Rock And Roll

Those who've never experienced roller derby have extra incentive to attend Northwest Arkansas Roller Derby games this year, with the addition of a beer garden by Core Brewery, halftime performances by the Elite Dance Company of Fayetteville, after-parties at Smitty's Garage and the promise that if you don't "get it," a roller derby member will come explain the game to you.

"Roller derby is hard sport to learn," says Jasmine "Jett" Jetton, president of the Northwest Arkansas Roller Derby. "So we want to give them other reasons to come back and enjoy their time with us."

"At first, it doesn't make sense," adds Hope "The Great Wall of Gina" Watts. "It might seem bizarre, but we'll explain it to you, how it's played and people often, when they find out the rules of the game, they enjoy it and get into it."

The Northwest Arkansas Roller Derby is among the rising stars of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association.

Its ninth year, which begins Sunday with a double-header against Mo-Kan Roller Girlz of Joplin, Mo., embodies a lot of promise for the team that moved up 40 rungs of the ladder to land a placement of 71 out of roughly 300 registered teams in 2014.

"This is an exciting time for us because we're in a place where we are a few ranking spots away from a large international tournament," says Jetton. "We've carefully picked our games and who we're playing to make it to that tournament."

It's a goal the organization has been working toward for three years now by practicing three times a week and constantly expanding the team base to include as many women as possible.

"Last season, we weren't sure how we were going to do," says Watts. "We surprised ourselves. We were so close last year and just missed the top 60."

Once a derby team makes the top 60 of the association, they are eligible for division tournaments -- the big time.

The jump was enough for other teams to sit up and take notice.

"We have a lot of sister leagues who told us, 'You guys are looking good,'" Watts says. "We surprised a lot of people. 'Who are these Arkansas girls and where did they come from?' They had no idea we were going to be that good, but we're slowly making a name for ourselves."

The organization has grown enough to have two fully fleshed out teams -- the Northwest Arkansas Natural Disasters, made up of the newest members who play games close to home, and the All-Stars, the more seasoned players who play away games and the most senior matches.

Some of these new members bring expertise from other derby teams around the country. Watts, for instance, transferred from a team in Tallahassee, Fla., when her husband moved to Arkansas for work, and a few of the newest members transferred from Mo-Kan.

Having that change of allegiance should make for an interesting first match of the year, team members say. The last time the two teams went head to head, they were fairly evenly matched.

"We know a lot of those girls, and it's fun to play against someone we know," says Trina "Carbomb" Carmon. "Last year, the first game we played against them came down to the very last minute. ... It could be close again, but we'll be trying to break up that tie from last season."

"Last time we played at their home rink, and there's a huge difference playing somewhere else and somewhere you're comfortable," Jetton says. "We do really well at home games, having a lot of fans and family members [who] attend. It makes the stakes higher to impress them and make them feel proud."

Next month the team hopes to win over more people who are unfamiliar with roller derby by hosting a Shamrock 5K and one mile fun run, where members will dress as bulls and encouragingly chase running contenders with inflatable bats as a fun way to support women's athleticism.

"We keep in shape to do this sport," Watts says. "And this is a great way to have fun with it. We want to share our love of roller derby."

NAN What's Up on 02/20/2015