Bone-crushing ladies on tiny wheels clash in Joburg

The first-ever roller derby tournament between two African countries took place in Johannesburg last weekend.

Pitting north versus south, the Cairollers, from Cairo Egypt, rolled into the city to test their skills against Joburg’s Golden City Rollers and mixed-team the Pan-African Rollers.

Cairollers is a league in Cairo made up of different teams. Different skaters were selected from the league to form a team to travel to South Africa for the event.

Roller derby is a full-contact sport, played predominantly by women on roller skates. Injuries are common, yet the sport is an adrenaline-fuelled test of what is possible when competitive speed-racing (on eight small wheels) and wrestling collide. With competitors boasting names such as the Iron Tyrant, Conqueror, Deeablo, Lucifear and Betty Bone Crusher, among others, theatrics form an integral part of the spectacle.

Roller derby is the fastest growing women’s sport in the world with over 1,200 leagues internationally. This tournament’s competition was fierce.

Photographer Michel Bega was there to capture the action.

Aimée Plank (pictured), who goes by the name Iron Tyrant, tells how roller derby names are like personas or alter egos that skaters adopt when they start playing. “The names can be funny, punny, or simply just badass. It is also a kind of a rite of passage in our sport – you spend all your early training years thinking up the perfect name and, when you are finally ready to bout, you step up and earn your name. However, what often starts out as a silly or cheeky ‘stage name’ quickly becomes a huge part of who you are as a person. Roller derby can take who you are and who you want to be and make them both the truest form of you.” Picture: Michel Bega

GCR spokesperson Delia du Toit (derby name Deeablo) explained her attraction to the sport: “I went to a game in 2014 and was just in awe of these women being complete badasses and I wanted to be one of them. I guess part of what attracted me to it is the empowerment aspect of it – going against everything a good Afrikaans girl is ‘supposed’ to be. Roller derby has taught me to stand up for myself and become stronger – both physically and emotionally.”

Picture: Michel Bega

The tournament was conducted in a round-robin style, with each team playing each other, then the two best teams facing off in a final. GCR took the honours beating Pan-African Rollers 285-37.

Fikile Dlamini (The FixR), playing for Pan-African Rollers, from Durban Roller Derby. Picture: Michel Bega

The sports attracts athletes from a variety of professions.

“At the moment, we have a school teacher, head of an insurance brokerage, journalist, make-up artist, tattoo artist, IT specialist, art director, zoologist and a few designers and copywriters,” said Du Toit. “Also, a mom!”

Referee “Miss Conduct” is seen in action during the final. Picture: Michel Bega

Du Toit detailed some of the injuries experienced in this full-contact sport: “I’ve torn the MCL ligament on both knees (two separate occasions, luckily). Honestly, the worst part was not the injury, but having to take three months off from practice! There have been broken ankles and ribs here and there in the league, but muscle and ligament injuries are the most common. Concussions also happen quite frequently. And, we all walk away with a few bruises after practices – they become like a badge of honour. New skaters are usually super excited about their first decent bruise.”

Domagala is seen resting between jams. Picture: Michel Bega

Du Toit points out: “An entry-level pair of new skates starts at around R2,500, and a full kit with knee guards, elbow guards, wrist guards, a mouth guard and helmet around R3,500. The rules of the game state that you’re not allowed to play without all this gear. My personal kit, upgraded over the years, is worth around R15,000.”

Cairollers trains and skates at the Cairo International Stadium. Picture: Michel Bega

Cairollers trains and skates at the Cairo International Stadium. The skaters in the league train twice a week for two hours per training session. Twelve skaters and two referees made the trip to Joburg. GCR also train twice a week. Most of the team skaters do additional exercise including crossfit training, gym and running.

“Fitness and strength make a huge difference to your level of play in roller derby,” explained Du Toit.

Jammer for GCR Rozi Birk (Betty Bone Crusher) takes a corner during a bout. Picture: Michel Bega

The sport is played by two teams of five members, simultaneously skating counter-clockwise on a flat-track circuit. Each team designates a scoring player, known as the “jammer“, with the other four members being “blockers”. One ‘jam’ lasts about two minutes and a full ‘bout’ lasts about an hour. The blockers protect the jammer, and the jammer scores points for overtaking the opponents’ blockers. Certain types of blocks and other plays are violations for which referees call penalties and require violators to serve time in the “Sin Bin”. The skaters endure bumps, bruises, bloody noses and broken bones.

May (pictured), from the Cairollers, goes by her roller derby name Qahera, which translates to Conqeror. She has been roller-skating for three years. Picture: Michel Bega

Picture: Michel Bega

To toast the occasion, the tournament, hosted at the Uniao Portuguesa (Portuguese recreational club) in Turffontein, was dubbed “A Frican Good Time”.

Alongside the Golden City Rollers and Cairollers, the Pan-African Rollers team was made up of skaters from the Durban Roller Derby, Cape Town Rollergirls and guest skaters from the UAE All Stars.

As Du Toit explained: “The event will certainly serve as a springboard for growing the sport in Africa and sending local teams to participate in more international tournaments.”

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