Martinez 'Derby Girl' Recalls Brief Brush with Skating Glory

Like most kids, Betsy Koetz liked to roller skate as a child.

But the A. Vito Martinez Middle School dean’s office secretary had no idea her youthful fun would turn into a brief career competing in Roller Derby.

Koetz says it all started about three or four years ago when she and her husband, Trevan, were watching a television special on the sport that got its start in Chicago 75 years ago and has blossomed into a world-wide sensation.

“I mentioned to him that roller derby was something that I always wanted to do,” Koetz recalled. “He had a friend who was involved in it so he talked to her.”

The next thing she knew, she was lacing up the skates and trying out for the Illinois Valley Vixens in Ottawa.

“The last time I roller skated before that was when I took my 14-year-old daughter to a birthday party when she was 5 or 6,” Koetz said. “There was a pretty big gap. It was tough to get back on skates.”

But she made the team as a blocker, playing both offense and defense as she and other blockers tried to help her team’s jammers score points by passing the other team’s pack.

Koetz, a 16-year Martinez veteran who also serves as Student Services secretary while overseeing attendance and managing lockers, spent a year with the Ottawa club before joining the Black Widow Derby Ghouls who were in the process of moving from Tinley Park to the Main Street Rink in Romeoville.

“I grew up skating there,” said the Jane Addams Middle School and Bolingbrook High School graduate. “It was fun.”

Her career with the Derby Ghouls came to a sudden stop in a practice bout when she was blindsided and taken down.

“I landed full force on my knees and ended up doing the splits. I don’t do splits,” she said. “So I took some time off to recuperate.”

Koetz returned to the rink briefly but family commitments and time constraints forced her to retire. Shortly after she left, the Derby Ghouls disbanded because their rink was sold.

“It was just three years. But it was the best three years of my life,” she said. “I do miss it for the exercise and the friendships. Once you’re a Derby Girl, you’re always a Derby Girl.”

Submitted by Valley View School District 365U