(Casper, Wyo.) – An engineer, two nurses, two head start teachers, a server, a grounds keeper and an eye doctor all are lacing up their skates this weekend and donning pads for the 2015 WyoCup Roller Derby Championship!
Ten lovely ladies from the Casper A’Salt Creek Roller Girls team have been skating and training all season long for the Championship round robin tournament in Rock Springs this Saturday and Sunday.
“One jammer, the point scorer, and four blockers take to the rink to score as many points as possible lapping the other team,” explained A’Salt Creek Captain Melanie Tuck Thursday before the WyoCup tournament.
Captain Tuck has been with the team since it’s start in 2009 in Casper and has witnessed girls come and go on the team but was excited for this year’s team at the state event.
“This is the second year of the WyoCup; we took third place last year and we are pretty confident going into the weekend,” Tuck said.
Bouts begin Saturday at 9 a.m. against the host team the Bittersweet Bombshells of Sweetwater County.
Other teams include Jackson Hole Juggernauts, Heart Mountain Wrecks, the Wild West Wreckers, the Powder River Rousta Bout It, and Cheyenne Capidolls.
Tuck continued, “Cheyenne took the Championship last year and we are hoping to end their rein.”
The ladies are 3-2 on the season facing Wyoming teams in the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) and will continue with the season after the Championship.
A’Salt Creek Roller Girls have been skating for nine years now, according to Tuck and the team was started by Casper local, and now president of the club, Jina Moore.
“Moore had a sister who told her about roller derb,y and she took the lead and formed the team. We do lots of community fundraiser events through the year and always try to give back. One of our biggest charity events is we make 50-70 Easter baskets for Casper’s Seton House and we always try to give a portion of our ticket sales back to the community,” said Tuck.
She said the Derby Culture is a sisterhood and how ladies from across Wyoming and the nation have come together for the sport they love.
“Every girl has their strengths and we try to use that, but we all have fun doing it. It’s the weirdest thing to me, I have met people that I don’t think I would have ever met with out roller derby. We have a lot of fun and their is constant action. There is lots of strategy involved and it’s not like the old roller derby and not as rough as people make it out to be.”
Tuck compared the Roller Derby rule book to the ACTs and reported that the girls skate for two thirty minute halves, scoring points, blocking and pushing the opponents off of the track.
She also mentioned the importance of the nicknames the ladies in Roller Derby come up with.
“Having a nickname makes it fun and it takes some time for our girls to come up with their names. Mine is Miss Maladjusted and everybody tries to come up with a special name that means something to them. Gina Moore was always running late for things, so she earned or picked the name Hall Pass because she needed one!”
Captain Tuck finished that their next home bout will be held in Casper on August 15th and the team is excited to return to the Oil City..
The A’Salt Creek Roller Girls are always recruting skaters, refeeres, and volunteers to help out.
For more information about the A’s Salt Creek Roller Girls visit them on Facebook or email them at asaltcreekrollergirls@hotmail.com.
Help us wish the ladies Good Luck this weekend and see the video and photos below: