Finding Family on the Roller Derby Rink with Sarah Arnosky Ko
For her day job, Sarah Arnosky Ko is vice-president of Greater St. Louis Incorporated, where she helps bring the business community together in the Gateway City. But in her spare time, she’s known as Bricktator, a star player for the St. Louis-based Arch Rival Roller Derby team. Today, she joins Sandy and Sandra to give us all the lowdown on how roller derby works, what drew her to it, and why the sport is growing in popularity around the globe.
First up, Sarah tells us about the origins of roller derby, way back in the 1930s, and explains how the sport works, including how you score points and what a jammer is. She also shares some of her experiences of traveling for competitions and coaching, and talks about roller derby’s global growth trajectory as a sport that seems to naturally intrigue people. That includes Sarah, and she shares the story of how she got drawn into roller derby after watching a match and becoming fascinated by the powerful women playing it.
She also gives us some inner details about roller derby, including the significance of the skaters’ names, how they communicate on the rink, and how they deal with risks and injuries. And, for those who, like Sarah, find themselves interested in becoming a skater, Sarah explains the training newcomers undergo, emphasizes the welcoming atmosphere roller derby provides, and reassures Sandra that there’s no upper age limit to becoming a skater! And finally, Sarah tells us what she and the team do to psyche themselves up for, and wind down, from a tournament (and lets us in on roller-derby afterparties as well as the secret of zombies-versus-robots competitions).
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Transcript:
Dr. Sandra Magnus: It lies somewhere between the pit of your stomach, your racing heart, and your brain somehow trying to keep it all together. That's an area we call The Adrenaline Zone. I'm retired astronaut Dr. Sandra Magnus.
Sandy Winnefeld: And I'm retired Navy fighter pilot, Admiral Sandy Winnefeld. We’re two adrenaline junkies who love spending time with people who are really passionate about pushing their boundaries as far as possible.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: By day, Sarah Arnosky Ko is the vice president of Greater St. Louis Incorporated, helping to bring the business community together in the Gateway City.
Sandy Winnefeld: But in her spare time, she's an MVP star for St. Louis based Arch Rival Roller Derby Team. She has a long history in athletics, having transitioned from figure skating as a young girl to ice hockey, and then soccer as a team before taking up roller derby after graduating from Kalamazoo College.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Her roller derby name is Bricktator, and this high-speed contact sport will definitely get your adrenaline pumping.
Sandy Winnefeld: Many thanks to our sponsor for this episode, Dunkin'. Slow, steeped, ultra-smooth junk and Cold Brew should be at the top of any adrenaline seeker's checklist.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: We caught up with her midseason in the Big River City.
Sandy Winnefeld: Sarah, welcome to The Adrenaline Zone. It's so great to have you with us here today.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: So, Sarah, let's talk about roller derby in general. Where did it come from? I remember watching it when I was little and it was very bewildering. Can you just tell us a little bit about it?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: That's a common sentiment in folks. They will be like, ‘I remember it from the 1970s, the Bay Area Bombers.’ And actually, at least, to my understanding of the origin of roller derby, at least the contact version actually dates back to the 1930s. And it has continued to evolve since then.
The modern-day roller derby that I play and it really has been popular in the world today, started really in the early 2000s. Austin, Texas really kind of was the hub of the new renaissance. And it really has spread across the world today to have about 400 leagues across the world.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Wow, that's a lot!
Sandy Winnefeld: Yeah.400 leagues with X number of teams – that's a lot of people out there skating around in circles beating up on each other.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yes! You'd be surprised you just kind of run across, you see someone with a T-shirt that says some League and you strike up a conversation about roller derby.
Sandy Winnefeld: So, I'd say most of our listeners are like me and don't really know a whole lot about how roller derby works. So, tell us about flat track. Tell us about the rules and the scoring. Take us through how this amazing sport works.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yeah! So, to start, there is no ball and there is no net. It's not like many sports that we think of. But what is involved is an oval track, and as you mentioned, it is a flat track. A lot of times in the past it was banked track, but I think as the sport evolved, and it just became much easier, flat track really has become more popular.
