Some women take up martial arts, team sports, even boxing as a way to stay in shape, de-stress and feel empowered. But now, more and more women are discovering the growing sport of roller derby.
During the day, Veronica Smith works in the River Walk shop she owns. She enjoys interacting with customers and telling them about the local sights and where to find the Alamo.
But come closing time, Smith becomes "Miss Treater."
"A lot of them don't believe it because they don't see me out here. They have to see it to believe it," says Smith of her role on the Alamo City Roller Girls squad.
Miss Treater joins over a dozen other women who slip on skates, pads, helmets and a lot of attitude.
"My mindset is (to) be strong and to get ready to take a hit if I have to," she says about being on the team.
"Hot Purrsuit" is one of her teammates.
"You have to be aggresive. It's a full contact sport," she says. "With derby, you're liberated and empowered to just take the chance."
Hott Pursuit's real name is Anna Lisa Garcia. By day, she is a prosecutor in the District Attorney's office.
Another teammate (and owner of the local club) is "Punky Roxy." Her full-time job is working as an accountant. Roller derby brings these women together, and they will all tell you that the sport allows them to really let loose.
"It's the perfect sport for us because we get to be everything we want to be without any excuses [or] any apologies," says Hot Purrsuit. "It's an outlet for what you can't do in court, I guess you could say."
"Maybe it's a safe alter ego, but I used to do martial arts and I used to box," says Miss Treater. "It's right up my alley."
The Alamo City Roller Girls have been around since 2006. Modern-day flat track roller derby started in 2001 in Austin and now has more than 400 leagues worldwide.
"It's not just for show anymore, before you'd see clothesline with the elbows," says Punky Roxy.
The Roller Girls recently hosted the Beaumont "Spindletop" team and beat them 140 to 120. To score, the player with the star on her helmet tries to make it through the pack twice.
Each team has a jammer or scorer who tries to make her way through the pack using defensive moves like shoulder checks, hip checks and booty checks.
Ultimately, the jammer works her way up to the pivot, or point person, at the front of the pack, who'll whip her through the pack.
"The second time around, every person of the opposite team the jammer passes, you get a point for," says Hot Purrsuit.
The sport has evolved from "anything goes" on the rink to set rules and legal defensive moves. The Hollywood movie about derby, Whip It, helped make the sport popular again.
"The best thing about derby is that it lets you bring out this whole other side of yourself that you may not be able to bring out in your day-to-day life," says Punky Roxy.
Some of the women who've been on the team since it started left at one point but came back.
"I fell in love with the sport ever since then and I just can't walk away," says Punky Roxy.
"It's something I guess I just can't stay away from. Nothing quenched my thirst like roller derby," says Hot Purrsuit.
The team members are hoping more women fall in love with the sport the way they have.
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