Whip It, in real life.

A little over a year ago, I was sitting on Folly Beach with the boys when Teague darted off toward a little girl I’d never seen.  She was playing in the sand with her mom and little sister, and I soon found out that she went to school with Teague, though they weren’t in the same class.  I sat down with them and quickly realized that this little girl’s mom was hilariously one-of-a-kind.  And after about 10 minutes of talking to her, she revealed she was thinking about trying out for the Roller Derby team.

I didn’t know much about Roller Derby back then.  I kind of thought it was a fictional sport.  Then, I saw the movie Whip It starring Ellen Page.  I don’t think it did well in theaters and most people only knew about it because it was Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut.  But I thought it was a great story and as a sport, it fascinated me. 

A month or so later when the kids went back to school, Teague and Ella ended up being in the same class.  After discussing why we never hung out (we live about 3 streets apart), Heather told me she had, in fact, tried out for the team and made it.  I was blown away.  This is a full-contact, dangerous activity.  These women don’t hold back.  And considering that I’d taken Teague roller skating a few weeks earlier and had him trip me (while I may or may not have been roller dancing) and I had a bruise the size of a baseball on my butt, I couldn’t imagine going facedown onto those hard floors.  I had to see this in person.

The first bout we attended was surreal.  I had no idea what the rules were.  The derby-names the girls use demanded most of my attention.  There were a bunch of strange hand gestures which, to me, had no meaning.  And the glow-in-the-dark hula hooping girls at half-time had me mesmerized. 

Then I located a rule book.  Learned the terms.  And finally figured out how you score points.  By that time, the bout was over. 

Since then, we have been to almost every home bout.  It’s a great activity for the whole family or even just for a date night.  There’s so much energy in McAlister Field House when the team skates in, and the Lowcountry genuinely adores its Highrollers.  If you’re in Chucktown tomorrow night, there is a Bout at 5:00.  The doors open at 4:00.  We’ll be there.  And thanks Jay and Heather for always hooking us up with the VIP tickets!