Taking names like Southern Hostility, Scrappy Sue and the Bruise Whisperer, Arkansas women are breathing new life into the sport of roller derby.
Megan Darnold, 28, who becomes Madame Madness when she skates with the Little Rock Derby Girls, grew up in California watching the Los Angeles Thunderbirds and the Bay City Bombers on television. She recalls heading out to her driveway afterward at age 7 or 8 with her best friend.
"We'd go outside and we'd knock the crap out of each other on skates," she says. After being involved in competitive sports all her life, she has returned to her childhood favorite.
"This basically combines the aspects of a lot of different sports I've enjoyed over the years, like football and hockey and freestyle skating all rolled into one," she says.
The Little Rock Derby Girls have held two bouts at their home rink, Arkansas Skatium, 1311 S. Bowman Road, Little Rock. They have a benefit exhibition scheduled for Friday and a March 1 bout with the Backwoods Betties of the Northwest Arkansas Rollergirls league, which is in its second year of action.
For more information see today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
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