Skaters compete in Schuylkill County Scream Queens roller derby mixer in Pottsville

Feb. 18—POTTSVILLE — Roller derby players from across the region gathered Saturday for the fourth annual "I Love You to Death" mixer, hosted by the Schuylkill County Scream Queens.

Held in the Scream Queens' home venue, Roller Roost Sports Arena in Pottsville, the interleague event drew more than 60 players, referees and non-skating officials from nearby derby leagues, including from Harrisburg, Reading, Bethlehem and Wilkes-Barre.

Wearing helmets, kneepads and arm braces, skaters raced around the rink, exchanging hard, football-like hits with opposing players while trying to score as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Skaters in Saturday's competition played for one of two teams — the Cannibelles or the Zombabes. The event consisted of two bouts, one for intermediate and "freshie" players, and another for advanced and intermediate players.

A roller derby bout is played on an oval track, and each team fields five players at a time. Four people on the team are blockers, and one person is a jammer, or a scorer.

When the whistle blows, jammers must find a way through the opposing blockers.

Once free, the lead jammer — or the first to successfully escape the blockers — can call off a "jam," or play, and put the teams back on the jam line, or line of scrimmage, for a new round.

"There's a lot to it," said Clarissa "LolliRoT" Christ, president of the Schuylkill County Scream Queens. "It's one of the only sports that plays offense and defense at the same time."

The Scream Queens, founded by Christ in 2018, are an all-female flat track roller derby team based in Pottsville.

Composed of about 50 Schuylkill County women representing a wide variety of vocations — from teachers to tattoo artists to musicians — the Schuylkill County Scream Queens are a diverse group of skaters, referees and non-skating officials.

Each roller derby player has a unique "skater" name and a number. Players on the current Scream Queens roster include Tara Heher, also known as "Hater Tot" (No. 3), and her daughter, Alexa Heher, or "Lucky Harm" (No. 7).

Roller derby is a unique sport in that the number of officials outnumber the players on the track at a given time. Each bout requires 11 non-skating officials, as well as 7 referees.

"We have enough in-house officials to be able to run a bout," Tara Heher said. "We're very unique in that aspect. A lot of other teams only have a handful, if any, so we feel like that sets us apart because they attend our practices as well. So, while we're practicing, they're watching our gameplay and helping us become better by calling us out on penalties and things like that."

Derby association

The Schuylkill County Scream Queens recently joined the Women's Flat Track Derby Association, the international governing body for women's flat track roller derby.

As a WFTDA-accredited team, the Scream Queens can now compete in sanctioned games that qualify for association rankings.

As a new member of the association, the team joins more than 400 other skater-owned leagues worldwide for the opportunity to compete and participate in the sport at the highest level. Other WFTDA teams in the region include Harrisburg Area Roller Derby, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Roller Radicals and the Susquehanna Valley Derby Vixens.

"Prior to being on WFTDA, we had limited choices on the teams that wanted to play us," Christ said. "Now that we are a WFTDA team, the possibilities are endless."

Christ began competing in roller derby in 2013 when she joined the Dutchland Rollers, based in Lancaster.

Later, when she moved to Schuylkill County, she established the Scream Queens in January 2018 after an initial stint with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Roller Radicals.

As the program rose in profile, the Scream Queens grew significantly from its initial team of six members to its current group of more than 50 players, spanning a variety of interests and skill levels.

During the 2022 season, the Scream Queens won four of its six interleague matchups.

This year, the team's home opponents include the Susquehanna Valley Derby Vixens, the Hudson Valley Horrors and the 301 Derby Dames.

In addition to its regular-season games, the team hosts mixers and other events, including the annual Scream Fest, a daylong music festival in August.

Anyone interested in joining the Schuylkill County Scream Queens or learning more about roller derby can attend one of two open recruitment sessions — at 8:30 p.m. March 9 or at 10:30 a.m. March 12 — at the Roller Roost Sports Arena.

The sessions are open to anyone of any skill level interested in participating in any capacity, whether as a skater or an official.

For more information about the Schuylkill County Scream Queens, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SkookScreamQueens.

Contact the writer: hlee@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6085