“We go around in circles really fast and mash into each other and score points all at the same time…Mashing into someone makes you feel alive.” – The Force, a member of Sin City Rollergirls, who happens to be a banker by day.
The most exciting, intense, freewheeling event on the Strip is just seconds from your room when you stay with us at the Riviera Hotel & Casino!
The Sin City Rollergirls bring the action-packed sport of Roller Derby to the Riviera with their no-holds-barred, thrilling competitions. It’s a wee bit violent. It’s breathtakingly fast. And it’s the hottest thing on the Strip.
If you’ve seen the Drew Barrymore film Whip It, then you know how exciting roller derby can be. Don’t miss the chance to see a match in person!
Our 2012 Sin City Rollergirl Dates are:
- July 7th
- August 11th
- September 15th
- October 27th
We were lucky enough to snag a few minutes with one of Las Vegas’s roller derby stars. A vice president at a bank by day, she’s known as The Force by night, whipping around the rink with power, aggression, and of course, force.
If you’ve never seen roller derby, you’re missing out on the most exciting sport around. And if you’ve never met a rollergirl, know that whatever you say to her before a match, don’t say, “Break a leg.”
The Force
Yeah, I used to be an actress, and that was the thing to say. (Laughs.) But this is a sport, not a performance, and we need our legs. We have people to mash and run down.
The Riviera Hotel & Casino
Which is why people love it. People love watching roller derby, but some people don’t know about it unless they’ve seen the movie Whip It.
The Force
Roller derby is like NASCAR and football at the same time, except you’re using people instead of cars and there’s no ball.
We go around in circles really fast, and we mash into each other and score points at the same time. You’ve got two teams on the track at one time, with five people on each. Four on each team are blockers, and one is the jammer. She’s the one who scores, so you’re always trying to block her.
The Riviera Hotel & Casino
It looks so demanding and intense. And it looks like so much fun.
The Force
It’s such a fantastic sport. And let me just emphasize here, it is a real sport – not your mom’s roller derby from the 1970s that was choreographed and prissy. This is a real sport, with real rules, real competition, and it’s something that the athletes take very seriously. We fight very hard to stay in shape and sacrifice so much in our lives not only to participate in it, but also to grow it to a real professional level.
The Riviera Hotel & Casino
The sport is really picking up, too.
The Force
We’re working really hard to pull it up. It’s homegrown. It started here in America. There are hundreds and hundreds of leagues around the country, and we just had our first-ever World Cup in Canada. The U.S.A. definitely has the most teams, and the U.S.A. just whipped the pants off every team they played at that World Cup. Which is exciting, because other countries are starting to pull up and are going to be at that level at some point, too.
We’d love to see roller derby in the Olympics.
The Riviera Hotel & Casino
Absolutely! We love that you’re a banker by day, a Vice President, no less. Can’t imagine a more incongruous image: the banker vs. The Force.
The Force
Yeah, it’s wild. But in our league, we’ve got teachers, people who work with kids with autism, bartenders, and a whole range of other people. We all get our aggressions out in the rink. It’s a great release.
The Riviera Hotel & Casino
How long have you been a part of the sport?
The Force
Since 2005. I was a rink rat as a kid and was playing roller hockey, and some girls who had just started a roller derby team in Vegas came to play at my roller hockey rink. I found out I was pretty good at [roller derby].
I took a break for a while, but I’ve been doing this for about six years. It’s intense. We practice three, four, five days a week for three or four hours a day. We’re also cleaning our warehouse where we practice, doing league fundraising events, and going to teambuilding events so that we can play seamlessly. We’re really in this. We see our roller derby family more than our actual families.
The Riviera Hotel & Casino
You must love it to be so dedicated.
The Force
I do: the camaraderie, the competitiveness, even the violence. I feed off of how competitive I am, and I can’t believe the relationships I’ve made: before roller derby, you couldn’t pay me to get along with a female, but now I get along great with so many of them. And I’m just as animalistic as anybody else: it’s amazing, the feeling of your impact on another human when you mash into them. It makes you feel alive.
The Riviera Hotel & Casino
Are you ever afraid of getting hurt?
The Force
No; I’ve been getting hurt doing sports since I was little. It’s just a part of it. And I’ve been very lucky, the worst I’ve been hurt doing this is a sprain. But I am afraid of getting hurt only in that it would keep me off the track. Injury is the worst. You just have to sit there while your teammates practice and play.
The Riviera Hotel & Casino
Guess you can’t be a wuss to play this sport.
The Force
I can be a wuss. You should feel the pad burn from the Velcro. That hurts much worse than a sprain.
The Riviera Hotel & Casino
The Riviera loves hosting your matches. For those who’ve never seen roller derby, tell us why someone visiting Vegas should come check out your games.
The Force
Well, in Vegas you have a lot of different choices: the comedy shows or big Cirque shows or music shows, but this is a chance to watch not just a sport, but something totally new.
It’s a lot of fun to try something new, and it’s on the Strip: where else in Vegas are you going to find this kind of entertainment for $15? [Editor’s note: presale price is $10]
I mean, fifteen bucks for something cool and new and live and exciting…or would you rather pay $150 to see the same old thing all the tourists are seeing?
The Riviera Hotel & Casino
Wusses.
For tickets, match times and more information, visit http://rivierahotel.com/las-vegas-entertainment/sin-city-roller-girls/.
