Renee Ring looks like an average mom.

She’s a secretary, a Sunday school teacher, and even a PTA member — but don’t let her innocent dimples fool you — she has an alter ego and her name is Leadfoot.

The Debutante Brawlers' Renee Ring, right, looks over her shoulder as two of her opponents from the Trauma Queens come up from behind during a recent practice. As a pivot, it's Ring's job to block the other team so they don't score any points. Photo by: Greg Allen, publisher

While the Louisburg athlete can’t run very fast, when it comes to roller skating, she can put the pedal to the metal.

Ring recently zipped around the Skate Ranch’s varnished rink in Raleigh so fast that it was dizzying — and reflections from the psychedelic disco balls didn’t help, either.

Dressed in black and white knee-high socks and glittery pink fishnets with matching shorts and a black tank top, it’s surprisingly hard to pick Ring out of the crowd on the rink. Her waist-length blonde hair is her most recognizable feature when she’s racing around with other skaters, who are all dressed for their parts.

The skaters, part of Carolina Roller Girls — the Triangle’s roller derby league — emanate confidence and team spirit dressed in their crew’s colors. Ring’s team, the Debutante Brawlers, stick to pink, black and white, while their opponents, the Trauma Queens, opt for black and blue.
Each team has its own personality, which expresses itself in the skaters’ funky costumes and tough-girl attitudes.

Ring personifies her team’s image of good girls gone bad because she’s usually shy and quiet. But when she gets on the skating rink, her wild side comes out.

“I get to be an outlandish person. I like having two sides,” she said with a mischievous grin.

Other skaters also represent their unconventional side with names like Busty O’Lipp, Anne Archy, Faye Tality, Shirley Temper and Julie Jawbreaker.

“A lot of girls want mean, aggressive names,” Ring explained.

Skaters are allowed to create original names after being with the league for at least three months, Ring added. After an alias is chosen it’s taken out of commission so no two skaters have the same name.

The league’s founder, Laura Weakland, AKA Celia Fate, said many skaters are attracted to the sport because they can shed their everyday personas and become someone else for a few hours a week.

“It’s a great escape. It’s like you ... become a super hero,” she said. “Anything goes.”

Creative costume accessories add to the teams' personalities and help to offset the bulky protective gear that all Carolina Rollergirls must wear. Photo by: Greg Allen, publisher

Friendly competition
Although they’re competitors, the two teams practice and hang out together.

“We’re all friends,” Ring said, adding that if it wasn’t for roller derby, she probably would have never met such a diverse group of women.

They come from a variety of occupations and backgrounds, but despite their differences, they all unite in a love of the game, Ring said.

Ring, as one of the more experienced skaters, said she often helps train newer members, since no experience is required to join the league.

Ring has skated since she was about 6, she said. Growing up in the small town of Appomattox, Va., there wasn’t much to do except skate at the local rink. She and her sister were there nearly every Friday and Saturday night, along with most of the town’s kids and teens.

Ring learned to skate by watching others, and never quit.

“I would skate every day, all day, if I could,” Ring said.

Part of what attracts her to skating is the energy at the rink — the loud, thumping music, the flashing lights, the roar of the crowd and even the smell of fresh varnish.

She also likes the speed and physical activity. It’s a good way to exercise and take out her aggressions, she said.

Ring also believes she continues to skate because of the nostalgia involved. “It reminds me of home,” she said.

Her childhood rink, A.J. Skate World, closed several years ago, but Ring and her son, Zack, were there on the last night it was open.

Jamming and blocking
Ring said skating is the only sport she’s ever been good at, and is generally clumsy at other times.

“But I’m very stable and agile on skates,” she said. “Then I’m pretty kick ass.”

The league practices four times a week to stay in shape and perfect their moves, including turning, blocking and even falling.

The rules of the game may be a bit confusing at first, Ring said, but fans usually catch on quickly. Teams score points when their jammer, or speed skater, races to skate past a pack of eight other skaters. The pack in turntries to prevent the jammers from getting through.

