Hell,” which if you put it together looks like “Michelle.” I racked my brain for a long time trying to figure out what was going to work for me. I have been playing soccer my whole life and (so I) combined that with something else that I love, which is the color purple. So, my derby name is “Violet Conduct,” and one red card offense in soccer is “violent conduct,” so I just kind of mashed those together. I know plenty of people that have chosen names and then changed them later or chosen them and then decided to not go by them. For a lot of people, It’s kind of like our Alter Ego and part of who we are.
LT: What is your opinion on the dangers of roller derby?
AC: It’s a contact sport, so certainly there is room for injury. We wear full gear, including mouthguards, (which) certainly helps protect us. Also, all of the training and the learning that we do on how to fall correctly, protect ourselves (and) take a hit safely certainly lessens the risk of injury but doesn’t erase it. But, that’s true for any sport, even those that are non-contact. You can hurt yourself all by yourself doing Silk Sit Canopy or shooting hoops by yourself on your driveway. It’s possible to get injured in any activity, but yes, it is elevated because we are on wheels. Our number one goal is safety, so we never let anyone get to a point where they’re hitting somebody or where they’re allowed to scrimmage or bout if they’re not safe. Safety is at the top of all of our assessments.
LT: What is roller derby to you?
AC: More than anything, it is a community of badass women. It is a national sport and a legitimate sport with an entire, complicated rulebook that started as something completely different. It started as people just skating around for a long time and having fun and then evolved into something that was almost like WWE on skates. It was very scripted, very artistic and (had) lots of acting. Then somewhere around the early 2000s, somebody decided that it would be a good idea to put some rules in place and those rules have evolved a lot over the years but now it is really an incredible thing. I can go just about anywhere on the planet and find a roller derby team and be immediately accepted because it’s like a big giant club.
“More than anything, it is a community of badass women. It is a national sport and a legitimate sport with an entire, complicated rulebook that started as something completely different. It started as people just skating around for a long time and having fun and then evolved into something that was almost like WWE on skates. It was very scripted, very artistic and (had) lots of acting. Then somewhere around the early 2000s, somebody decided that it would be a good idea to put some rules in place and those rules have evolved a lot over the years but now it is really an incredible thing. I can go just about anywhere on the planet and find a roller derby team and be immediately accepted because it’s like a big giant club.”
— Angie “Violet Conduct” Cleland,
Classic City Roller Girls team jammer
LT: With the team being 18+, how can CCHS students get involved with the CCRG program?
AC: We always take volunteers. I know volunteer hours are absolutely something that lots of students need. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so it would count for volunteer hours for NHS. We need help at bouts sometimes, we have three home bouts this season. Our first one is (on) April 7 and we need help with things like track maintenance. My daughter volunteers and we have this thing at halftime called a Chuck-A-Duck where you take a rubber duck and throw it at a bull’s eye, so she’ll help sell the ducks. We also have other things like helping people find someplace to sit. (Also) on our website, there’s a link for tickets. You can show up in person and buy a ticket on the spot as well. Definitely, for our first one, we won’t be sold out. (So) if you just go to our website, classiccityrollergirls.com we are absolutely family-friendly.
