Hoboken Derby Girls Play Hard

Recently, Hoboken Patch introduced you to two local rollerderby athletes—Melissa Nat, a.k.a. J. Cruel, and Monika Smyczek, a.k.a. Kitty Von Karnage—who skate with Garden State Rollergirls. The league recently opened their season at the Inline Skating Club of America in Wallington, and we wanted to check in and see how the women performed.

Hoboken resident Nat, who plays under the derby name of J. Cruel, said that the March 13th event was sold-out beforehand, and despite a torrential downpour that caused flooding around much of North Jersey, "about 400" people showed up to the event.

"It was a really great way to make our debut at the new venue, and we think that bodes well for our upcoming bouts," said Nat.

During the bout, the league was split into three St. Patrick's Day-themed teams – Irish Carbombshells, Pot O' Gold Diggers and the Erin Go Brawls – who all played each other round-robin style for 25 minutes. At the end of the night, the winning team was chosen based on their cumulative number of points.

In the end, it was the Erin Go Brawls— a team that Smyczek played on—that took the victory with 117 points. The MVP of the game was a player named Bitty Boom Boom.

The Pot O' Gold Diggers scored 78 points and Bozie Banger was named their MVP.

"For some of (the players), it was their first time skating with the team," said Nat, who played with the Irish Carbombshells (whose team score was 58 points, and MVP's were Killa Waltz and Slam N Legs).

"When it's a real game, it's a completely different feeling (than practice) and a lot of the girls handle it with grace," said Nat. "We have our Saturday practice (at Wallington), but it's a different floor – we were used to skating on wood and this is a sport court with a different texture. It feels different when you're skating on it, it's not what you're necessarily used to."

And like most rollerderby bouts, pageantry and fun abounded. The players wore team costumes of white, green or orange, and fans made signs to cheer on their favorite players.

"My family made signs, it's really cute," said Nat. "People were encouraged to dress in the color of teams they rooted for."

A lot of the time, rollerderby is made out to be a dangerous sport, and while sometimes elbows fly and skaters get knocked down, luckily, there were no serious injuries with the Garden State Rollergirls.

"Everyone had some falls, but everyone stayed healthy," said Nat.

All in all—despite the rainy conditions—the opening event was a success and, according to Nat, got the league excited for the rest of the season.

"It'll show more people what derby is about, and we'll have support when we're skating against other leagues," she said.

The league's next bout is on April 17 against the Lehigh Valley Rollergirls at ISCA in Wallington, NJ. Doors are at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are on sale here.