High Speed Internet with no phone bill ------Cover Story • Junior Con 2013------Free support from , not India Free Spam and Virus Filtering High Speed DSL Take Calls While Online using Dial-Up Locally Owned and Operated Web Page Design and Hosting Rolling into the Big Time High Speed Wireless By Kathleen Christian from the time that you can throw a ball and ing from Texas, California and Philadelphia, catch a ball.” respectively. This is the end. The end of And so began the roller derby teams “The three lead trainers that we have as we know it and the beginning of roller Derby Brats for ages nine to 17 and Tootsie are phenomenal with kids.” Vojtkofsky derby as a future generation will experience Rollers for ages five to eight. If you haven’t said. “They’ll have amazing dynamics in it: packed into bars or crowded around a TV been lucky enough to catch a bout yet, it is what they’re going to bring, especially for set or driving four hundred miles to an arena, a sight to behold – watching middle school the Midwest. We have East Coast and West draped in team colors. And it begins with a and high school girls whiz around a track on Coast coming in to train Midwest kids.” group of talented skaters with unparalleled skates dodging, ducking and spinning in ev- The trainers aren’t the only ones making devotion to the sport, the ingenuity of youth ery manner to avoid blocks from opponents. the long, cross country trek either. Skaters and an early bedtime so they can stay awake These girls are fearless, some of them skat- from California, Tennessee, Alaska and even during first period Spanish. ing against much older opponents. But large Canada are coming to train with one of the But I’m getting ahead of myself. or small, they let nothing slow them down nation’s best juniors’ teams.

JUNIOR CON 2013 Friday-Sunday, July 12-14 Let’s start with the basics. Roller derby * is a speedy sport played on a flat, oval track Open to ages 9-17, fees vary Junior Con 2013 Trainers (left to by women wearing roller skates and gener- (register at right) Pia Mess, Smarty Pants and ally using their bodies as battering rams. Games called “bouts” are played in two 30 juniorcon.com/register.html) Teflon Donna -minute periods. This isn’t grandma’s roller Derby Brats vs. derby. There’s no choreography, no fake Indianapolis Junior Derby The Training camp will kick off with a punches, no gimmicks. Just raw, hard mus- prom for the kids with a theme of “The Fu- cle and speed. Saturday, July 13 • 6:30 p.m. ture. “As Vojtkofsky says, “The future of Women’s flat-track roller derby was re- $5 at door ($3 w/TRF badge), roller derby will be our juniors.” vived as a sport in the early 2000s and has Then it’s two full days of skating. The since gained thousands of players on hun- under 5 free girls who attend will start by learning roller • Pet-friendly dreds of amateur leagues all over the world, Canlan Ice Sports Arena derby techniques like backwards block- • Fitness center including the Fort Wayne Derby Girls. Co- ing, escaping lean blocks and scrum starts. founder of Fort Wayne’s only adult league, 3869 Ice Way, Fort Wayne They’ll get the chance to put their newly • In-unit washer/dryer Tonya Vojtkofsky, known by her skater name 260-483-4421 learned techniques to the test in scrimmages Minx, was inspired to begin a league of her on makeshift teams like Vampires vs. Were- own after attending a championship bout from their goal: the win. wolves or Meat Eaters vs. Vegetarians. hosted by Seattle’s Rat City Roller Girls. The Fort Wayne Derby Brats are the In addition to the practice bouts, the “We walked into an airport hanger and number one juniors’ team in the Great Lakes Brats will have an exhibition bout Saturday .there were two games going on, and it region and number two in the nation. And night against The Indianapolis Junior Roller was just amazing.” Vojtkofsky remembers. this month at Junior Con they will share their Derby Team. “There was punk rock music in the back- talent, insight and hometown with other ju- Beyond the physical techniques of play- • Four pools ground, and all the girls were wearing home- nior derby girls eager to learn. ing roller derby, the weekend will give kids • PGA executive golf course made ‘boutfits.’” Vojtkofsky, the Brats’ head coach as a leg up in the mental aspect of teamwork. A few years after forming the Derby well as a full-time skater for the Derby Girls, “Smarty Pants is going to do a communica- Girls, Vojtkofsky saw the need to begin couldn’t be more excited to share her team’s tions seminar where she sits down and talks 1, 2 and 3 Bedrooms | Rents from $469 training skaters at a younger age to feed into stomping grounds with a few hundred skat- to kids about the importance of how to com- (260)-247-7603 the adult league. In the summer of 2009 she ers from all over the nation. municate effectively with your teammates as *on Select Apartment Homes began a second league, this time for juniors. Junior Con is a weekend-long training a team player. To work together as a team.” CanterburyGreenApartmentHomes.com “There is no major league team camp at which junior roller derby girls can Vojtkofsky said. “Maybe you’re not going to that takes in a 20-something or 30-year-old learn from top skaters, trainers and coaches go to Suzy’s birthday party, but when you’re Managed by OP Property Management, LLC athlete, and they just start playing baseball.” from all over the nation. Lead trainers Smarty 2316 Abbey Drive, Fort Wayne Continued on page 9 Vojtkofsky said. “You start with little league Pants, Pia Mess and Teflon Donna are com- 2------www.whatzup.com------July 4, 2013