Roller Derby
This article appeared as a web extra for The 99¾«Æ·ÊÓƵ Magazine, Fall 2008.
Adrienne van der Valk '97 never expected to become an avid participant in roller derby, but that's exactly what happened. She loves the "brazen, post-feminist flamboyance, pin-up punk aesthetic" of the sport, evident in these photos by Angie Ponso.
- Adrienne van der Valk seems to be keeping an eye out for marauding competitors as she flies around the floor.
- Aches, pains, and "gnarly bruises" are definitely a part of the mix, van der Valk says.
- Modern roller derby athletes include "teachers, welders, landscapers, attorneys, therapists, bartenders, and students," van der Valk says. About half of these women are mothers — and very tough mothers, indeed.
- Van der Valk says she was lured into roller derby by the "excitement and the girl-power" but she stayed for the sport.
- Roller derby has changed since the days of Kansas City Bomber, says Adrienne van der Valk. For one thing, she competes in a flat-track league, rather than the banked track leagues of the past. And fighting is not allowed.
- Van der Valk’s league, the Emerald City Roller Girls, is a nonprofit, skater-run affairs, unlike "professional" clubs of the past.
- Adrienne van der Valk says she plans to compete until she is broken — "And I hope I skate until I die," she adds.