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