Fast skates, alter egos and terror on wheels seem like the proper reintroduction to the world of roller derby and Butte County’s Nor Cal Roller Girls.
Chico’s only roller derby team is returning to its own track at Cal Skate this Saturday for its first home game since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
“It's beyond exciting. We're having the derby dreams and every second is devoted to making sure this bout goes off without a hitch,” said coach Jacque Lewkowicz. “We're just really excited to get our fans back, have a normal schedule for next season and just bring [roller derby] back to Chico.”
Known as “Killn” on the track, Lewkowicz has been lacing up her own skates with the team in some capacity for more than 15 years, and coaching the Roller Girls for a little more than two years.
“You have to have a real passion for this sport because it's hard-hitting, it is a dangerous sport at times,” Lewkowicz said. “You have to trust your teammates, and you have just intense camaraderie with everyone on the track.”
The birth of roller derby began in the 1930s during the Great Depression, when Leo Seltzer, a sports promoter in Chicago, decided to blend roller skating with added entertainment purposes.
For the genesis of the Nor Cal Roller Girls, one must go back to 2006; a time when “Hannah Montana” first graced the Disney Channel, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series, and Daniel Powter was reminding us we had a “Bad Day.”
The journey began three years after for Shannon Simmons, in 2009, when she attended her first game. She found the sound of the skates clashing together thrilling, and eventually became a member in 2011.
"I just remember thinking I could never do this; this seemed really intimidating," Simmons said. "I just fell in love with it and never looked back. I definitely say you got to dare to suck when you're first starting out."
Coming from a family with a music background, Simmons combined two of her favorite songs for her derby name: “Bad Vibrations.” It derives from a combination of The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and Arcade Fire's "Black Wave / Bad Vibrations."
Simmons says Saturday’s return home is more than just a welcome back for the Nor Cal Roller Girls. It’s gaining time that the pandemic took away.
In March 2020, Simmons was anticipating the first home game of the season, but unfortunately she suffered an illness and didn’t get to skate. The pandemic followed. Then the birth of her daughter. Her day on the track never came.
“This is my first time playing a game in five years, so it feels really significant,” Simmons said. “I feel like I have to prove to myself that I can still do it.”
Roller derby might best be described as a relay race mixed with the unapologetic and aggressiveness of a lucha libre wrestling match.
It’s a wheel-scratching, face-planting and helmet-cracking good time. Despite all of the crashes, falls, and pileups, it’s a game played with a ton of heart.
Team captain Emmy Tilson, known on the track as “Smother Teresa,” knows the dedication, countless hours of practice and physical toll the team has endured.
“The team effort is everything. Not only for the actual game and trying to win, but for everything else that goes into it,” Tilson said. “We are completely volunteer-based, we're all here because we want to be, and we put everything together ourselves.”
Nonetheless, she says the team hopes the community will join in on the fun, and support this year’s only home game.
"My best days have been with this team; I don't know who I would be without it," Tilson said. "I look back at old pictures of games and stuff, and I can just see the joy in my face and my teammates' faces, and it's just something we all really love and have made so many friends through, and I don't know where I'd be without it."
The Nor Cal Roller Girls are taking on the Motherlode Area Derby team from Sonoma County on Saturday. There will be a raffle, costume contest, food, and a beer garden.
The event takes place at Cal Skate, 2465 Carmichael, Dr. in Chico.
Tickets are $15, with doors opening at 7:00 p.m., and the first whistle blow at 7:30 p.m.
