Roller derby team smashes at national level

By Christian Price, News9.com's INsite Team

The Oklahoma Victory Dolls are taking their roller derby game nationally.

The team has been battling locally for the last two years.

Kathleen Thomas is a member of the Oklahoma Victory Dolls. When it's game time, she transforms into Katatomic 3000.

"We wanted really to elevate the game, roller derby as a sport," said Kathleen Thomas. "We wanted to play on a national level, and obtain WFTDA status, that's Women's Flat Track Derby Association."

The WFTDA is to roller derby as the NFL is to football.

 "Every year, more and more leagues are joining nationally, and more and more girls are starting up," Thomas said. "But at the same time, there are a lot of people that have never even heard of roller derby or knew that there's a resurgence as flat track goes."

Flat track roller derby is different from what most people remember from the 60s and 70s. Instead of an elevated track, these women can battle anywhere.

"The flat track is really a neat concept because you can play anywhere," Thomas said. "Anywhere you have a flat surface, you can throw some skates on and play roller derby."

The Victory Dolls include mothers, teachers and college age women. One of the things the ladies share in common is how tough they are. This isn't a sport for wimps.

"I get banged up pretty bad," Thomas said. "Right now, I've got a knee injury and an ankle injury. Most of the girls have broken tail bones, dislocated their jaws. It's pretty rough, but we power through."

A large portion of all the proceeds from the Victory Dolls bouts will be donated to the YWCA, Thomas said.

"The Victory Dolls have teamed up with the YWCA for our 2008 season and probably every season from here on out," said Thomas. "The Y.W.C.A.s mission is to eliminate racism and empower women. Their goals really resonated with us."

According to Thomas, this is a sport for everybody.

"We pride ourselves as family friendly," said Thomas. "This is a sport for women and men and children to all enjoy."

 Log on to www.OklahomaVictoryDolls.com for more information. Thomas says you won't regret it.

"I think that if you came to a roller derby bout and never been before, you would come back every single time," said Thomas.