By day, they are schoolteachers, accountants and stay-at-home moms. Sunday nights are a different story.
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The Soul City Sirens are Augusta's only roller derby team. Women on roller skates gain points by pushing and blocking other players out of the way in order to pass them.
The Sirens were started three years ago by Jessica Thompson, who long had been interested in roller derby but could not find a team nearer than one hour away. Thompson advertised an informational meeting through word of mouth and the Internet and said she was shocked when 17 people showed up for the first meeting. Almost all of those agreed to help her form the Soul City Sirens.
That first year was spent training because all of the women were novice derby skaters. After that, they started competing and ended their 2010 season Sunday night with a 158-92 win for a 9-1 record.
Kim Smock, or "Princess Whackaho" as she is known on the rink, skates as a jammer, which means she skates through gaps in the other team's defense to rack up points.
Sunday's bout was Smock's last. She said leaving is bittersweet. Smock has had several derby-related injuries. She has been knocked unconscious several times and has had stitches on her chin and elbow.
Roller derby still has a special place in her heart, however, so she will still come around and help train new recruits.
"They're not going to get rid of me that easily," she said.
Injuries are a big part of roller derby -- putting the rink's sign reading "Skate at your own risk" in a whole new perspective.
Derby players wear mouth guards, helmets, knee pads, wrist guards and elbow pads.
"Derby is not kind to you," said Kristan Flores, otherwise known as "Damn Yankee."
Does all the blocking and hitting help release personal aggression and anger?
"Absolutely," Flores said. "My best hitting day was the day I had to fire someone (at work)."
The most unusual aspect of roller derby, as all the players agreed, is the camaraderie among the teams.
"We'll try to kill each other on the rink and then go buy each other beers at the after-bout party," Flores said.
Yes Emery, she is. She will start next season, I hope. Last nights bout was insane!
AC, unless they lost last night, their record was reported at the game of only having one loss.
I agree with Indigo. I'm almost postive they have only one loss. It was a great bout last night. They are awesome.
Last night game was just great. These women put their heart and souls into the game ~~ as well as time spent in practice and money to keep this team going. 9 wins and 1 loss for the year...a great season for their first year out. It was nice to see the crowds get larger and larger as the Sirens reputation got out there. Good luck next year !!
Yes, the record is 9-1. The other team last night did great. They lost one of their better girls to injury in the first half, "Laya Landmine." We are losing four girls next season, but have some great prospects getting trained up. It takes about 8 months to train up and qualify for the insurance you have to have to skate. I wish they would get more publicity with the sports media.
Hi, I'm Inskatiable #020 from the Soul City Sirens. We are 9-1 this year, not 9-2. This is actually our 3rd Season. It's our 2nd full season. We only had an exhibition bout and 1 away bout in 2008. Our next season starts on Feb. 20th at Red Wing Rollerway! Here is our full calendar for next year! Checkout www.soulcitysirens.com for details closer to the date!
February 20 HOME Panama City Roller Derby (Panama City, FL)
March 26 AWAY Richland County Regulators (Columbia, SC)
April 17 HOME Chattanooga Roller Girls (Chattanooga, TN)
May 14 AWAY Panama City Roller Derby (Panama City, FL)
June 12 HOME Columbia Quad Squad (Columbia, SC)
August 21 HOME Classic City Roller Girls (Athens, GA)
September 18 HOME Rogue Rollergirls (Fayetteville, NC)
October 23 HOME URGE (Greenville, SC)
November 19 AWAY Rogue Rollergirls (Fayetteville, NC)
Hi everyone, sorry about the typo in regards to the Siren's record. They did indeed have a 9-1 record, and that mistake has been corrected in the story. Thanks for the sharp eyes!
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