So, there's an oval track with two teams, and each team has 5 skaters. 4 of them are what are called blockers, and their job is to play both defense and offense. And the fifth skater is called a jammer. The jammer is really the ball right since we don't have a ball.
Her job is to get past the blockers on the other team – meanwhile, they're playing defense on her. And so, when the play begins, the whistle blows and we all take off. And the skaters are now battling for position. The jammers are trying to get through all of the blockers while being engaged. And once somebody gets through, the jammers can then start scoring points.
The way that you score points is by passing an opponent on the other team. And each opponent you pass is a point. And so, you continue to do laps where you can rack up points for your team and that can last up to 2 minutes. And once that time expires or the play stops, you say, ‘Everybody go back to your benches,’ and you send out a new group of 5 and it starts all over again.
Sandy Winnefeld: Wow! So, does the jammer have a different uniform so everybody knows who she is?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Great question! Uniform is the same but accessories are different, in fact, what it is is we have helmet covers, so we all have our protective gear that we wear, but the jammer has a cover that goes over her helmet that has a star on it. And that's how you know that it's the jammer.
Sandy Winnefeld: Okay. And the oval tracks are probably not banked. Maybe because you can have more tracks that way, right? You don't have to have a specialized thing. You can lay one down almost anywhere. But I would also think that you got centrifugal force, as you're going around in circles so fast, it’s trying to force you off the track without anybody touching you, right?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Right. Yeah, you definitely have to, there's a certain shape when you skate the track to make sure you're most efficient but also staying in balance.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: I loved speed skating when I was in middle school so I totally get the attraction. But it seems like this would be really hard to score if you're a judge.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: It is. It takes everyone on the team to score points because it is hard. You are literally throwing your body in between other bodies trying to get past them or to stop them. And so, it really is something where you have to be fearless in order to really be successful in this sport.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: So, definitely a contact sport. And so, what do you guys have in the way of safety equipment?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: We have our helmet, our mouthguard. We have elbow pads, wrist guards, knee pads, and then our skates. So, it's a good setup, but it's not a full comprehensive setup like you would get in ice hockey or something like that.
Sandy Winnefeld: Now you are a jammer, right?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: I am a jammer. I pretend like I know how to block sometimes. But really, I was meant to be a jammer. I grew up figure skating and playing soccer and playing ice hockey so I had that kind of built-in muscle memory to really transfer well into roller derby. So, I love it. I love having the pressure on me to go and score points for the team and high-fiving everyone after the fact. It really is something that brings out a different side of me for sure.
Sandy Winnefeld: So, I know there's a lot of skill involved in playing both roles. So, what are the sort of characteristics of a good jammer versus the characteristics of a good blocker?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: What's interesting is I think that as the sport has evolved, you get a lot of different skill sets that can be good for any position. Historically, jammers are a little bit smaller, a little bit quicker, but really the way that the sport has moved is you can be a tall person, you can be a heavy person and you can still have success, because really it is about leveraging pinch points, moving bodies. And so, as long as you know how to use your body, you can be successful in roller derby from either a jammer or a blocker's perspective.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: So, the pads are important when you're throwing your body at other people at high speeds moving around an oval ring.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yeah.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: And what does the season look like? How often are you doing this in a circuit?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yeah, so we play basically all year. Each league is a little bit different in how it gets set up. But the way that Arch Rival Roller Derby, the league that I am at in St. Louis, Missouri, we have our local season. That’s where we play interleague. We're playing with each other, where we have a mix of skaters on each team. And then, we have what's called a travel season where we have our A, B, and C teams where we represent St. Louis and compete against other cities that are leagues around the country and around the world.
Sandy Winnefeld: Are those travel teams all-star teams? Or is it just sort of the cream of the crop teams inside your own league?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yeah, so we have the Arch Rival is all stars. So, that's our A team that represents St. Louis on the highest level. So, we'll go to the WFTDA championships. That's our Women's Flat Track Derby Association, the governing body, and they'll host tournaments, where we will compete for rankings across all of the leagues.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: So, do you play weekly, monthly or year-round? Is it 52 weeks of racing around a track? How does that work?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yeah, so we have practices weekly, multiple times a week. They're geared towards the different teams and the different skill sets. But when we are in our competition season, there's usually a game every month, typically it’s how we build that out.
