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Fast Women

Where to catch the women's roller-derby league

rollerdamesPhoto: Andrew Kubica

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f you thought roller derby was something out of old B movies, go watch the Boston Derby Dames strap on their skates and leave their manners at the door. More than 50 skaters on four local teams compete in “bouts”: a traveling team called the Boston Massacre (consistently
ranked among the top teams in the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association’s eastern region) and three home teams, the Cosmonaughties, the Nutcrackers, and the Wicked Pissahs. While bouts are loud and intense, with player names like Killary Clinton and Beaver Knievel, they are also family friendly. Each has two 30-minute periods, and at halftime you can listen to live music, have your photo taken as a rollergirl, or snack on burgers and popcorn. Moravek
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Roller derby took off during the Great Depression using rules proposed largely by the sportswriter Damon Runyon. There are also men’s roller-derby teams in Worcester and Northampton.