Riverside Resident Rocks Providence Roller Derby

The clacking of roller skates and the thumping of bodies slamming into each other recently echoed through open space of the Rhode Island Convention Center. It was all part of the Providence Roller Derby’s regular practice, a vital part in keeping its all-female athletes prepare to do battle on the rink.

Among the athletes gliding back and forth was Amber Fearn of East Providence. Originally from Colorado, the 34-year-old moved to Riverside with her partner ten years ago. They bought her partner's mother's Riverside home from her and jokingly call it the "family mansion," — even though it's a condo.

By all appearances, Fearn seems to have settled into life as a Townie. She follows East Providence High School sports, and when giving her phone number, she doesn’t bother giving the assumed 401 area code. She appreciates how " fun and quirky" and "beautiful" Rhode Island is, and thinks the accent is "amazing."

Before the physically intense practice began, Fearn opened up about why she chose to play roller derby in her late twenties.

“I really need to do something cool and exciting," she said. "I need to have a bigger social structure. I want to get out more and not sit on the couch all day.”

“Cool and exciting” certainly sums up the experience of the sport. The names that the athletes choose for themselves walk the line between hardcore and playful. Fearn’s skating name is Sally Riot, and she plays for the team the Old Money Honeys, one of five in the state’s league.

Despite being her team’s captain last year and showing a propensity toward adventure, Fearn says that athletics were never a part of her identity.

“I never played sports, never in my life, really,” she said. “I think I ran intramural track in seventh grade, and it was terrible, just terrible,” she said, laughing. “I took a look at roller derby and realized that this is the type of community that I want to be involved in, and I didn’t know how to get involved any other way. The rest of my life is very by the book, and I needed something that was a bit more rebel on the side.”

The 50-member Providence Roller Derby league goes out of its way to support other non-profits that members feel passionate about. They have swung hammers for Habitat for Humanity and organized blood drives. Many of the bouts also function as fundraising events, solidifying that the sport is much more than a group of bold women skating around in circles.

The game has a clear set of rules, and everyone involved takes the competition very seriously, as Christina Johnson of Wyoming, Rhode Island (aka Rhode Kill) explains.

“In a simple nutshell, there are four girls from each team that are in the pack,” Johnson said. “There are different positions, but everybody needs to be capable of switching positions at all times.”

According to Johnson, there are four members of each team on the rink at once, plus two jammers who score points. The jammers need to get through the pack one time and every girl from the opposing team that they pass thereafter is worth one point. If a jammer from an opposing team gets stuck in another pack, and the other jammer passes, five points are awarded.

Even with the technical lingo and physically exhaustive practice drills, the feeling of community was evident at a recent practice. After pairing up to repeatedly slam into each other, the girls would shake each other’s hands and trade smiles. Each physically intensive body-check was later accompanied by words of encouragement, delivered with an undertone of respect.

As someone who moved to Rhode Island not knowing many people, this is something that Fearn appreciates.

“The great thing about derby is that [you have] instantly 50 new friends,” she said.