When it’s time to practice, the D.C. Rollergirls head to the Route 1 corridor.
Since 2015, the women’s flat track roller derby league has leased a practice space in a nondescript 9,000-square-foot warehouse complete with a polished concrete floor just off of Route 1 in Edmonston’s industrial area.
The league uses the space for gear clinics, open houses, practices and tryouts, though regular-season matches are at the D.C. Armory or a sports complex in Rockville.
Before the Rollergirls moved into Edmonston space, it practiced across the D.C. area, at places as varied as Temple Hills Skating Palace, Crofton’s SkateZone, the Michael and Son Sportsplex locations in Rockville and Dulles, which could be kind of a problem.
These days, the league is pretty integrated in the local community. D.C. Rollergirls President Jennifer Lindstrom — a.k.a. Slam Grier — lives in Hyattsville and recently described a “dream day” as beginning at Vigilante Coffee in Hyattsville and the Washington Glass School in Mount Rainier.
Roller derby flamed out in the 1970s after adopting too much of a pro wrestling aesthetic, but it began a resurgence in the early 2000s as a grassroots-led women’s sport.
The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, the international governing body that the D.C. Rollergirls belongs to, currently has 421 full-member leagues based everywhere from Flagstaff, Ariz., to Helsinki, Finland.
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