Rochelle Kiley, thank you. >> As we continue our celebration of Women’s History Month, we’re highlighting women in roller derby right here in Detroit. CBS News Detroit’s Lauren Winfrey is on your block at Masonic Temple in Midtown with a mother and daughter. We love the sport and want to make it more accessible to
Anyone willing to lace up a pair of skates and play. It’s fast paced. You really you really get to be yourself now. The community is so open and accepting full contact. They come to watch girls expressing themselves, having fun and hitting their friends on the track and it’s played on
Ford roller skates on an oval track by two teams of five players. You have to hone in on your footwork and your ability to take hits on and off skates. It’s also a sport Pixie Rennie better known as Sweet Vicious. Absolutely adores. I feel like I never have to
Stifle myself because like or like I have that imposter syndrome that comes with being a woman. Pixie says she’s been playing this sport for about a year and a half but she’s been a fan of it for much longer. It’s like one of the only modern spaces that honors women
And female teams before they honor men. >> She grew up watching her mom play. She started skating when I was two and played for Detroit when I was five until like oh I don’t remember until then. Pixie’s Mom Mary Jane Rainey goes by crack. Three I retired and then I my
Daughter wanted to play when Mary Jane returned to the sport with Pixie she was asked to coach. She’s also now the executive director of community outreach and coordinator for Detroit Roller Derby. >> Now I’m teaching her like all kinds of stuff like and and I get to teach all these kids
And I get to watch them grow and not just as players but as people. Detroit Roller Derby is nearly 20 years in the game. It was founded on New Year’s Day in a basement in 2005. It’s made up of multiple teams like the Post Office not to be confused with the Detroit Pistons.
>> The group also has a junior league. That’s what Pixie’s a part of and the team you see playing right now. >> This whole sport is just women making history and not just making it for themselves but making it for for everybody. >> Mary Jane wants the sport to
Be accessible to everybody too ,especially in the Detroit area removing certain barriers . >> So the price to play is no longer a deterrent. We have removed the barrier to membership fees. We have a roller skate library so if you don’t have skates we have protective gear available
So there’s no reason that if you don’t feel like you can join roller derby, I’ve removed
source
