HEATHER AND LEANNE GROLL SKATE THEIR WAY TO THE TOP AS WORLD – TRAVELED , SPONSORED ROLLER DERBY QUEENS .
SKATING
BY NICOLE TAFE
The “ Groller Derby Sisters ” have spent the last five years traveling the world together as Roller Derby champions . Heather , 31 , and Leanne , 29 , are sisters from Peters Township and both graduates of Peters Township High School .
While at PTHS , both sisters were involved in extracurricular activities . While Leanne took a more academic approach to high school , participating in Marching Band , Odyssey of the Mind , Concert Band and school plays , Heather was a competitive Varsity Cross-Country runner in addition to performing with her femalefronted rock band “ Obscured .”
“ Although I ’ m still waiting on that Platinum Record deal to go through , I have since found another source of being a rock and roll star ,” says Heather .
In 2006 , three years after Heather ’ s graduation from PTHS , she learned a local group of women were looking for “ girls who could roller skate .” At the time , she didn ’ t know what the advertisement was for , but since she spent her weekends at the Neville Island Roller Drome , she decided to check it out . “ When I showed up at the first meeting , the organizers started talking about Roller Derby . I had heard about it , but I had no idea it was going to be the new love of my life .”
Since then , Heather has been skating under the name “ Hurricane Heather ”— a nickname that was given by her mother many years ago — along with the tagline , “ leaving a path of destruction .”
“ Roller Derby is never short of a good pun ,” laughs Heather , mentioning both team names and nicknames are derived from puns in the sport .
The Pittsburgh league started out as the “ Steel City Derby Demons ” but soon changed its name to “ Steel City Roller Derby ” in an effort to focus on branding themselves as role models for young skaters .
After watching Heather play for Steel City for a few years , Leanne decided to join her local league in Youngstown called “ Little Steel Derby Girls .” She skated with the group for two years
42 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE | Peters Township under the name “ Leannibal Lecter ” punned from the character of Hannibal Lecter in the movie “ Silence of the Lambs .” Leanne then decided to join Heather at Steel City to skate as one of the team ’ s top jammers in the league , and has since dropped her derby name , now skating under the name “ Groll .”
Unlike the typical 1970s / 1980s Saturday morning Roller Derby , nothing is staged in today ’ s games . Steel City practices two to three times a week to build physical technique and teamwork , in addition to analyzing the complicated strategy behind being a Roller Derby player .
Roller Derby is a sport played on a flat track and all of the players are on old-school , four-wheel roller skates . “ The fun part is that the sport is full contact ,” says Heather . The game is played with two teams for one hour at a time . With a game-day roster of 14 , five players from each team are on the track at a time . One of those five is the designated point scorer , referred to as the Jammer and identified by a star on her helmet . The other four players are Blockers . This group of five on five has two minutes to score points for their team . The Jammers score points by lapping opposing Blockers . As the Jammers are racing around the track , the Blockers are playing both offense and defense by clearing the way for their Jammer , and using their powerful bodies as ramrods to knock the opposing Jammers down to the floor or out of bounds .
PHOTO BY MATT BECKER
PHOTO BY NICOLE TAFE