Macon Magazine

50 maconmagazine.com | April/May 2025 ABOVE The Derby Demons run drills on a Tuesday night. "Sweet Amnesia" Debi Beckler is at the front of the column, center. staged like professional wrestling. "We're athletes on the same level as a rugby player or football player," she said. "While a lot of us like to wear fishnets and everything like that, it's become much more athletic than it was in the '90s." That athleticism involves spinning around a track while on skates. Each team has one jammer, whose job is to lap the opposing team to score points. The other players are called blockers, and they are trying to catch and stop the jammers. It's like a high-speed game of tag, in short, mini-battle sessions called jams where jammers try to zoom around the blockers to rack up points. The positions don't stay the same during all the two-minute jams, so oftentimes, everyone gets a turn to be a part of the action during a "bout" or a full game consisting of two thirty-minute halves. "There is no such thing as a starter or a first-string player" in derby, according to Sweet Amnesia. "Everybody gets to play, everybody gets to block, everybody gets to jam. Everybody has so much time on the track that you don't feel like you're sitting benched all the time." This is another aspect that is touted as inclusive and empowering. There's a spot for anyone who is interested. "It doesn't matter who you are outside of here, we're all equal," said Queen B. "As long as you put in the work, anybody can do it. It doesn't matter how tall, short, it doesn't even matter if you skate," Kimchi agreed. The players train from the ground up – no prior knowledge is needed to start. At the end of practice, the team skated backwards in a pack, each recounting a positive moment of the evening or giving another team member praise. Watching from outside of the track, the encouragement and hype felt infectious. "We're real big on communication. We're making sure that as skaters, we understand what we're doing, why we're doing it, and how we'll apply it in gameplay," Queen B noted. trained by Laurel Cordell, known as Dr. Who's Yer Mama – Mama, for short. It's broadly considered a women's league, but Queen B is quick to point out that the team is affirming and inclusive to all marginalized genders, including non-binary people, transgender women, and intersex athletes. WFTDA has released several statements confirming this over the years, including a recent one this February after a presidential executive order aimed to limit transgender participation in women's sports. Over the years, the team has waxed and waned with interest. "There's been a lot of history where we'll build up our team. Then people either move away, or decide to retire, or whatnot," Kimchi explained. The coronavirus pandemic also made a major impact, according to Sweet Amnesia. "We had four people left," she said. "They made very strict stipulations because we are on top of each other, pretty much. You're as close as you can be." "There's no being six feet apart in a contact sport," added Kimchi. E V E RY B O DY G E T S T O J A M That's why the players get hooked. "Derby is uncomfortable, and I think in today's world, sometimes we don't push ourselves out of our comfort zone. Derby makes us do that," offered Queen B. Most of the players I spoke to felt like the rough-and-tumble nature of the derby helps them defy society's expectations of them day-to-day – especially as women and marginalized genders. "I hit my friends with consent. I know that's silly to say, but it relieves a lot of tension built up every day. It's a great outlet," Kimchi said. Queen B believes there's a misconception that because it's a full-contact sport, that roller derby is

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