Roller derby skaters kick off blood drive
It was a day of blood and passion — for a cause — with few if any screams. Thank God no one fainted. Saturday’s “Make ‘Em Bleed’’ annual roller derby blood drive kicked off a series of summertime American Red Cross events scheduled nationwide in partnership with local roller derby teams during what is normally one of the toughest times of year for such donations.
Created by ticketing company Brown Paper Tickets and Jerry Seltzer, the Sonoma-based son of the inventor of roller derby, the blood drive’s catchy title was enough to draw 59-year-old John Cook to the event at the Silver Creek Sportsplex near his Evergreen home.
“I’ve been giving blood for many years, in churches and historic places,” said the tech consultant. “But when I saw this listing, I was like, ‘What in the world? I’m not familiar with this organization.’ ”
Upon learning about the connection to the Silicon Valley Roller Derby team — the first of at least five Bay Area teams that have scheduled upcoming blood drives — he chuckled.
“I didn’t even know they did that anymore,’’ said an astonished Cook, who remembers watching the matches on TV while growing up in Alabama.
“They all had the same outfits,’’ he recalled: “Spandex and white shirts, like old-fashioned
car-hops.’’
Today’s players are anything but old-fashioned. They’re working moms, military veterans, tech workers and teachers, among others, who enjoy the strenuous, physical, and fast-paced bouts on skates.
“Some people don’t know roller derby still exists,’’ said Alma Galinski, a 46-year-old stay-at-home mother of two teens from Santa Clara. On her team, the Stephen King fan goes by the name “Redrum,’’ or “murder’’ spelled backwards.
Saturday, as she sat handing out orange juice and snacks to blood donors, she had it written in red paint on her forehead, and red streaks imitating blood dripped down her cheeks.
Teammate Corinne Landeros, a 38-year-old San Jose IT worker, sat nearby talking about her love of roller derby.
“People think it’s a lot more violent than it is,’’ said Landeros, whose team name is “Coreamer 505,’’ a police code number for “reckless driving.’’
“But it’s more controlled and clean — you don’t hit or kick someone in the crotch,’’ she said. “It’s a full-contact sport, but it’s more contained.’’
Roller derby is played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. The game consists of a series of short match ups called jams in which both teams designate a jammer who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team.
It’s origins date back to banked-track roller skating marathons of the 1930s and the contact version of the sport that became popular in the 1940s.
The games became more sports entertainment than athletic competition, with scripted bouts, costumes, theatrics and predetermined winners.
Modern derby is now usually played on a flat track instead of a banked one, has extensive rules and is dominated by all-female amateur teams, in addition to a growing number of male and junior teams.
There are 1,967 roller derby leagues playing worldwide today, including 93 in the U.S. and 13 in the Bay Area.
Galinski and Landeros said the blood drives are one way they give back to the community. They also work with Second Harvest Food Bank and Habitat for Humanity, among other non-profits.
“People donate to us,’’ explained Galinski. “So we like to give back to the community.’’
Just by chance Saturday morning, Wes Chu had stopped by the sports complex and saw the Red Cross truck outside. So he decided to donate blood, as he’s been doing since he was 18.
But he didn’t know much about the roller derby connection.
“People are so involved in Silicon Valley — there’s a lack of community touch,’’ said the 40-year-old San Jose native and father of two young girls. “I think it’s a great thing that they’re doing.”
For a full schedule of upcoming Bay Area roller derby blood drive events, contact Barb Morgen at derbyblooddrive@gmail.com.