Arkansas Rollin’ Queens

I had the pleasure of marching in Little Rock’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 2014. It was a one way trip. It started in Little Rock, looped through downtown, crossed the bridge over the Arkansas River, and ended up in North Little Rock.

I was now in North Little Rock, but my car was back in Little Rock. Was I to walk the parade route backwards to my car?

Heck no. Not when I could hitch a ride with the trailer filled with roller derby queens.

The roller derby team from Cabot, Arkansas, did the parade on roller skates. The team had enough foresight to have a pick-up truck and trailer meet them at the end of the route to drive them back to the starting point. The trailer had just enough room for one more passenger, and I had just enough courage to hitch a ride.

If you are as old as I am, you might remember roller derby on television. It looked brutal, but was more theatrical than athletic competition. It was only a tad more real than big-time wrestling. That was the image I took with me when I hopped into the trailer.

What I discovered was something totally different. I trailer full of giggly young girls and wonderful young women – all of whom love to skate and love to compete.

Roller derby is in the infancy of a grass roots revival. There are nearly 200 adult leagues in the U.S., and many youth leagues. It is even more popular in other parts of the globe, and was considered for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. It is, indeed, a real sport which combines skating skills and teamwork. It is still a contact sport with colorful team names (like Derby Dames, Knockers, Vixens, Bombshellz, and Betties).

The Cabot women are in the GRITS league, which stands for Girls Rollin’ In The South. The girls (one was only 11 years old) are on the youth team.

I didn’t have an opportunity to watch them skate, but I’m certain they are fantastic. I most certainly will watch a GRITS game the next time I’m in Arkansas.