Homewood Roller Derby League Provides Thrills, Spills And Acceptance

HOMEWOOD, IL — Roxanne Prado admittedly didn’t know exactly what to expect the first time she and her family walked into the Homewood Auditorium for a Saturday night of roller derby — a sport that, rightly or wrongly, is often preceded by a certain reputation.

For those of a certain age, roller derby conjurs up time-machine memories of grainy, black-and-white antenna-eared images of women speeding haphazardly around an oval banked track with competitors colliding violently, much to the utter joy of spectators who cringe and cheer all in the same breath as all of the thrills and spills play out in front of them in real time.

Prado had nothing like that to go on when she made her maiden voyage into the roller derby universe, but she certainly didn’t want to see anyone injured. Yet, based on the little she knew about a hardcore sport that dates back to the 1930s, the Homewood resident and mother of two certainly expected there to be some hard-charging chaos.

But like many new to the sport, Prado carried a certain level of expectation of what she might see, whether real or imagined.

“I guess it’s the same as wrestling,” Prado told Patch, alluding of course, to televised professional wrestling, a sports-entertainment driven industry that has its own set of presumed preconceptions. “Wrestling is a sport and it’s something you need to learn and it’s something you need to master.

"And these women need to learn and master their sport of roller derby."

Unlike other more modern-day derby leagues, the Chicago Knockouts perform what founder Ash Mateja refers to as classic and theatrical roller derby. The Knockouts, despite being founded in 2018, are a throwback to mid-century bank track roller derby, which was invented in Chicago nearly 90 years ago and that reached its peak in popularity between the 1950s and 1970s.

Chicago Knockouts bouts are theme- and personality-driven, with players dressed in colorful and sometimes elaborate costumes that portray their given character’s name and on-track persona. Each bout includes its share of flying elbows, fights and stunts — all of which is part of the program, Mateja said.

By the time the matches are over, spectators leave wondering whether what they saw was real or all part of the theatrical aspect of the show that is put on each month at the Homewood Auditorium, including on Saturday when doors open at 7:15 p.m. for an 8 p.m. bout. Tickets are $15.

“That’s good, because it means we’re selling everything we’re doing,” Mateja, who performs under the character name of the Crimson Vixen, told Patch in a recent telephone interview. “Everything that happens on the track is part of the show.”

While the Knockouts current home doesn’t allow for the bank track to be used or to attract the size crowds of up to 500 fans as Mateja would like, the Homewood Auditorium is serving a purpose. When Mateja launched the Chicago Knockouts nearly five years ago, she did it as a way of bringing back a style of roller derby that hasn’t been seen in the greater Chicago area for decades.

Mateja refers to that style of play as "pure magic," drawing fans into a glorious world of athleticism and competitiveness that Mateja first fell in love with when she was introduced to the sport herself in 2012.

Mateja, who considers herself a vintage enthusiast, dove head-first into the sport’s history and was inspired, like many players, by the 2009 film "Whip It," which chronicles a roller derby league in Texas. Before founding the Knockouts, Mateja met with Jerry Seltzer — the son of the father of roller derby, Leo Seltzer — a Chicago-based sports promoter who is credited with investing the sport in the 1930s in the midst of the Great Depression.

Mateja, who considers herself a feminist tomboy who was denied the chance to play tackle football in elementary school, figured that if roller derby was invented in Chicago, it should exist here in the modern day, ushering in a new generation of fans.

That includes Prado, who was first lured in by the free skating lessons the Knockouts were offering to local students and that introduced her into a world she never expected to visit. Like with many first-timers, she attended her first bout unsure of what she would see.

“I think that roller derby might have a certain image associated to it,” Prado told Patch. “But really for me, when I watch a derby, I’m seeing not just this entertainment aspect of it, but I’m also seeing women that are strong, women that are working together.”

She added: Yes, it’s fun, yes, it’s entertaining, the crowds love it. But for me, it’s a little bit more.”

For Mateja, the league is partly about old-school roller derby fun. Players don’t pay any team or league dues to compete, which is intentional on the league’s founder’s part. Mateja was asking players to contribute what they could, suggesting a monthly donation of anywhere between $20 and $25 to participate.

But as the league started to see gate receipts increase from the monthly bouts, Mateja was able to waive the fees. The goal was to make roller derby as accessible to as many people as possible, Mateja said —opening the sport up to women who may be looking for a viable outlet for their personalities to come shining through in ways that perhaps everyday life doesn’t provide.

That's certainly the case for a Wilmington resident who competes under the name of Marley Quinn, a combative, confrontational character who first was introduced to roller derby 13 years ago. Before joining the Knockouts when they were formed in 2018, Quinn said she competed in a league in which the action wasn't nearly as theatrical as she was hoping.

