Finding Family on the Roller Derby Rink with Sarah Arnosky Ko
The Adrenaline Zone · Sandra Magnus and James "Sandy" Winnefeld
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Show Notes
For her day job, Sarah Arnosky Ko is vice-president of Greater St. Louis Incorporated, where she helps bring the business community together in the Gateway City. But in her spare time, she’s known as Bricktator, a star player for the St. Louis-based Arch Rival Roller Derby team. Today, she joins Sandy and Sandra to give us all the lowdown on how roller derby works, what drew her to it, and why the sport is growing in popularity around the globe.
First up, Sarah tells us about the origins of roller derby, way back in the 1930s, and explains how the sport works, including how you score points and what a jammer is. She also shares some of her experiences of traveling for competitions and coaching, and talks about roller derby’s global growth trajectory as a sport that seems to naturally intrigue people. That includes Sarah, and she shares the story of how she got drawn into roller derby after watching a match and becoming fascinated by the powerful women playing it.
She also gives us some inner details about roller derby, including the significance of the skaters’ names, how they communicate on the rink, and how they deal with risks and injuries. And, for those who, like Sarah, find themselves interested in becoming a skater, Sarah explains the training newcomers undergo, emphasizes the welcoming atmosphere roller derby provides, and reassures Sandra that there’s no upper age limit to becoming a skater! And finally, Sarah tells us what she and the team do to psyche themselves up for, and wind down, from a tournament (and lets us in on roller-derby afterparties as well as the secret of zombies-versus-robots competitions).
The Finer Details of this Episode:
- The mechanics of roller derby
- Roller derby’s growth
- Sarah’s travels with the sport
- Skater names, secret codes, rules, and risks
- How to get started in roller derby
- How the team psyches up and winds down
Quotes:
“It takes everyone on the team to score points because it is hard. You are literally throwing your body in between other bodies, trying to get past them or to stop them. And so it really is something where you have to be fearless in order to really be successful in this sport.”
“One of the favorite places I never expected to go was a city in Spain called A Coruña, which is in northern Spain. It’s green, it was beautiful, and it was on the ocean. And we really got to swim in the ocean after games as our, quote, ice bath, you know, because it was a little bit cold. But every time we go someplace, we really get to experience a little bit of what it has to offer.”
“The speech that you really get is like, this is fun, we will be your family. And it’s really not a matter of if but when you get hurt in some capacity, right? Like, we have people around you that can support you. But know that roller derby is rad. And we’re excited you’re here.”
“At the end of the tournament, there’s often an afterparty, and we always like to have themes for our clothing. And so, as a team, we’ll go out all decked out in, like, outer-space outfits, or we’ve even had ‘dads on vacation,’ where we have our cargo shorts and button-up shirts for our afterparty. So we really like to, you know, after we work hard, we go have some fun, too.”
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