Watertown— Roller Derby is a unique heavy contact sport originating all the way back to the 1930s, starting off as roller skating marathons. In a small town such as Watertown, a military wife founded the Black River Rollers back in 2010 hoping to meet other locals.
Nicole Lee has now taken over management for the Black River Rollers and has been General Manager for over 2 years. She has been an active skater for the team for 3 years. The roller derby season starts in April, however their first preliminary game is this Saturday in Albany, New York. The Albany game is the Black River Roller’s first All Star game, which members say they are very excited about.
The Black River Rollers is comprised of active duty military, civilians and Army wives. Although a heavy contact sport where injury is common, members of the Black River Rollers say that the sport not on only provides exercise, but affords some of these derby women a unique outlet from their everyday life.
Most of the Watertown derby bunch are wives, mothers, and military career women that enjoy balancing life’s responsibilities with a little “push and shove.” The Black River Rollers have won 5 out of 6 games last year and are slotted for 7 games this season.