During games, or jams, each team has five players on the rink, consisting of one jammer and four defensive players (three blockers and one pivot).
The pivot, which is Ring’s position, stays at the front of the pack and is thelast line of defense against the opposing jammer.

Weakland said she was surprised when Ring asked to be a pivot because of Ring’s petite size, but she’s proven to be one of the league’s best blockers.

“She really excels at that position,” Weakland said. “She knows how to control the pack and she has a lot of mobility.”

Rollin’ on
Skaters become fearless when they don their duds and lace up their skates, Weakland said, and the added theatrics of the game simply make it more entertaining for the skaters and their fans.

Ring said roller derby fans have increased over the past year, with nearly every competition, called bouts, selling out. Ring believes fans are attracted to roller derby because unlike other sports, they get an up-close and personal view of the game. Spectators can sit next to the rink, and even come in contact with skaters when they fall out of bounds.
The skaters also make an effort to be accessible to fans by mingling with them during parties that are held after competitions.

The number of skaters has also increased, from about 10 when the league formed to about 25 now, with almost continual recruitment and few entrance rules — skaters must be at least 21 and have health insurance.
To keep things going, the league is having a meet and greet tonight (Thursday) at 9 p.m. at Aries Lounge, 400 W. Morgan St., Raleigh.
Over the past few years, roller derby has made a comeback, with leaguesforming across the nation, Weakland said.

But the resurgence of the 1970s phenomenon has a new focus. This time, it’s more about athleticism than good looks.

Weakland said the league is working to change the stereotypical image of roller derby as a rehearsed, pre-planned wrestling fest by following specific rules and strategies.

Physical fitness and endurance are important, but women of all shapes and sizes are getting into the sport since it focuses on skill and strategy.

“We don’t care how you look or what you wear ... as long as you’re a good skater,” Ring said. “I hope they (fans) look at us as athletes, and not just as pretty girls in cute costumes. We don’t want people to look at us as some freak show,” Ring said. “This is a serious sport.”

Louisburg's Renee Ring, also known as Leadfoot, often skates with her son, Zack, and is glad she can share her love of the sport with him. Photo by: Elizabeth Michalka, features reporter

Rough and tough
Ring said her 9-year-old son often goes skating with her and he watches the league’s bouts.

“It’s nice to have an activity that you can enjoy with your kids and with other girls,” Ring said.

The bouts sometimes get rough, though, so they’re marketed as PG-13.

“Roller derby is a pretty rough-and-tumble kind of sport,” she said, but the league tries to keep skaters safe by teaching them how to fall and requiring helmets, mouth guards, knee and elbow pads.

Roller derby is physically intense, and several skaters have been injured during the last year. The most severe injuries have been a broken leg and ankles.

Ring said the most serious injuries she’s had are some bruises and a bloody ear.

Many skaters, like Ring, spend extra time on the floor practicing their moves. Ring said she spends 12 to 15 hours a week skating.

“I tend to skate a lot. I’m there all the time,” she said.

She also weightlifts to help stay in shape.

“I do so much work with my legs that it’s good to work out other parts of my body,” Ring explained.

With all this practicing, the skaters stay motivated by thinking about upcoming bouts.

The league’s next one, called Wheel’d War III, is Sunday, at 5:30 p.m. at Raleigh’s Skate Ranch. The bout is the third one since the league was formed in 2004, and pits the Debutante Brawlers against the Trauma Queens. The event features a live band, The Bleeding Hearts, as well as raffles and races for fans.

Ring thinks it’s going to be a good game since the teams are currently tied and this is the last competition of their inaugural season.

Adult tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Children’s tickets are $3 in advance and $5 at the door. Since the league is a nonprofit, portionsof the proceeds go to local charities.

Ring said that giving back to the community is an added bonus of being a derby girl, since none of the skaters are paid.

And that’s the way Weakland wants to keep it, she said.

Editor’s Note: For more information about roller derby rules, the Carolina Roller Girls and their upcoming events visit www.carolinarollergirls.com.