Roller Derby with Betty Switch- LVRG vs GMDD 10/27/12

This Saturday, October 27^th, the Lehigh Valley Rollergirls (LVRG) will be closing out their 2012 Hissy Fits’ season by competing against Vermont’s Green Mountain Derby Dames (GMDD). Seated four positions higher in the east coast WFTDA rankings than LVRG, the Green Mountain Derby Dames are looking to repeat their 2011 win against the Hissy Fits. However, not only has the game of roller derby evolved since last season with more knee down starts and more strategic play, but there are also fresh faces on each team’s roster that add an unpredictability factor for this weekend’s game. The Green Mountain Derby Dames are travelling to the Lehigh Valley with eight returning skaters from last year, while LVRG is returning with nine, adding a power line up of skaters to the mix including Rose Beef, Levilin Levi, Parker Paxa Punch, Phish Tahko, and rookie Betty Switch. With her Hissy Fit debut just days away, we sat down with Jammer Betty Switch to ask her about her thoughts on joining the team.



Switch in the Circus

     ‘Switch’ tried out for LVRG in February of this year and is often heard stating, “I feel like I was made to play this sport.” With a background in cirus acrobatics, it seemed like a natural fit for Switch to join such an athletic sport. Whoooah, hold the presses, did we just say the circus? Yes, when Switch was only seven, she went to a summer camp where a traveling circus would come and train the kids in a few circus acts. For many summers, Switch was apart of the circus in a roller skating act, a stationary trapeze, the lira, the Spanish web, she did fire-eating, performed on the trampoline, did juggling, and much more.  All of those acrobatic acts definitely have paid off, as Switch has found her way to become one of LVRG’s rising Jammers, juking and traversing her way through through tough packs.

      Betty Switch explains jamming as being “both scary and exhilarating, for the same reasons. You are the target.  There are four girls (usually big, ridiculously strong girls) all with the single goal of hitting you as hard as they can, knocking you on your rear, and waiting until you have just enough footing to do it all over again.”  What does she enjoy about roller derby? She says that she not only loves her teammates for their strength and their “do what they believe in, don’t take crap from anyone” attitudes, but she also loves fighting through and breaking out of the pack to score points for her team.  Betty Switch may be new to the sport, but she certainly will be making a name for herself this weekend as she is certainly what her teammates describe her; fearless.

The Lehigh Valley Rollergirls play the Green Mountain Derby Dames this Saturday, October 27^th, at the Independent Family Fun Center located at 4345 Independence Drive, Schnecksville, PA 18078.  The doors open at 5:00p.m. and the game whistle starts at 6:00p.m.  For more information, check out the LVRG website at www.lehighvalleyrollergirls.com or for tickets, you can order them early through Brown Paper Tickets at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/277847.