Sandy Winnefeld: So, this is, as you mentioned earlier, it's a global sport. You've traveled all over the place to do this. Tell us about some of the exotic places that you've been, including the most exotic place you've been to skate.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yeah, that's one of the benefits of playing roller derby. We are a skater owned and operated league. And so, we don't have major sponsorships that take us places.
But when we do go, we really do make sure that we get the most out of the places we visit. So, I've been to LA and Portland. I've been to New Orleans and Montreal. I got to coach in Australia, which was incredible.
One of the favorite places I never expected to go was a city in Spain called A Coruna, which was in northern Spain. It's green. It was beautiful. It was on the ocean. And we really get to swim in the ocean after games as our, quote, ‘ice bath’, because it was a little bit cold. But really just every time we go someplace, we really get to experience a little bit of what it has to offer.
Sandy Winnefeld: And that gives me the sense that this sport is actually growing, right? Can you tell us a little bit about the growth trajectory of the sport because a lot of people are doing this?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yeah. So, I think, as I mentioned, back in the early 2000s, when the modern version of roller derby was really starting to pick up, there were two leagues and now we're at over 400.
I think what's been most interesting about the pandemic, is that it put a lot of the leagues on pause, a lot of people picked up roller skating, like the sales of roller skates during the pandemic went up like 500% or something like that.
And so, while they may not be doing the contact version of roller skating, a lot of people are starting to get interested. And that's really been helpful in us cultivating what the growth of the sport could be moving forward because once you have those basic skating skills, people that want to be in a competitive space, this is the place to be.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: I've noticed the emergence of roller skating because I've seen ads for 'come skate on the plaza' or 'skate down a greenway' or something. I loved roller skating as a kid so it's exciting for me to see. But has it drawn people in as an audience as well, either in person or online? Are you getting more people watching?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Definitely there’s a yearning for when the games are coming back from our kind of tried-and-true audience. And then I think, again, anytime you are in a conversation with somebody, and you mention you play roller derby, the next question is, ‘When can I come to watch you play?’ There's always this level of intrigue. So, I think the more we continue to talk about our sport, the more interest there is just naturally because people are curious.
Sandy Winnefeld: Sandra mentioned skating, I remember as a kid, I'm old enough that we had these horrible skates that had four wheels on them, and you sort of strap them on and…
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Oh, I remember those!
Sandy Winnefeld: They were like amazingly primitive skates but you probably have some pretty high-tech stuff. Is there anything unique about the skates that you're using on these tracks?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Like any high-level sport, equipment is everything. In particular, when it comes to skates. And so, we have heat-molded boots that are customized with colors and special cutouts. I have an arch that's representative of our league's logo sewn into the side of my boot. We have what are called plates. So, that's going to go underneath the bottom of your boot. And that's going to create your ability to shift and create edges.
And then, you have the wheels, right? The wheels are a whole world of details around how sticky they are, how wide they are, and that all depends on personal preference and the surface that you're skating on.
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Dr. Sandra Magnus: You say the sport is growing as for participants, so what kind of people are attracted to the game?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: So, with roller derby, it attracts people of all walks of life. As an adult, I think we look for community. And it's sometimes hard to make friends, to find your people so to speak, and I think roller derby really fills that void for a lot of people.
You can kind of find a friend that maybe you wouldn't have found through work or through going to a bar or otherwise. It really is a really healthy community in that way.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: How did you find roller derby?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: I was living in Oakland, California, at the time and I had a friend who found this flier and said, ‘Hey, we should go to this roller derby thing.” I had no idea what it was. And so, I went and I was just drawn in to these powerful women that were playing this sport that I didn't understand, like the rules are not clear when you're just watching, you really need to have somebody explain them the first time.
But at the end of it, I said to myself, ‘I think I could do this. I think this is something that I could get into.’ And so, without knowing anyone, I went to the local skate shop, got some gear, and then showed up at the next, like, rookie cohort, and here I am, 10 years later, still playing the sport.
