14-year-old Girl Finds Confidence at Rose City Rollers — KATU
PORTLAND, Ore. — Off the track her name is Marisol Lasuncet, but once she laces up those skates, she's Rolling Thunder.
As the star on her helmet indicates, she's her team's jammer. It's a role she takes very seriously.
"As a jammer, the feeling I get when I can get through and I can score points for my team, I think that alone can make you feel very empowered," she said.
As jammer, Thunder's the only player who can score points. She has to break through the blockers from the other team.
It's a position that requires confidence, something Thunder says she didn't always have.
"It all just felt really new to me," she said, reflecting on when she was new to the sport. "I was really scared and nervous."
Just two years ago, Thunder started in a summer camp at Rose City Rollers -- the world's largest derby league, based in Portland.
She loved the sport right from the beginning, especially the supportive atmosphere.
"Even when you're a beginner, you feel like you can ask people things and still make a lot of friends."
Two years into the sport, she sees herself in a whole new light.
“I just feel more like I can be myself," she said. "I kind of care less what people think.”
Now, Thunder's is on Rose City Rollers' regional travel team, Undead Avengers.
Stories like Thunder's are what makes this all worth it for Kim "Rocket Mean" Stegeman, the league's founder.
“The most rewarding part of being in my role, I mean, I've been here for 20 years, and it is, without a doubt, watching the change in people's lives.”
In 2004, Rocket Mean and her friends established Rose City Rollers and its first team Guns N Rollers. Many of those first players based their names off Guns 'N Roses songs (Rocket Mean is a spoof on the song "Rocket Queen").
Just like a rocket, Rose City Rollers really took off.
"Rose City Rollers is the biggest derby team in the world," Rocket Mean said. "We have 18 teams and programs here. We host 50 games a year, at least."
Thanks to the She Flies grant Rose City Rollers received from Sport Oregon in 2022, the league is able to fund a whole litany of programs.
Teams are divided by age and skill level. Here's a list below:
The Junior Rose Petals program is for ages 7-12 and has five teams: Rose Petals Travel Team, Bad Apples, Killer Bees and Skaters of Doom.
The Junior Rosebuds program is for ages 12-18 and has five teams: Rosebuds Travel Team, Bleeding Hearts, Death Scar Derby Droids, The Undead Avengers and Rainbow Bites.
There are seven adult teams, which include the two national teams, Wheels of Justice and Axles of Annihilation. The home teams include Break Neck Betties, Guns N Rollers, Heartless Heathers and High Rollers. There's also a recreational team called Wreckers.
The league is marking its 20-year anniversary by hosting the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) Global Championship Tournament in November. There, Rose City Rollers' four-time world championship team "Wheels of Justice" will defend their title as reigning champs.
For Rocket Mean, what's most important is making roller derby accessible to anyone.
"We also have a rental program, so anybody can join derby," she said. "You don't have to buy gear, which I know there's a lot of parents out there that would love that because parents do not love shelling out $300 to find out their kid doesn't like a sport."
If your kid does like this sport, it could change their life, like it changed Thunder's.
“I think derby definitely helped me have a confidence boost and just be able to fully be myself.”
KATU and the Women's Foundation of Oregon are proud to support SHE FLIES by sharing the stories of influential girls and women in sports throughout 2024.
The Women's Foundation of Oregon is harnessing the power of teamwork to champion girls in sports. We're a group of people who work together to support and promote gender justice. We believe in being free and fair, working as a team, finding happiness, growing, being honest, showing bravery, and making things right.