The city of Ithaca is known for its stunning views of Cayuga Lake, lively festivals, and scenic gorges, but what many people don’t know is that Ithaca has a vibrant roller derby scene, as well.

Inside the Team

Since 2008, Ithaca has been the home for the Ithaca League of Women Rollers, a roller derby team filled with dynamic people of different backgrounds. The team’s main goal is to empower women, keep them active, and bring the community together.

ILWR has their first bout on April 25 and the season will continue until Sep. There are four teams within the organization divided between home and rostered teams. There are two home teams: The Bad Apples, which consists of 16 skaters, and the Grapes of Wrath which hold 16 skaters as well. The last two teams are the rostered teams: The Sufferjets– eight skaters– and the Blue Stockings–15 skaters. The rostered teams skate at away bouts and the home teams skate at home.

Rolling Strong

Sara Ryan, Ithaca League of Women Rollers’ head of publicity, said the team focuses heavily on building community to create a welcoming environment for all women.

“Ithaca League of Women Rollers is a nonprofit organization, so everyone that skates or refs are all members and volunteer to run the organization,” Ryan said. “It’s running the organization that really brings us together.”

Donna Atkinson, level three crossfit coach for the team since 2023 said how she was hired not only to help the team workout and condition, but to also help with team growth and chemistry.

“When they hired me they wanted to do not just fitness but team building,” Atkinson said. “So I do a lot of partner work, a lot of games especially at the beginning, just to encourage camaraderie and fun and play.”

Atkinson also mentioned how special it is that these women have a place to be themselves as have fun.

“Grown ups don’t get to play that much after you grow up.” Atkinson said.

The team hosts events like hangouts and birthday parties all together as they have become very close outside of the team throughout it’s established time.

Finding Community

ILWR promotes not only the empowerment of women, but the empowerment of the LGTBQ+ community as well, fostering an environment where all will feel welcomed.

“I’m a very introverted person, I’ve always been very quiet,” Ryan said. “When I became an adult, it became harder and harder to find a sports league where I felt like I fit in. A lot of the people in roller derby are a lot of marginalized groups, a lot of people that don’t fit in, and it really is a space where everybody is welcome.”

Ryan, as a former basketball player throughout her childhood and teen years, said sports teams often do not include people with different body sizes. However, in roller derby, everybody’s size has a role.

“Being in a sport where being tall and big is valued made me feel really good,” Ryan said.

There are three different positions in roller derby: jammers, pivots, and blockers. Even though there are five skaters on the track at a time, each skater has an important role to play.

“Everybody has a role to play with every different position,” Atkinson said. “It is for every body and every size type. I can say that when that group came in, they were so brave right off the bat. It did not matter what size, what height they were, they were each jumping on a 20 inch box or at least trying on day one.”

The league is under the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, which is the international governing body for the sport of women’s flat track roller derby. One of this organization’s big focuses is uplifting women and nonbinary individuals, while also welcoming transgender individuals.

“It is a community as much as it is a sport,” Ryan said. “So we try to involve people and find a way for them to be involved.”

Moreover, roller derby encourages women to be strong, which challenges traditional ideas of femininity. ILWR has given these women a safe space to express themselves.

“It is a sport. Yes, it doesn’t follow certain guidelines of other women’s sports sometimes with image,” Ryan said.

Speaking of image, ILWR gives each skater their own “derby name”, a nickname that each individual skater picks for themself that is far from their real name. Sara Ryan’s derby name, for example, is “Auntie Biotic” since she used to work in microbiology.

Other skaters have derby names like Kildere, Trouble helix, Storm Surge, and Alpaca Punch.

“The bravery and bad-assery is really fun to watch.” Atkinson said.”