Sandy Winnefeld: It kind of sounds like how Sandra and I got into podcasting. You listen to it a few times and it's like, ‘I think I can do this.’
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Totally the same.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Absolutely.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: That's awesome!
Sandy Winnefeld: So, you are based in St. Louis and so you've got a really cool team name, the Arch Rivals. But I love some of the other team names that are out there like the New Wheeled Order and the Bad Attitude and a few others like that.
What are some other good names out there that you've run across? And do you guys have an archrival of the Arch Rivals?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Good question. So, some of the names of our skaters do lean into our St. Louis City. So, we have Jam Heiser Bush playing off of Anheuser Busch which is here in St. Louis. Cruella Belleville, which is a nod to Belleville, Illinois, which is where Sandra's from.
Sandy Winnefeld: Cruella, that's a good word.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: That's funny.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: And then, we have Vicious van Go Go and Smarty McFly and Lux Furious. So, people really do think intentionally about what their name is and also how it can be shortened, right?
Because if you're on the track, you're in the moment, what do people call you in that moment? You can't say Vicious van Go Go, right? I can't even say it on the podcast.
It's Vicious, that's what I refer to her as, right? Or for me, my name is Bricktator. And a lot of my teammates will just refer to me as Brick. So, it was important to know what's the full name, and then also, what can it be shortened to the track?
Sandy Winnefeld: The Bricktator!
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Yeah, it must be fascinating listening to an announcer doing a roller derby call. 'The Brick goes past Vicious and slams, MC Flyers' or whatever. Oh my gosh! It's a code.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yes. And even the officials have special names. And even the announcers have a special name. So, it really is an integral part of the roller derby community at large.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: So, you've got to put a lot of thought into your name, because you're going to be stuck with this for a while. Do people ever hang names on you that you don't want? It kind of happens to a fighter pilot, if he makes a mistake or something like that.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: I don't know if it's ever that we'd have names we don't want. Sometimes it's a slight modification of names, like I mentioned Vicious. Sometimes they just call her Vish, because sometimes vicious sounds like fish. And then, it just becomes a different thing.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Shorthand.
Sandy Winnefeld: Sarah, you alluded a minute ago to communications. I would imagine during a 2-minute you know, intense event skating around the tractor, you are having to communicate with your teammates, right? So, is there a code? Do you guys have your own secret signals?
Obviously, you're not going to tell us what any of them are, because then you would be telling the world but I would assume there's some kind of important communication between the jammers and the blockers?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yes, we do. We actually do have secret, they're not even secret, we have symbols that our coaches will call from the sidelines that mean different strategies.
So, we have things, where like the motion is raising the roof, or we have one where you kind of do some fist pumps, or one where you swing your finger over your head and a circular motion, and all those mean different things, and they are nonverbal communication, but then we communicate on the track so that everybody understands what the strategy is we're trying to implement.
Sandy Winnefeld: So, you're actually able to watch a coach, while you're doing these incredibly intense, close-quarters combat with your opponents. You can still see the coach.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: I mean, the idea is that of at least the 5 of you, one of them can look up and see, and then, transfer knowledge accordingly,
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Before they skate off the edge. So, how do you balance that competition between the risks - because you guys are going pretty fast, it's a crowd of people, you guys are all fiercely competitive - so, how do you figure out that line? You just crash a few times and know, ‘Oh, wait! That's too far'?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yeah, I think part of when we practice, it's a lot of you practice as you play with a lot of sports. And so, knowing that you can't wait until the game time to go hard, and you only make each other better when you do challenge each other.
That doesn't mean to be unsafe but that means to really use your strength, use your skills, and your footwork to really challenge your partners. And sometimes that results in hits that hurt a lot. And sometimes that results in tripping over each other and falling down and pausing to make sure everybody is okay, and then getting right back up, and then going hard again.
At times, we will need to stop and give people a minute because things do happen. Ankle breaks are not uncommon. Knee issues, not uncommon. Concussions, not uncommon. And this is something that people know, from day one, if the leagues are setting it up right.
There's an inherent risk associated with this sport. And it's a calculated risk, though, right?
