A year ago I would have never guessed that this weekend I would be participating in Battle on the Bank III – the third annual national banked track roller derby tournament. This year the tournament will be hosted by the San Diego Derby Dolls at the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, California from Friday, June 25th through Sunday, June 27th.
I’m not a skater. I’m one of the L.A. Derby Dolls Enforcers (http://derbydolls.com/la/): a game official. In the seventies and eighties “Old School” banked tracked roller derby officials were there to break up the “fights” and perhaps get into a couple themselves. In today’s banked track roller derby, the game is played by the strict rules of the World Organization of Roller Derby and enforced accordingly by volunteer referees like me.
Roller derby is truly an all American sport (derby and basketball are the only two sports created by Americans without being based on any other sport) But the modern incarnation is a worldwide phenomenon with flat track and banked track leagues all over the globe. 21st century roller derby – lightning fast and full contact, but with no scripts, no elbows, and absolutely no hair pulling – can be traced back to Austin, Texas where the sport was brought back to life in 2000.
Eight teams representing six states will be competing for the title of Battle on the Bank III Tournament Champions during the second to the last weekend of the fair. The first two days are comprised of shortened bouts (match-ups). The tournament culminates on Sunday with two full length bouts. The excitement of a roller derby bout is hard to match – not even the Tilt-A-Whirl can beat the fast paced, hard hitting sport that I, and thousands of others, have grown to love.
Admission to the tournament is free with your ticket to the San Diego County Fair.
To learn more about Battle on the Bank, including an explanation of the rules, bout times and team rosters, visit http://battleonthebank.com/Home.html.
Information on the San Diego County Fair can be found at http://www.sdfair.com/.
Cover Photo by Marc Campos
Story photo by Charlie Chu
In addition to her duties as a Level One Enforcer for the LA Derby Dolls (where she is known as Fleur de Kille), Marsha Lenox writes and performs stories for Story Salon, the longest running storytelling venue in Los Angeles. Her story ‘The Next Heifetz’ was published in The Story Salon Big Book of Stories. Her articles and essays about traveling and homeschooling have been featured in newspapers and magazines, from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to California Homeschooler. Marsha is also a freelance editor.
