The Martlet

Wrestling met hockey on roller skates last Saturday, March 20, as the Victoria Eves of Destruction slaughtered the Vancouver Riot Girls in front of one of the biggest crowds the young Women’s Flat-Track Derby Association (WTFDA) has seen this season.

An all-ages audience of almost 2,000 people packed the Langford Eagle Ridge Community Centre and, with a crowd that ranged from punks to conservatives, to rockabillies and bar stars gone to seed, there was as much to see off the rink as there was on.

Sub-culture dress was the order of the evening, as even emcee Randy Magic was outfitted in a ruffled, velvet blue leisure suit with the fly permanently undone.

But it was the rollergirls who captured everyone’s attention as they slid onto the rink, dressed in ripped fishnets, tight camisoles, porn skirts and decorative tattoos.

The Eves started off their first home game of the season strong, finishing the first jam with a 7-0 lead. Just 13 minutes into the half, the Eves had pulled way ahead, leading 32-7.

Roller derby, a sport that’s been around since the 1970s, has witnessed a comeback in recent years. The Eves formed in 2006 and, if Saturday’s turnout is any indication, they’ve created a following that could rival a minor-league hockey team.

For those new to the sport, here’s the rough breakdown: a bout starts off with five players from each team skating around an oval track.

During each two-minute jam, there are up to four Blockers and one Jammer from each team on the track at a time. It’s the Jammer’s mission to break through the group and lap her opponents as many times as possible. She’ll earn one point for each successful pass, while the Blockers from each team try to prevent it.

The game’s motto is “if you can’t play nice, play roller derby.” And while this contact sport can be as graceful as ballet, it can also be as brutal as men’s hockey. The real excitement happens as teams whip their Jammers through the pack, as well as the collisions and pile-ups that occur as skaters fall into one another.

Evelyn Wiebe, also know as #19 “Evilyn Deed,” took a strong lead as rotating Jammer, scoring the Eves point after point each time she hit the track.

The Eves finished the opening half with a mammoth lead, 75-21.

“I was worried at first, because you never know what will happen and [the Riot Girls] are a good team,” said Wiebe after the first half. “We knew we had to come out strong, and we’ve had a lot of lead Jammers, which really helps us to control the game. It’s been great.”

Wiebe, 45, works at UVic as a lab manager and joined the team in January of 2009. She’s currently the oldest Eves member, though her lean frame and fancy footwork would never betray that fact.

The halftime show saw Victoria “Stunt Superstar” Aaron Gregg perform a firey juggling act with a nervous audience volunteer, as well as a chainsaw and plunger-throwing contest. While the escapades engaged some of the less-inebriated audience members, most left to stand in horrific lines for any remaining beer as they anticipated the return of the rollergirls.

As soon as the buzzer sounded, the first jam of the second half saw Wiebe make an astounding breakaway as lead Jammer again, earning the Eves an extra seven points to strengthen their score.

But the Riot Girls’ Jammer, #44 “Luludemon,” was a plowing force on the team, as she became the most prominent Jammer of both groups and earned the Riot Girls a fighting chance.

Only 15 minutes into the second half, the Eves had climbed 110-53, and another breakaway from Wiebe brought the team up 127-53.

Purple was the colour in the last minute of the bout, as fans went wild with their team’s trademark while the Eves seized their win at a final victory of 150-62.

“It was all a blur,” said Wiebe after the match. “We’re so happy. We kept a clean, tight game tonight, and we just played really well together. If we can play like we did this night, we’ve got a lot to look forward to in coming matches.”

Saturday’s bout leaves the Eves with an undefeated 2-0 season as they prepare to take on the Taco Kickers, a travel-only team made up of veteran rollergirls from the U.S., at Archie Browning Arena in Esquimalt on May 8.