Like, we're not trying to hurt each other. We're just trying to play hard, and making sure that at the end of the day, we are teammates, and this is something we're doing because we love it. And we love being competitive. We want to make sure we can continue to do it as long as we can.
Sandy Winnefeld: You mentioned that it's a 2-minute event. But I'm assuming you don't just show up in 2 minutes and it's all over. There must be a series is like best 2 out of 3, and you rotate people in from your team. It's not always the same 5 people. How does that all work in terms of competition?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: It's two 30-minute halves. And so, those 2-minute intervals are within those 30-minute halves, and each of those 2-minutes are called jams. And so, each jam, you'll bring out a new set of blockers and those blockers are known as a pack. And so, that's kind of filled out packs with your teammates and you’re like, pack X versus pack Y, and they kind of know who fills in what role within those different organizations.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: So, when I was a speed skater in middle school, that was our Friday night thing to do: go out and race around the track. It was really easy, when you go around the corners especially, to lock wheels with people.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: That happens.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Yeah, then they just go skidding off into the corner. So, that happens?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yeah, because we're on quad skates, right? So, the wheels do stick out a little bit on the sides of the boots, and even just in the way that we're in such close quarters, it is very easy for those wheels to lock. And then, you trip, you just want to make sure you don't fall on top of the wheels because that is the part that really hurts.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Yeah!
Sandy Winnefeld: So, what happens when there is a big pile up, I would imagine it's not uncommon that all 10 skaters go down because it was just a chocolate mess out there. I guess people just get back up and keep going until the 2-minutes are over?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: As long as there was no penalty. So, we have a series of officials that are monitoring the game and are calling off skaters if they do something that is illegal.
So, if you trip somebody or you nail somebody square in the back, or you hit someone in the face like there are things that you are not allowed to do in roller derby, despite the fact that fans might want something otherwise.
And so, in those moments where there's big collisions, a lot of times there is a penalty, and someone has to go off the track and go serve their 30 second penalty in the box. But otherwise, one of our big mantras is 'first up', the game is still going on, right? Whoever gets first up, you get the advantage. And so, there are moments where there are lots of people on the ground, but the game continues.
Sandy Winnefeld: Yeah, but it doesn't do any good if the blocker gets up, you gotta get the jammer up, right? Because the jammer is the one who scores the points. Do the crowds really get into this? Are they yelling and screaming the whole time you're going around the track?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yeah, they do. They love it when people ham it up, too, right? You can raise your arms and cheer to the crowd. And people have their favorite players and they really cheer loudly. They'll make signs. We have a guy that always brings a megaphone that's cheering and leads chants with the crowds. And we feed off of that. I love big energy crowds, it makes it really fun as a skater, too.
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Dr. Sandra Magnus: So, if I was a new person walking into the locker room or walking onto the rink, how are you going to train me up? Just like, ‘Alright, here's the sport, here's what you have to be careful of, here's what to expect. Here's what not to expect.’ What kind of a speech do I get?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yeah, well, in addition, we have a cohort of 'learn to play roller derby', where it's a 6-week course and really trying to build you up. So, we don't throw you into contact right away because it's not safe for you, or the people you're playing with, right? We want to make sure that you're stable on your own skates.
But I think the speech that you really get is like, ‘This is fun. We will be your family. And that's really not a matter of if but when you get hurt in some capacity, we have people around you that can support you, but know that roller derby is rad and we're excited you're here.”
Dr. Sarah Magnus: So, for the 6 weeks training course, you kind of start them off a little easy, and then ramp them up into like this is how you're gonna get hit, and this is how you deal with it and this is how you score points kind of thing because you got to be a pretty good skater, I think to begin with.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yeah, we, I mean you work on everything from crossovers to different types of stops to turning around backward. And then, you build into the love tap series, right? Where just get a little bit of contact and then we'll build up to really start to throw your hips and legs and arms into the person.
Sandy Winnefeld: So, speaking of contact, have you ever been injured in this sport? I can't imagine you haven't been. What was that like?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: My most significant injury was an ankle break. I was probably about 6 months into learning how to play roller derby. And I didn't even get hit. It's not even a good story.