In the Knockouts, Quinn found a support band of women who are always out to be at the top of their game while drawing fans into the action at the highest speed possible. The Knockouts, while playing within a distinct set of rules, are more all-out than other leagues, which Quinn said makes for a brand of roller derby that is hard not to love.

While this brand of roller derby is competitive, it is all about engaging with the crowd and providing more entertaining audiences in ways that makes them feel like they are part of the action. That's where character development comes into play for players like Quinn.

"I love that aspect because I get to have my professional side (in real life) and I get to have my crazy side," said Quinn, who added she always wanted to participate in school theatrical performances but was too shy to do so.

"I love the fact I get to create this alter ego and do these things I might not normally do or (clothes) wear. I get to play this character and I love that."

The league includes non-binary and trans skaters, creating an open and inviting environment where derby competitors can feel free to be themselves. Quinn said in her case, like with many derby competitors, her character is polar opposite to that of her real-life reality, opening up a side of herself that others don't typically see.

She, like many Chicago Knockouts players, often presents herself as Marley Quinn — admitting that many people don't know her actual name. That aspect of the league, Mateja said, is largely the secret to its success by allowing participants to venture into this sometimes unexpected alternate universe.

“Really, what CK (Chicago Knockouts) is about is taking up space and expressing yourself,” Mateja told Patch. “Not all of our skaters are the most aggressive. We all express ourselves in different ways, but the coolest thing is giving people a place where they can be the biggest version of themselves.”

She added: “Everyone has a thing. Everyone has a gimmick. It’s kind of like wrestling, right? It’s that larger-than-life thing and I feel like not everybody is encouraged to be that way. Not just in everyday life, but in any part of their life.”

The best feeling for Mateja is to see skaters new to the sport come in for the first time with a competitive twinkle in their eye. In a matter of months, Mateja watches as newcomers to the sport gain the skills they need to not only compete in the monthly bouts, but to actually succeed. In the process, they start to discover a part of themselves perhaps they didn’t know actually existed and then bring that part of themselves out “in the loudest possible way.”

For Mateja, who hopes to grow the league to a place where crowds can grow and to where she can again introduce the bank track aspect of the sport rather than the flat track environment that the Homewood Auditorium, the biggest high comes from watching characters emerge — not only on the track but also off of it.

“We continue to have people walk through our doors who don’t have maybe this place where they can be this really absolute spectacular part of themselves,” she told Patch. “To give them where they can be that big, frickin’ super hero on the track is super, super awesome.”

Quinn — whose character is derived as a mash-up between DC Comics character Harley Quinn and musician Bob Marley — agrees, saying that she has considered turning heel as a way of providing a plot twist that further engage fans at the Knockouts' monthly bouts.

"I actually like the idea of people booing me," she said. "Sometimes, that happens, but not often. Most of the time I get cheered, which is great in the moment because it pushes you even more when you're in that moment. But I feel like now, I feel like being a heel could be fun and maybe bring out the best in others."

She added: "But I feel like we're all working together to bring out the best in our characters and become the best skaters we can. We're all, very, very supportive of each other ....and you don't get that in every league."

Prado, who has been to all but one home match in Homewood, has an 8-year-old daughter and when she sees the women who compete with the Chicago Knockouts portray skills and character traits that she wants her daughter to develop.

While the Homewood-based roller derby team is preaching competition and working together, the Knockouts are also encouraging inclusion and acceptance, welcoming competitors from all walks of life who come together as part of the monthly bouts that are held at the Homewood Auditorium.

Like with wrestling, there are heroes and villains alike, each of whom have their own fan base.

Said especially after the COVID-19 pandemic sequestered residents to their homes and kept people from gathering in large groups in public, the emergence of the Chicago Knockouts in Homewood provided an outlet for people to come together and build community in a way hasn’t experience in any other place she has lived.

Now, it isn’t unusual for Prado to be surrounded by 25 or 30 friends and neighbors on a Saturday night in Homewood, cheering the fast-paced competitors as they pass by in a blur. She watches as her daughter poses for photos with all of her favorite players after each match, engaging with the kind of women she hopes that one day her daughter — who participates in the Chicago Knockouts junior roller derby instructional program – becomes herself.

While perhaps Prado wasn't expecting any benefits to attending a Chicago Knockouts home match, Prado has seen the league not only provide Homewood residents with a sense of community from perhaps an unexpected source, but has also watched as her daughter has gained new role models through a sport that those who love it want to continue to grow — one spectator at a time.

“I want her to understand different people, different characters,” Prado told Patch. “We’re all different, but we’re all the same and with the Chicago Knockouts, you see that. There’s such diversity. You see the young women on the derby. I’ve seen older women on the floor.

“Women – all shapes and sizes, colors and personalities – and it all shines through.”