Fort Wayne Roller Derby is heading into its 20th season this year, kicking it off with their first home game this Sunday. Over its time in Fort Wayne, the club has fostered a community that players say is unlike anything else.
The Fort Wayne Roller Derby team, separated into adults and juniors, has been gearing up for its 2026 season.
The club started in 2006 as a women’s team. Nicki Gunn is the board president of the roller derby team now, but when she first got involved with the sport back in 2008, it was just as a fan.
“One year I showed up and ran into somebody I knew in my childhood and she said ‘Oh, well, go to training camp," Gunn said. "It’s super fun and you can learn how to play the game. You don’t necessarily have to make the team, you can just be there, meet people, get exercise.’ So, I gave it a go, and absolutely, that was pretty much it.”
Gunn said that was back in 2017 and she’s been involved with the team ever since, despite not having become a player herself. Instead, she said the opportunity to go through the training camp helped her become a better, more knowledgeable fan.
“What I loved about that is that I did learn how to play the game, which did make me a better fan," Gunn said. "'Cause there were plenty of things, especially as rules and everything changed, I didn’t quite understand what was going on as I was watching it, I just wanted to see the hits. … So, the training camp really helped me with that and it made me a much better fan.”
When the pandemic began, Gunn decided to join the board to stay involved with roller derby, even while they weren’t playing games. Zoom meetings kept the team members connected, and they continued having board meetings and planning for their comeback.
“We did unfortunately at that point lose our practice space when we came back, so we had to scrounge," she said. "But, through a lot of hard work from people … we found alternates for that and kept the team going.”
After the team came back, she took over on merch, before becoming president.
“We’re still not quite back to the numbers where we were pre-COVID, but every year we just get more and more and more, and it’s great," Gunn said.
Cryptid Anderson is a member of the junior team and also had to stick it out through COVID. They originally joined the league with their two siblings, both of whom quit during the pandemic. But Anderson, having found a real love for the sport, kept at it.
Now 17, they have been skating with the league since second grade.
“I started with tootsie rollers, which we were so young, we didn’t have any track awareness, could barely skate," Anderson said. "We just hobbled around in straight lines. And it was a bunch of fun, we were like the halftime entertainment of the adult’s game.”
Anderson skates under the name "Cryptid Caller" and they are committed to being the best player they can be.
"I do choose to better myself by staying for not only juniors but also adults practice," they said.
During the adult practice, Anderson gravitates towards another player, Valerie Gambrel, who skates under the name "Slaughterher." The two stick to each other on the track, playing like a practiced duo despite not sharing the team.
“I love the people," Gambrel said. "I love the community that it is. I love that at any point, if I need anything from any of these people, I can call them up, say ‘hey, can you help me?’”
Now a member of the adult team, Gambrel has been playing roller derby since she was in sixth grade.
“It’s kind of a silly story," she said. "There was this book, I think it was called ‘Roller Girl,’ it was like a graphic novel when I was in school. And I read it and I was like ‘these are the coolest people ever, I want to do this.’”
Gambrel took some time off from the team following the COVID pandemic, but she says the community she got to build there was unlike any other.
“My one consistent thing was roller derby," she said. "I could show up here every Tuesday and my second family was here. It’s amazing. And I recommend anybody give it a try at least once.”
Anderson also said that of all of their experiences, nothing has created connections for them like the derby.
“The bonds you form with sports teammates are unlike any other friendship you will ever experience, right?" They said. "Like, I’ve done theater, I’ve done choir, there’s school, there’s sports. Anything like that, sports will always be the closest to my heart.”
Fort Wayne Roller Derby hosts its first of three home games for the season on Sunday, with both the junior and adult teams playing. The team also donates money from each of its games to women’s and children’s organizations in the area.
