Sacramento State’s UNIQUE program and the Women’s Resource Center hosted “Derby Madness,” a roller derby event performed by the local Sac City Rollers in the University Union Ballroom Thursday March 12.

Many only know of roller derby because of the 2009 feature film “Whip It” starring Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore. The movie involves an indie-rock loving, Texas misfit (Page) finding salvation from coping with her small-town sorrows after discovering a roller derby league in Austin.

Similar to Page’s character, Bliss Cavendar, skaters in roller derby participate in the sport for the same reason.

White Team participant, Candace Keefauver, known as LollygagHER, expressed how she came into roller derby.

“I was coming up on my 30th birthday and I wanted something to keep me in shape,” said Keefauver.

“It was the only exercise I could really tolerate. Someone at the roller rink gave me a flyer and asked if I were interested in the Sac City Rollers rec league, which meets once a week. So it was an easy way to ease into roller derby.”

The Sac City Rollers is Sacramento’s first all-women’s flat track roller derby team. It was established in 2006 and is assembled by 100 active skaters with a strong passion for roller derby.

In 2012, the Sac City Rollers proudly joined the Women’s Flat Track Derby Assocation growing into three competing teams known as the Capitol Punishers, the Folsom Prison Bruisers and the Jailhouse Brats, a junior derby league for girls 10-17 years old.

When asked about the game, Katie Radechek, aka Eradicator, Blue Team participant, gave her perspective on the experience.

“It gives me something to strive for, something to aim for,” said Radechek. “Always to have a different goal in each game. Some nights I might be a little bit off and I can’t perfect my turns but it allows me to really focus on one thing, on accomplishing something, which I really appreciate. I feel like that plays into my regular day life. Whenever I come up with an obstacle, I know that if I strive for anything, I can accomplish anything, no matter what, and this sport helps with that.”

The objectives of roller derby are relatively simple. Each team appoints a single point scoring skater, the jammer, whose task is to lap as many opposing skaters as she can.

The remaining skaters not scoring points, such as the blockers and pivots, work both on offense and defense to block the opposing jammer and clear a path for their own.

Roller derby not only involves clever agility but also induces an adrenaline rush even after a hard fall. White team participant Jessica Sailer aka Bazook-A-Sault, recalled a memory concerning a rough injury.

“One of the worst injuries I’ve ever had was when we were doing drills. I had my knee cap on the ground, and my knee pad slid and as I was about to tap down it jutted to my knee and caused some nerve damage and it was on my birthday. So my 32nd birthday and kind of ruined my whole month of June that year. But it makes for a great story,” said Sailer.

Regardless of whether the skaters participate for the adrenaline, for the enriching values, or for a break from daytime careers as workers of the state, accountant or lab researcher, roller derby is more than just a sport for some.

The ladies of the Sac City Rollers are not only a team they are also a united family. Wendy McClaine, aka Slice N Dice, Blue Team, expressed her warmth for the people she shares the track with.

“This team is a very family-oriented unit. They have your back whenever you have their back, it’s united,” said McClaine.

Roller derby is a passionate sport that allows women to feel empowered and excited outside of average daily events. The Sac City Rollers prove this to be especially true.