Finding a new hobby can be a difficult endeavor, especially for an adult. For CWU apparel, textiles and merchandising professor Andrea Eklund, adopting roller derby as a hobby was simple after years of roller skating as a teenager.

“I always loved skating as a kid,” Eklund said. “I still have my roller skates from when I was in the sixth grade. Every time we moved, my husband asked, ‘Can we get rid of these?’ and I’d be like, ‘No!’”

Eklund was introduced to the sport of roller derby by one of her husband’s co-workers while living on the west side of Washington State and, from there, a passion grew.

“I went to a roller derby boot camp in Seattle at Rat City [Rollergirls],” Eklund said. “I wore those skates from sixth grade along with my husband’s dirt bike pads and a bicycle helmet. It was [very]hodge-podge.”

After to moving to Ellensburg, Eklund yearned to bring derby to the area. She was involved in setting up the first meeting to gauge interest in creating a team in October 2010.

Ricki Towner, who works as a project coordinator in the Publicity Center, was another woman interested in starting roller derby in Ellensburg when the first meeting was held.

“I started it with a couple other women,” Towner said. “We just gained momentum from there. We had about 80 people show up–it was awesome. We had our first bout in June 2011.”

After a few years of going through a number of different teams and names and a fluctuating number of skaters, Rodeo City Rollergirls now has a consistent schedule of practices and bouts.

“Practice is typically three times a week, two hours each at Ellensburg High School,” Towner said. “We have a ‘fresh meat program’ for new people. If you’re interested just show up and we’ll get you going. The team is super supportive and friendly.”

Eklund now serves as the team’s head coach, after having ankle surgery requiring pins to be placed to heal the injury. She believes that roller derby is different than most team sports, and that is the appeal to most women who give it a try.

“A lot of the players have never done team sports before,” Eklund said. “I do research on body image and roller derby and the skaters are a variety of sizes. From short to tall, tiny to heavier, different shapes. But the awesome thing about derby is that whatever your shape is, there is a place for you out there. I think that’s something [exclusive] to roller derby and why a lot of women are drawn to it. You don’t have to look a certain way or be a certain build, or even have any experience.”

Kelsey Chappelle, a senior nutrition major at CWU who also serves as the Rollergirls’ secretary, joined the team three years ago after seeing a display Eklund put together in the SURC.

“I saw one of Andrea Eklund’s display cases in the SURC about [roller] derby filled with skates and stuff,” Chappelle said. “My friend and I thought it looked cool and super fun to try so we joined together. It just drew my eye to it and it was a different unique thing I’d never heard of.”

Chappelle played through her life and did not find the type of connection she has with derby with other sports.

“I have always played sports, but I never really found my niche,” Chappelle said. “I played basketball, and softball and soccer and rugby, which was my last sport. But I never felt connected. The sports were fun to play, but the teams never made it fun. I feel like [with] derby, from the beginning, I felt I could do it even when I didn’t know what I was doing.”

Towner, Eklund and Chappelle all credit roller derby with having a welcoming environment that has given them lifelong friends. These include former teammates who now play for other groups such as Columbia Basin Roller Derby.

“Any person can join, 18 to however old you want to be,” Towner said. “Lawyers, teachers, fast food workers, Publicity Center workers, students… We’ve had women as old as 55 and women who are 18. Some of the girls that play for Columbia Basin actually started with our team, so it’s kind of fun to get to network with all these great women. They were our teammates, and now they’re our opponents, but we still have that camaraderie. I love it.”

“It’s an instant community, which draws women in,” Eklund said. “It’s a great way to meet people. There’s locals, there’s transplants, there’s students on the team. There’s people I would never know without derby. It’s opens up doors with people that you usually wouldn’t have.”

“The sisterhood and the friendships that you build that are unique,” Chappelle said. “[If you were to] see these girls on the side of the road, you probably wouldn’t talk to them at all. Derby brings all different types of personalities together and we have [an] amazing connection. On and off the track, they’re always there for me. It makes the connection on the track that much stronger when we care for each other.”

Rodeo City Rollergirls were scheduled to host their second bout of the year Oct. 29 at 5 p.m. in Ellensburg High School’s gymnasium, but Ellensburg High School’s volleyball team won the CWAC title, and will be hosting the district tournament Saturday night. The bout is yet to be rescheduled.