I just literally like went to make a juke and I fell weird, and then I couldn't get up again. And I said my foot is losing feeling, what do I do here? I ended up breaking my ankle. I do have a plate and some screws that will forever be in my ankle. And that's the most major one. But of course, bruises, scratches, knee tweaks, all kinds of things can happen.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: So, I have to admit this sounds like a lot of fun. I'm 57. So, is it too late for me to join a team or is there an age limit? Because this really sounds like a lot of fun.
Sandy Winnefeld: I want to know what your nickname is going to be. That's what I want to know. Astro Skater.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: No, seriously. I mean, is there an age limit? There's a lot of, the wear and tear thing, of course, it probably has to do with general physical conditioning. But do you guys have an age limit? What's the range?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: No.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Really!
Sarah Arnosky Ko: You can never age out of roller derby. We've had folks that were in their 50s as a part of our league. It's funny like age really doesn't become a factor in roller derby. We have folks in their early 20s, into their 40s, and we’re all just friends. It's all just kind of blended together and no one really has age in roller derby. But we do even have junior roller derby in a lot of leagues where you can start as young as 7.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Oh, my goodness!
Sarah Arnosky Ko: So, it really runs the gamut.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: So, you bounce back less enthusiastically the older you are, I suspect, but it still sounds like fun.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Yes.
Sandy Winnefeld: I would imagine after 60 minutes of this and I’m sure you're trading and trading out and all that kind of stuff, but you must be exhausted, and maybe beat up a little bit. But you said you're only doing it once a month, perhaps.
So, you've got a little bit of recovery time but you're also practicing. Does it take a while to recover from a match like this? Or is the schedule more driven just by people's schedules?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: I think when I say once a month, it's actually a tournament usually once a month. So, it's multiple games in a weekend, anything from 2 to 4. And definitely, it takes a lot to get back up after playing a game and doing it again the next day. We'll joke that we feel like we've been hit by trucks.
But you gotta dig deep because the other team had a similar experience, right? And so, we all kind of understand that. It just takes a lot of endurance to make it through a full tournament. And then, you do get about a week off. Typically, it's in our schedule to just recover and then go back to practice.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: So, everybody shows up at their day jobs on Monday, kind of creaky and moving slowly.
Sandy Winnefeld: Yeah. So, speaking of a day job, Sarah, tell us what you're doing in St. Louis?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: I work for an economic development organization called Greater St. Louis Inc. And so, we are really looking at how do we create growth in our metro region, everything from policy to business attraction and talent attraction to placemaking, and really just helping tell the St. Louis story.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Yeah, I grew up in that area. It's a wonderful area with wonderful people. So, it's a great story to tell, actually.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: We think so too. I think it's interesting, we’ve done some research around St. Louis, and perceptions of St. Louis. And a lot of people don't even know they're supposed to have an opinion about St. Louis.
They know there's an arch. They know about Nelly. But I think, with roller derby, too, we're trying to put St. Louis on the map in our own way and celebrate the things that the Midwest has to offer that a lot of times the attraction goes to the east coast or the west coast, and we're like, 'Hey, St. Louis is really rad. And we even have roller derby, and we're really good at it.'
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Where do you guys play in the St. Louis area? Where are your rinks?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: So, we practice down in South City in a roller rink. It's called the Skatium. But when we host our games in St. Louis, we actually host them at Queeny Park out in Ballwin.
Sandy Winnefeld: St. Louis really is a remarkable community and also a remarkable sports community. You can't keep a football team there but it’s probably among the smartest baseball fans in the country.
You go to a Cards game and the fans are not only polite and reasonable people, but they really know the game. Just starting up a Major League Soccer team, because St. Louis is a hotbed for soccer, and that's really exciting, I think for the city.
And of course, roller derby is kind of like skating under the radar as it were, but you're growing and people are getting more and more interested. So, how does somebody go learn about going to one of your events?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: You can find us online at archrivalrollerderby.com , or you can follow us on social media. We're on LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, all the platforms. The Arch Rival Roller Derby is the place to follow.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: I'm definitely going to look you guys up next time I'm in the area. I still have a lot of families back there so I get back there periodically. I think I want to come watch a game.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Please do. We'd love to have you.
