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WILDWOOD – Stephanie Caulford was a standout softball player for Vineland High School. She was a Press first-team All-Star in 2004 and 2005 before playing at Widener University, where she broke the school’s single-season and career home run records.
“When I got out of college, I needed something to do,” said Caulford, 22, of Vineland. “So I decided to start trying to hurt people – I joined the roller derby.”
Caulford’s toughest competition doesn’t come from a hated rival or a dirty-playing bruiser.
It’s her mom.
“The only reason I decided to do this with her, at my age, is I used to freestyle skate,” said Kimberely Snyder, 44, of Vineland. “It was 30 years ago, but it still gave me a skating background.”
The mother and daughter skate on different teams. Caulford’s skating name is “Punch, Drunk, Shove,” and her mom’s is “Assault N Pepa.”
“Since we’re on opposing teams, I get to hit my mom,” Caulford said with a devilish grin.
“And I get to hit my daughter,” Snyder rebutted sternly, although she is currently on the disabled list after breaking her wrist in action.
Both were on hand for this weekend’s second annual Colossal Coastal Roller Expo, a three-day roller derby extravaganza at the Wildwoods Convention Center featuring more than 20 leagues from as far away Florida. The teams were mostly women, but there were also co-ed and men’s teams.
As expected, there were brightly colored costumes, clever nicknames and flying elbows galore on Saturday, which was the main day of competition. But surprisingly, many of those elbows were being thrown at loved ones, as the field was packed with siblings, spouses and, yes, mother-daughter combos.
The event’s organizer, Melissa “Mos Deathly” Morera, grew up watching roller derby on television with her father. And when she had an opportunity to participate in the revamped sport, she jumped at it.
“It has some of the old-school derby association rules mixed together with some newer ones. … The rules we go by are the best parts of both,” said Morera, 34, of Mullica Hill. “We play on a flat track, instead of a banked one. And it still does get very competitive.”
Morera once was thrown into the second row of the stands. The person who so unceremoniously removed her from the track was her younger sister, Raechel “Billy Rae Siren” Morera.
“I played a lot of sports growing up, but being a girl, they never let you play full-contact. This is my chance,” said Raechel Morera, 24, of Mullica Hill. “Most people have a very different interpretation of this sport because of what it used to be, with all of the theatrics and professional wrestling-like storylines. But it’s really not like that all at. It’s competitive and there are injuries, but everyone’s just out here having a good time.”
Collingswood resident Laurie “Beast of Burton” Burton said she had never been very athletic.
“But I went to a roller derby match one day and thought that it was something I could do,” said Burton, 20. “And I signed up the next day.”
Burton’s husband, Vasily Pappas, did not object. But he also wanted no part of it at first.
“I’ve always been a big skater. But it was playing in-line hockey, not on these things,” said Pappas, 30, referring to the traditional roller skates strapped to his feet that all contestants wear. “But I was going to all of her games anyway, so I figured that I might as well give it a try.”
The most difficult part for Pappas was not learning how to skate again, but rather learning how to deal with his wife getting hit when they’re on the track together in co-ed events.
“It is tough to see her get hit, but I’m not one for retaliation,” he said. “So I just try to clear the way for her as much as I can so no one has a chance to get to her. Like a prevent defense.”
Other couples might think that this is a strange way for a husband and wife to spend time together. But Pappas and Burton said the important thing to them is that it is another – albeit, slightly violent – way to spend time together.
“There’s definitely a lot of work that goes into this. We practice a lot, and then there are events that you have to travel to,” Pappas said. “So if only one of us were doing this, we’d probably never get to see each other.”
Burton joked, “And it gives us stuff to talk about in the car.”
Contact Robert Spahr:
609-272-7283
