DERBY DEBUT: Destroyer Dolls ready for ‘Inaugural Brawl’

WASILLA — Jamie Kuppersmith wasn’t going to miss this one.

A military wife, Kuppersmith’s seven-year stay in Alaska came to an end with her husband’s transfer to Fort Bragg, N.C., in October. Living on the opposite end of the country, Kuppersmith has kept in contact with her Mat-Su friends, notably her roller derby family. On the cusp of her former team’s big debut, Kuppersmith couldn’t help but want to come back for the first bout.

“I didn’t think I I’d be able to come, so I sent them a message, (saying) I’m so proud of you guys,” Kuppersmith said. “All the sudden, I started getting messages, we’re trying to get you up here.”

With the support of her team, she was able to make the trip back, and Kuppersmith, also known as “Strange Candy,” will be on the floor when the Valley-based Denali Destroyer Dolls face the Interior’s Midnight Sun Roller Girlz in the Inaugural Brawl Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla.

Kuppersmith’s return is sort of an added bonus for a roller derby team, geared for its first official bout, a match years in the making.

“We’ve been practicing and skating privately, but now it’s time to do it in public,” said Lyn Carden, aka “Jane Bond,” who helped found the team in 2010.

Carden was one of three women who took the initial steps to form the team and spread the word about roller derby in Alaska.

“In July of 2010 we put up a flyer, myself and two other girls,” Carden said at the team’s practice Monday evening. “Out of that is where we are today.”

Sixty-seven people attended that first meeting, Carden said. Some have come and gone. Others have arrived and stayed. Carden said the team practiced on and off for the first year, but the effort grew during the second year.

“The girls came back and we kind of decided we were just going to really move forward and not be a recreational league,” Carden said.

Now the Dolls sport a steady and loyal group that has been working on and off the rink to prepare for this first meet.

“You’ve got the business side of it, and that has to go on. Then you have the skating side of it, and that has to go on,” Carden said.

Erika Bills, aka “Dolla Billz,” said the group has been planning for this event since October 2011.

“I help (Carden) with the business side of everything. It’s not just, hey, we’re here to skate,” Bills said. “It’s huge. There’s lots of components. We want it to look a certain way. Once thing (about roller derby), you can make it your own.”

Veterans such as Carden and Bills have also been busy exposing this sport, which is rapidly growing in popularity, to new blood.

Ginger Ray is part of the team’s new generation of skaters. Less than a year ago, she watched a few of the team’s practices. Despite her initial reaction, Ray pushed aside any hesitation and joined.

“(I thought) holy buckets, I don’t think I’m going to be able to wear those clothes. But six months later, I’m wearing those clothes,” Ray said.

Now Ray is “Stark Rayven Mad,” on the rink.

Ray said she feared she would be able to keep with the pace, or couldn’t handle that contact. But those fears are also gone.

“This is my first sport I’ve ever played,” Ray said. “You can be active, be aggressive and not be mistaken for being rude.”

Ray said the camaraderie of the team is important. The women in the sport are also good role models for girls, such as her 15-year-old daughter, Ray said.

Bills also has a daughter and appreciates the sports message.

“It’s all about diversity,” Bills said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re tall, fat, short. Doesn’t matter if you can skate pretty or not. It’s about being different and the same. The positive thing is I’m showing my daughter it’s OK to be strong and different. It’s OK to have curves. I think that’s a huge part of it.”

The Dolls are a 21-and-over team, but Bills said women of all levels and ability are welcome.

“If you look around the room, look at all of us, we’re all different,” Bills said.

The Dolls have had a chance to participate in a handful of scrimmages against teams from Anchorage and Fairbanks. But this is the first official bout in team history.

“We’re excited and nervous,” Carden said.

Ray said she’s been nervous every time she’s had a chance to compete in an unofficial bout, but hopes the experience of a scrimmage against the Midnight Sun Dolls last fall will help this weekend.

“Six weeks after I started we scrimmaged the team that’s going to come down. There were four of us only skating for six weeks. We learned a lot, and I think we’re going to be able to take what we made mistakes on, and we’re going to be able to give them a good show,” Ray said. “I was so nervous about that bout in September, but when you’re in it, it goes by so quick. It just goes by so fast. Then you realize it’s all over, and you’re like, ‘I want to play some more. I’m not scared anymore.’”

There are a few Dolls who will have to sit out on Saturday with injuries. But that doesn’t mean they won’t be there. Jenny “Violet Impact” Bachelder and Lynette “Denali Disco” Heck are both out with knee injuries, but were at the team’s practice Monday night and will certainly be rink-side Saturday.

“It’s the one exercise I really love and I can’t do it right now. It’s really frustrating,” Bachelder said. “It’s too fun to miss, whether I’m in or not.”

Heck said it’s important to be there.

“We’re supporting our team, it’s our family,” Heck said. “We’re here to do it all.”

The Dolls have also pledged to stay active in the community.

“Just like any other organization, you’ve got to give back to the community,” Carden said. “We are no different for that.”

One example, Carden said the Dolls helped raise 11,000 pounds of food for the Food Pantry of Wasilla.

“We’ll continue doing that,” Carden said.

The team also supports causes such as Polar Plunge and Special Olympics Alaska. Carden hopes for a bright future for the Dolls and hopes her team can use the Inaugural Brawl to skate to the next level. The sport is growing rapidly in Alaska. In addition to three teams in Anchorage, two in Fairbanks and squads in the Valley and Juneau, a second Valley team, the Boom Town Derby Dames, has been formed and practices in Palmer.

There is also a team in Kodiak and two others in Kenai. Carden said there is even movement to start a team in Bethel.

“You could have up to 15 opportunities to skate in this state,” Carden said.

For more information, see denalidestroyers.org. Tickets for the Saturday bout can be purchased online and are available for sale at DG Signs, D’s Screenprinting, or the Wasilla chamber office.

What: Inaugural Brawl: Denali Destroyer Dollsvs. Midnight Sun Roller Girlz

When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. (doors open 5p.m.)

Where: Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center,Wasilla

Tickets: Purchase online atdenalidestroyers.org., or at DG Signs, D’s Screenprinting orWasilla Chamber office