‘Never a dull moment’ with ICT Roller Girls

By day, she’s a contract administrator. By night, Katelyn Smith, aka The Subjugator, is shoving other girls around and scoring points for her roller derby team.

As her skater name implies, Smith is the main scorer, the jammer, for the ICT Roller Girls, now in their sixth season.

You can see her and more than 40 other women in the ICT Roller Girls program at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Cotillion, 11120 W. Kellogg, when it hosts a double header. The hometown program’s two teams will face the Springfield Roller Girls and the Veteran City Rollers, an Emporia team that formed earlier this year.

Modern flat-track roller derby is played with teams consisting of blockers, pivots and a jammer, all skating counterclockwise. Jammers score points by lapping members of the opposing team. It is the blocker’s job to prevent the jammer from lapping team members by physically blocking them. Pivots also can be designated as a jammer during the course of a jam, depending on the situation.

The ICT Roller Girls currently are ranked 26th out of 35 teams in the region.

These roller girls are not only active on the rink, but in the community as well. The organization frequently donates a portion of its ticket sales to local charities such as the Kansas Humane Society, Kansas Food Bank, Positive Directions, Bikers Against Child Abuse and the Relay for Life.

Debi Kreutzman, community relations manager for the Kansas Food Bank, said the organization is grateful for the support of the Roller Girls.

“It really truly helps show they are in this to give back,” Kreutzman said. “They want to have what they’re doing reflected back in the community. They’re having a good time while helping support community services.”

More of the community has been able to see the ICT Roller Girls lately, as the majority of their home bouts this year have been played at the Cotillion.

Richard Leslie, owner of the Cotillion, said the venue will be the ICT Roller Girls’ home for the 2012-2013 season. The program previously played at Skate South.

“They have a very broad appeal, and they’re a lot of fun,” Leslie said. “We’re very pleased to have them.”

Leslie said ticket sales for the Roller Girls have been high because of their appeal to many different audiences.

“It’s real fast-paced and entertaining,” Leslie said. “There’s never a dull moment.”

The bouts are all-ages events.

Just so everyone can follow along with the action, emcees will be on site to provide commentary and explain the rules and scoring.

Smith said skating with the Roller Girls has given her new lifelong friends.

“It’s all about the camaraderie and the family atmosphere when you’re skating with these girls,” Smith said. “It’s really neat to gain a new family.”

This story was originally published August 2, 2012 at 5:00 AM with the headline "‘Never a dull moment’ with ICT Roller Girls."