Local girl participates in national youth roller derby event

MAT-SU — After representing her team and the state of Alaska at the World Cup tryouts in Florida this summer, one 11-year-old girl is ready to help take her teammates to the next level.

For four days, starting Aug. 6, Colony Middle School sixth-grader MeKenna Bills — also known as “Vishous Kitty” — participated in JuniorCon, a national training camp hosted by the Junior Roller Derby Association (JRDA), which began in 2010. This year, the camp coincided with the first Junior World Cup tryouts in Daytona Beach, and Bills was one of 200 kids who took the opportunity to try and make the new national team.

“It was fun,” Bills said through her mouth guard at practice recently. “It was kind of scary though. A lot of the girls were older than I was.”

Although Bills did not make the national team this year — only 15 made the cut — she was “excited to represent Alaska and bring back many training tips to share with her teammates,” her mother said.

MeKenna did, however, make the Susitna Sirens team last year, a group of advanced players who complete tryouts and compete with other teams around the state of Alaska.

Bills’ main team, the Valley Vixens, is the junior version of the Denali Destroyer Dolls and consists of both girls and boys aged 7 to 17. MeKenna’s mom, Erika — “Dolla Billz” to her “derby sisters” — is the league and sponsorship contact for DDD.

“At this age, (roller derby) is much more about camaraderie and anti-bullying,” Erika Bills said of the Vixens. “It’s really important to us that kids understand that this is a safe place.”

With players called “jammers” and “blockers,” roller derby sounds like — and obviously is — a contact sport, but that’s not exactly the point, Erika Bills said.

“Empowerment of women,” “diversity and inclusion,” “sustainability and positive growth,” community outreach,” and “dedication and unity through health and fitness” are listed under “Vision and Values” on the DDD website.

“We really try to promote (the fact) that this is about being a strong athlete,” she said of the