Jamming with the Flathead Valley Roller Derby league

Veteran skaters, such as Hammer, who has been with the team for 11 years, started out with a love of roller skating.

“I was a kid at the roller-skating rink on Friday nights,” Hammer said.

“I love roller skating and I didn’t know I would love full contact [sports], but I do. It’s really fun to move people, like to take up space, which is something that people raised as girls are frequently not allowed to do,” Hammer said.

For new members like Victoria Nix (aka Calamity Pain), who learned to skate through the league’s spring bootcamp, that confidence builds gradually. Bootcamp lasts six weeks and teaches the fundamentals of skating and safety in roller derby.

“The first two weeks I think were the hardest,” Nix said. “And then, of course, like with any type of sport or activity, the more you do it, the easier it gets, and the more you can trust yourself and your confidence.”

“A lot of the beginning of boot camp was focusing on how to safely fall and how to stand up,” Nix said. “I think once you fall a couple times and you learn how to fall more in control — it’s less scary.”

Nix knew she wanted to join roller derby after attending bouts she saw advertised in posters around town.

Flathead Valley Roller Derby, which is a nonprofit, seeks to make the sport accessible by loaning gear, including skates.

“These are their skates. I had my own elbow pads. So it’s really easy to join if you don’t have anything,” she said.

With a red-colored piece of tape on her helmet, Nix is still working her way up through the levels. For drills, the new skaters play games like Duck, Duck, Goose on wheels, to practice agility and control.

“I’ll hopefully move to yellow pretty soon. When you move to yellow, that’s like limited contact,” she said. “And for me, there’s a specific kind of stop I’m working on before I feel comfortable to move on. Well, it’s a transition ... moving and then quickly pivoting to move backwards or if you’re moving backward, pivoting to move forward.”

EVENTUALLY COMPETITORS will settle into roles as blockers, jammers or pivots.

“It’s really just whichever speaks to you," Rosenbaum said. “There’s not one specific kind of person that fits in each role. Everybody can thrive in each situation because there’s so many different techniques to jamming and blocking.”

Rosenbaum, who is a jammer, started out as a blocker.

“That’s how I learned to play derby. I was a blocker for almost my whole first season and then in my very first game, we were up by a good amount of points, so the coaches were like, why don't you go out and jam, like go test it out,” she said.

“I wasn’t super familiar with it, but it just worked out. It kind of clicked and I got thrown into the jammer role,” Rosenbaum said. “For me, I jam because I can push people out of the way. That’s my biggest strength. That I’m a pushy jammer. There are some people that can skate and never be touched.”

These nimble jammers are known as “juke jammers,” she said.

Like Nix, Rosenbaum learned to skate when she joined in fall 2022 after seeing a post about the team rebuilding following a hiatus during the pandemic.

“You don’t have to know how to skate to start our boot camp. We teach all of the skills,” she said.

THERE IS also an element of showmanship in roller derby, through expressive nicknames, face paint, uniform accessories and bold personal styles.

“People absolutely embody, sometimes, their alter ego as a player. It is a popular thing,” Hammer said. “Lots of people choose something and then really develop who they are as a derby player. It might be very different from who they are in their regular life, and I think it’s very freeing for people.”

For many roller derby competitors, the mix of competition, challenging exercise (that’s fun), creativity and community is what keeps them coming back despite the occasional bruise.

Reporter Hilary Matheson can be reached at 406-758-4431 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.

Flathead Valley jammer Dani DeFeato (29) forces her way past a pair of Electric City blockers during the Big Sky Brawl 2026 tournament at the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Flathead Valley's Busta Prime (89) throws a shoulder into Electric City jammer MalletMaiden (777) during the Big Sky Brawl 2026 tournament at the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Flathead Valley's Busta Prime (89) throws a shoulder into Electric City jammer MalletMaiden (777) during the Big Sky Brawl 2026 tournament at the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Flathead Valley jammer Lit'L ShaNanaGins (412) skates through the Electric City blockers during the Big Sky Brawl 2026 tournament at the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Flathead Valley blockers Bee Nice (006), XinderHella (626) and Neener-Neener (808) hold up Electric City jammer Antagony (523) during the Big Sky Brawl 2026 tournament at the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Flathead Valley blocker XinderHella (626) chases after Electric City jammer TwinkleToes (16) during the Big Sky Brawl 2026 tournament at the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Flathead Valley jammer Pandamonium (99) skates through the Electric City blockers during the Big Sky Brawl 2026 tournament at the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Casey Kreider

Flathead Valley jammer Dani DeFeato (29) forces her way past the Electric City blockers during the Big Sky Brawl 2026 tournament at the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Flathead Valley jammer Pandamonium (99) skates through the Electric City blockers during the Big Sky Brawl 2026 tournament at the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)