This story is part of Finding Your People, a series celebrating the Bay Area’s meetups and subcultures that bring people together IRL in an increasingly online world.
It’s the middle of May and roller skaters from all over the United States have descended on Richmond’s Memorial Auditorium for the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association’s North American West Playoffs. On an oval track, skaters face off in adrenaline-fueled bouts. Numbered torsos form twisted masses, limbs flail and flying bodies repeatedly hit the rink with echoing thuds.
Though for the uninitiated, this spectacle can resemble The Hunger Games on wheels, roller derby’s general premise is simple. Two single skaters (called “jammers”) try to break through their opposing teams’ circling packs (made up of “blockers”) to win points. For fans, these wheeled battles offer controlled chaos that consistently raises the heartrate. But for the skaters involved, roller derby also offers closeness and camaraderie players can’t find anywhere else…