Matt Harris
 Staff Writer

I almost felt nervous walking into the Pavilion at the Greensboro Coliseum. Greensboro Roller Derby was about to treat me and several hundred others to an evening of Hunger Games-themed roller derby, and I knew very little about either the Hunger Games or roller derby.

All I knew about The Hunger Games was what I had peripherally gathered over the past few years from movie trailers, book reviews and occasional chatter from fans of the series. My knowledge of roller derby was limited to the tiny bit I had read about online in the days leading up to the show, as well as a few useful pointers from the event pamphlet.

       The Pavilion was crowded with people of all ages, many of whom were dressed up as their favorite Hunger Games characters. Munching on popcorn and giant pretzels, people awaited the start of the game, in which the two teams, District 13 and The Capitol, would be facing off.

After a particularly powerful rendition of the National Anthem by Stephanie Barclay, the players were introduced. The players all sported unique and clever nicknames like “Betty Clock-her” and “Sigourney Cleaver,” and the game was to be called by the likes of Marquis de Sadie and Admiral Packbar.

The players skated around the court as their names were called, hi-fiving wide-eyed groups of small kids as they flew by. With the scoreboard set and the teams in their places, the games began with a harmonizing shriek of whistles.

As it turns out, watching roller derby feels a lot like watching football, except there is no ball and everyone is on skates. Unlike football, though, both teams essentially play offense and defense at the same time: each team has a designated “jammer,” who attempts to score points by passing the other team’s blockers on the track, while simultaneously trying to block the other team’s jammer.

The jammer scores one point for each of the opposing team’s blockers she passes. This happens frequently — dozens of points are scored by both teams in each round, forcing the scorekeepers to work as hard as the players to keep up. The gameplay provides a unique and thrilling experience for the audience, as players constantly come in and out of the game for each new “jam.” 

It’s a contact-heavy sport — players use their entire bodies to push jammers back or out of bounds, resulting in frequent falls and pile-ups. This was all the more fun to watch as players constantly added new pieces to their costumes: wings, tutus, funky hats — even a full-body banana peel costume sported by a Capitol player named Sax A Peel.

By the halftime, District 13 was leading The Capitol by quite a few points. After the players had skated off the court, an announcer reminded the audience that a portion of the night’s proceeds would benefit the Jewish Family Food Services Food Pantry.

She then shared a few disquieting facts about food insecurity in North Carolina: that our state is consistently shown to be among the 10 worst states for child hunger, that over one in five North Carolina children experience regular food insecurity and that the Triad recently topped a national list of the most food-insecure cities.

Despite these sobering facts, there was an undeniable air of optimism and charity that charged the evening. The players had smiles on their faces throughout the derby, even as they knocked each other around and fell dramatically to the concrete.

Players on opposing teams helped one another up and laughed together as they did so. It was maybe the only sporting event I’ve ever seen during which two players on opposing teams briefly postponed the conflict to dance together. A great sense of community carried the night as players and referees happily interacted with fans.

During halftime, the announcer informed the audience that there would be a few creative liberties taken with the game’s rules in the second half. Audience members could vote to bend or completely disregard the rules — or even switch the numbers on the scoreboard. The first audience-influenced change occurred soon after halftime and involved the members of both teams dancing as they played.

The players all found the athleticism and coordination to somehow dance and play at the same time, which lead to a lot of laughs and probably a few unintended wipe-outs. After that, every player on both teams was called off the bench to play at the same time, crowding the track with close to 30 people as opposed to the usual ten.

The most dramatic turn of events happened with seven minutes left on the clock: the audience voted to flip the scoreboard, handing over District 13’s comfortable lead to The Capitol.

The intensity of the game increased in the last few minutes, as The Capitol took advantage of their ill-gotten lead and began dominating District 13. Sax A Peel earned multiple points in a row as she continued to overtake District 13’s blockers.

At the very last minute, however, the audience once again decided to flip the scoreboard, making District 13 the final winners with a score of 207-156. The audience roared with delight, District 13 celebrated and the exhausted players on both teams glided off the court, laughing and hugging.

My ignorance of both The Hunger Games and roller derby didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the evening at all. Greensboro Roller Derby put on an impossibly fun and dynamic show, with an energy and joy that remained even as people began to file out of the crowded Pavilion, smiles on their faces.