Bionic Baby Doll, Silicon Valley Roller Girls

Today's Derby Girl of the Day is inspiring, because it shows the kind of love for the game and determination one has to not give up or fade away after an injury. Congratulations to Bionic Baby Doll!

Photography by D.E.sign.

She was nominated by her friend Jillian:  "Bionic BabyDoll formly known as Broken BabyDoll lives in Northern California and is part of the Silicon Valley Roller Girls. BB Doll has been with the league from the beginning and helped it get its start. Through those years she has had quite the journey. Her biggest challenge was having to have two back surgeries.Even though she could not skate she continued to be part of the league volunteering and helping in any way she could. Eventually she was able to use skating as part of her physical therapy to help build strength and muscle. As her back healed and stamina returned she started reffing with a goal to get back on the team. With lots of work and determination she is happily skating on the teams KillaBytes (which she was Captain 2011 season) and Dot.Kamikazes for SVRG getting bruised up and hip checking!"

CAT 'er Pillar, Dublin Roller Girls

Today's incredible  Roller Derby Girl of the Day is CAT 'er Pillar, # M140 (it's like cat's MEOW) from Dublin Roller Girls.  CAT 'er Pillar was nominated by her team mate Cleoraptor who said about her:
I think CAT 'er Pillar should be roller derby girl of the day as well as being awesome on skates, she is amazing behind the lens and takes brilliant photographs of her team mates. My family back home now know what roller derby is thanks to her! She helped me get through freshmeat, she is amazingly skillful, she has excellent endurance, a wonderful mind set and is willing to share all to help her team mates!

I was emailing with CAT 'er Pillar and she told me a little bit more about her herself and how she got into Roller Derby.  I think this exemplifies really well how much of a community we have in this sport and how anyone willing to strap on skates is welcome.  I hope anyone reading this who is just considering joining is inspired:

 I'm Italian, in Italy there's no roller derby and I knew about this sport on the airline mag, flying from Dublin to Rome.

 I always loved skating (I did figure skating but I quit a half of my life ago!) so I decided to meet the girls. LOVED IT! They've been very welcoming since first moment. I started with no understanding my coach 's instruction, just watching and doing the same, but playing roller derby with DRG I also improved my English!  It's weird to say, 'cause roller derby is a full contact sport with pads and mouthguards, but thanks to roller derby I found my way to be feminine and a tough way to use my body with fun.

 I'm a photographer, when I don't play, for injuries or in bouts where I'm not in, I take pictures for my team: I love when girls can watch their awesome performances and have a photo of their best actions, I want to make them full ofderbypride, it helps to be competitive!

 I love freshmeat groups and teaching them, I love to share all I can do, on skates and off.
 My derby name has been inspired by Caterpillar work machines (I love when someone I've hit falls -safely- on the floor!!), my lovely CAT Bubu, 'er is like a slangy 'the' in Rome, Pillar is a tribute to roman columns.

Juke Nukem, Brisbane City Rollers & Team Australia

The next incredible woman to be featured here is Juke Nukem from Brisbane City Rollers where she plays for the intraleague team City Sirens, and the travel team Punk Blockers.  She is also a member of Team Australia.  And she has been doing this since July of 2010.  I emailed her just before she made the trip to Toronto for World Cup and the advise she wanted to add to her bio was "NEVER GIVE UP".  

Juke Nukem was nominated by her friend and team mate Debby Does D Block who wanted to say this about her:

She is a total gun of a player, blocking, jamming, you name it! The most awesome thing about her is she is always having fun when she plays, and you can tell. Im from a smaller league, and she ran coaching and bootcamps for my league, and is always  ready to support us, answer questions and give us feedback.  Off the track she is the kind of friend all good derby girls deserve, and my life just hit a new level of amazing since i met her. Juke Nukem came to Derby to kick ass and chew bubblegum...and she's all out of gum!!

Vansterdamn XXX, LOCO London Ontario

I struggled with how to decide who to choose to be the very first feature on the blog.  The women who have been submitted are absolutely incredible.  I couldn't possibly choose any one of them to be better than another.  So I made the executive decision to feature women in the order they were submitted.  So without further ado, please meet the very first Roller Derby Girl of the Day - Vansterdamn, from LOCO Roller Derby in London, Ontario.

Vansterdamn has been playing derby since 2006, and says her favorite move is to ride the inside line and basically sit on people.  She screams a lot from the sidelines too.  She is a freelance writer, local historian, and has an 18 month old son.


She was nominated by her friend Knuckle Slamwitch who had this to say:


"I'd like to nominate my friend Vansterdamn XXX for Derby Girl of the Day because she is the person who inspired me to start playing roller derby. She helped found LOCO Low Contact Roller Derby in London, Ontario. She is a tireless advocate for body confidence and is also a very accomplished writer and Lucy Maud Montgomery scholar. And she happens to have one cute kid! She should be featured because she has encouraged so many women to start playing roller derby and accept themselves for who they are."

Why I'm Writing This Blog

There was recently an article posted elsewhere on the internet called "20 Sexy Roller Derby Girls That Will Turn You On To The Sport" and it was... insulting.  It painted Derby Girls as something to be looked at for the sex appeal and one of them featured was even a junior derby player.  And the description I give is taking it easy on the author, which they don't deserve.

I want to say - that is NOT my intention with this blog.  I want to feature a different girl every day for their athleticism, their contribution to their teams, their communities, and the sport.

When I speak to a friend about roller derby, I speak with passion for every single person I've met through the game, and every derby friend I have does as well.  We are a global community with one thing in common - the love of this game and everything that goes with it .  I've been watching Roller Derby World Cup online for the last two days and spent a few hours on site watching it live today, and my heart is melting with happiness for what everyone involved in this weekend has done for the game and for everyone else around the world who plays it.  This is huge.

So I do hope that with the help of the community, this blog can grow into a showcase of all the amazing women out there who contribute to this game.  To nominate yourself or a friend to be featured, you just need to fill out the form here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHNfeGZZSkR0bld4cFZLYlJhbkxvblE6MQ

What I'm looking for:
-Women who run their own derby related blogs
-Derby business owners
-Women who have inspired a friend or a team mate in any way
-Women who play the game and are doing amazing things in their out of derby life
-Women who've made a big contribution to their team or league off skates
-Women who simply love this game
-The girl on your team who bought you a beer at the after party and congratulated you on surviving your first bout.

I want to show the world all the different types of women who play Roller Derby. I want to show that we are strong women who are making a difference in our lives and the lives of people around them.  I want to show them that booty shorts and fish nets are a perk, not the main attraction.

*edit to add* The article I mentioned at the start of this post was NOT this article: http://derbydeeds.com/2011/12/20-roller-derby-girls-001/  THAT article is actually pretty rad.

Earring Winners

Congratulations to Jillian M. from USA who I'm sending a pair of skate earrings for her submission.  Just a reminder that the next draw is November 28th, so if you've already submitted a nomination - why not send in another to get another chance?  I'll keep this post updated with all the winners.

Nov 28th - Gemma from Ireland

Update to Nomination Process

We've made it a little simpler to nominate someone for Derby Girl of the Day.
You can click here to access a super short and simple form to submit your nomination.

Remember - anyone can be nominated. All skill levels and skaters from all countries are welcome!