Sandy Winnefeld: So, here's something we really liked to ask our guests. And that is you're getting all suited up to go out and you put your life on the line skating in a roller derby event, is there any sort of ritual you have before you head out on the track? Any little thing you like to do to kind of psych yourself up before you get out there like listen to rock and roll music or something like that. What do you do?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: It's funny you asked this because before big tournaments, I actually will host, we call them seances. It's not really a seance but there are candles involved. So, we call them a seance.
We sit in a circle and we all have our individual candles. And there's some kind of a prompt where everyone shares about something they're looking forward to, what doubt so they let go of so they can be fully present in the games and we all share, and then at the end of it, we all blow out the candle together and now we're ready to head into the tournament.
It just has become this thing that we do every single time and again, it just helps us get in the right mindset, and it helps bring us a little bit closer before we go into battle.
Dr. Sarah Magnus: That sounds like the calm before the storm, kind of a thing.
Sandy Winnefeld: So, is there anything you do after a roller derby? Is this like rugby, or do you just go home and nurse your wounds?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Well, if it's in the middle of a tournament, we go home and we ice bath. So, we're in the hotel tubs and we dump ice on us, and we sing songs to help us get through the pain.
But at the end of the tournament, there's often an after-party, and we always like to have themes for our clothing. And so, we've had, as a team, we’ll go out all decked out in outer space outfits, or we've even had 'dads on vacation', where we have our cargo shorts and button-up shirts for our after-party. So, we really like to after we work hard, we'll have some fun, too.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: That sounds like a wonderful experience all around. It's great to be in a sport and be a member of a team where everybody's connecting like that.
Sandy: You know, Sandra wants to be a roller derby person, but I think I want to go to the party after the event is over. It sounds like it's crazy if I can find the right clothing, I suppose.
So, a lot of people get hurt in this sport, but not badly. I mean, it's a contact sport, but people obviously are surviving it. But I would imagine that some people kind of start feeling it. How does that work? Is there anything special that happens to the injured in this game?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: I think there's definitely a camaraderie that becomes part of the injured group. And so, in fact, we have what's called RollerCon. It's a roller derby convention that takes place in Las Vegas. They have all kinds of exhibition games of different themes. But one of the themes to speak to this question is 'zombies versus robots'.
While they'll dress up as zombies and robots, you only qualify for these teams if you are a zombie, because you have some kind of cadaver ligament put in your knee, your ankle, whatever it is, you're there for a zombie, or you're a robot. And again, you're all decked out in silver. But that really means you have some kind of plate or screw or a rod in your body. So, they have no issues making full rosters for either of those teams, because it is so common for folks to get hurt, get sewn up, get fixed up, and go back at it.
Sandy Winnefeld: So, if you've got a ligament and a plate, you get to choose whether you're a zombie or a robot, right?
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Exactly!
Sandy Winnefeld: That's great!
Dr. Sandra Magnus: One year play on one team, the next year play on the other team.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Exactly!
Sandy Winnefeld: I love it! Well, Sarah, this has been just a fantastic, fun, and different interview for us. We love finding risk takers and adrenaline seekers who do different things, and I think we hit the jackpot here. It's been great talking to you.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Absolutely. It's been wonderful.
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Well, I appreciate being even considered. I know that you have many very accomplished and extraordinary guests. So, I really appreciate you bringing me on.
Sandy Winnefeld: Well, you were one of them so it's been a real pleasure.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Absolutely. Thank you for your time!
Sarah Arnosky Ko: Thank you both.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Our guest has been the Bricktator, Sarah Arnosky Ko, who is a star for St. Louis based Arch Rival Roller Derby Club. I'm Sandra Magnus.
Sandy Winnefeld: And I'm Sandy Winnefeld. Many thanks to our sponsor, Dunkin'. Dunkin' fuels the people who take on every challenge head first, and we know the right kind of fuel they need, an ultra-smooth Dunkin' Cold Brew.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: We'll see you back in The Adrenaline Zone next week for another episode with people who live to take risks.
Sandy Winnefeld: It's time for this show to go viral, so be sure to recommend us to your friends.
