SJ "Ess Jay" Nolan is the president and manager of Bangkok Roller Derby. I can imagine you going, "Wait, there's a Bangkok Roller Derby?". Yes, yes there is, and for the past six years or so, the team has been going pretty strong. They want to spread the word about roller derby and have more people involved so they can eventually set up Team Thailand officially. How do you join? What's roller derby? How does it work? And can I officially dub myself "Wreck-it Eric"? We sat down with Nolan to find out.
Can you give noobs a brief summary of how roller derby works?
Roller derby is a full contact sport played on quad roller skates. Two teams line up on an oval track. Each team has four skaters known as blockers and one skater who wears a star on their helmet known as a jammer. When the whistle blows, the jammer needs to make their way through the pack of the opposing team's blockers. Once the jammer gets through, they must skate counter-clockwise around the track and get through again to start scoring points. When they make it through the second time, one point is scored for each opposing team blocker that the jammer passes at the hip. Rounds known as "jams" last at maximum for two minutes. The first jammer to get through the back becomes "lead jammer" and can call off the jam when they choose.
How long has Bangkok Roller Derby been around? How has it changed over the years?
BRD was started in 2013 by professional skater Enid Blight'em. She was able to gather a handful of new derby skaters to form Thailand's first and only team. Since then the team has had a few changes in leadership due to people moving in and out of Thailand and has welcomed a tonne of new and experienced members to the league.
Why did you guys decide to start Bangkok Roller Derby?
Love of the sport and wanting it to have a place in Thailand!
Is it strictly just for women?
BRD welcomes all genders although most of our members are women. Women's roller derby in general is the more well-known and followed, but in many places there are men's teams, co-ed teams and even teams for kids!
Why do you want more people to get involved in roller derby in Bangkok?
We would like to see the sport grow in Asia and would also like to eventually create Team Thailand for basically what is the Olympics of derby, the Roller Derby World Cup. For Team Thailand to happen, we will need more Thai national skaters or skaters living in other places who have Thai heritage. This is two years away at least but we would like to get things in motion!
Each player has a cool roller derby name. How do you get your name?
Many skaters choose names that become their alter-ego and persona, something that embodies you on track compared to your everyday life. Lately, there have been many professional skaters that are choosing to use their own legal name as their derby name. My derby name is 'SJ' spelt phonetically. It's been my nickname since before I can remember so I just went with that.
For those who are interested in joining, do you guys offer a training course of some sort?
We run an open training every Wednesday, 7pm at the Roller Dome Emporium. We do ask that if you are interested in joining, that you contact us via Facebook to let us know beforehand so our coaches can prepare for the session accordingly.
In a few weeks, you'll be going head-to-head with a team from Hong Kong. How is the team prepping for the bout?
Wednesday trainings and a few extra practices added so we can be ready! This game is very important to us because it is the first time we are playing together as a team. Also, we've recently have had skater Mae Dae join us and take over as head coach to provide our team with valuable training. Mae Dae runs a non-profit called Derby Without Boarders that aims to bring derby to parts of the world where it isn't easily accessible, like Thailand.
Is there a league you are a part of? Will we see more international bouts in the future?
We are a member of the Inter-Asian league called the Pan-Asian Spring Rollers, which is comprised of Bangkok, Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong roller derby teams. Because roller derby is a sport that is still growing in Asia (with the exception of Japan), we hadn't been able to hold bouts or other derby events due to lack of numbers or just access to other established leagues, in general. Our closest neighbouring teams are these leagues that are the members of Pan-Asian. Every few months we get together in one of our cities and hold a derby training boot camp followed by a game where all Pan-Asian skaters get mixed up and play against each other.
What's in store for Bangkok Roller Derby?
Tonnes of excitement, more public bouts and a growing community of amazing skaters. We'd ultimately love to take Team Thailand to the Roller Derby World Cup someday and at the speed we are going it very well can be possible!
Visit www.fb.com/BangkokRollerDerby, email bangkokrollerderby@gmail.com or call 099-434-1596.
