Learn to Dance at the Riolo Dance Studio in Indianapolis, Indiana

We’re the Naptown Roller Girls and this is our Indy. Seth: Hi everybody and welcome to this episode of Doing Indy, I'm your host Seth Hancock and right now we’re at the Blue Ribbon Pavilion here at the State Fair. And as you can see, it's completely empty, but a couple of hours from now it's going to be rocking, because this episode we're hanging out with the Naptown Roller Girls. Okay, so you guys, you might remember this lady right here, this is Renee from Endangered Species Chocolate, she was on our episode last year and she’s right here rocking with the Naptown Roller Girls and her big passé right here, let me hear it passé. So Renee, you came out here with the tail gating crew, and you've come all the matches, right? Why do you guys come out here, what's exciting about coming to see the Naptown Roller Girls perform? Renee: Well, I have to tell you there's something you don’t know about me, I am the fearless leader of the Naptown Roller Girls, an official fan club. We started the fun club last year for these girls, because it's one of the most incredible things that Naptown has seen. Seth: It's awesome. And you're keeping warm, because you’ve got some endangered specie chocolate – Renee: Well, soy milk with endangered specie chocolate milk melted down on it, yeah. Seth; And anything else in there? Renee: Of course not. Seth: That’s right, nothing. So how did you guys find out about the Naptown Roller Girls? Male: A coworker of mine told me about them. And said you know come to one of the bouts last year and I totally enjoyed it. Male: It's not just the show on the floor, but the watch all the fans and their reaction. It's the different style of fans that are out there as you walk around and see all of the fans, the way they dress, they way they act. You can be a person here, you don't have to like go into the cold games, sitting there and be quite when the Paytons out on the field and then whoa! We cheer for the second that we had to be sit and be quiet. Here you can just— Seth: Hold on, is that how you cheer? Do you go like this? You go whoa! This is Matt and John. Matt has been here before Donna brand new, first of all, I got to ask you, what do you think of this? Matt: I love it, I mean it's—I've been here a couple of times and obviously got a lot more mainstream. That it once was I mean you know, first couple of times – Seth: But is that a bad thing though? Matt: No, it's a great thing. And they gained a lot of popularity, and it's obvious by the amount of seats, have increased since the first time I came. Seth: Can you do this? Matt: I think I can do it. Seth: Do you think? What about you, could you do it? Male: Hell no! Seth: Same with me then, I feel the same way. You put me out there, I’ll be like—I’ll start crying. So who are the Naptown Roller Girls? Well, don’t ask me let them tell you. So now, we know who they are, we have a chance to sit down with the Naptown Roller Girls and find out what they're really all about. 4 Leaf Clever: I've got involved in this sport through a friend that played down in Georgia, they she moved back up to the Indy area and found out that there was a team forming. She bugged me about it for quite a few months. And finally, I've showed up to a fund raiser and I've been hooked every since. Cereal Killer: I choose roller derby as a hobby, because after teaching all day with those rutty kids, it helps me go out and get some of that energy out. Sweet C: I got involved with roller derby because I could have done something simple, like – I don’t know, raising fuzzy kitties or stamp collecting or competitive eating, but it's really like an aggressive sport where I can knock people on their butts. Blazin Ace: Well bottom line is I'm the fastest there ever was and I'm the excellence, I'm just kidding. Touretta Lynn: One of the cool things about it is that we’re always—even if we’re not together, we’ll always going to have the memories of roller derby, you know it's kind of – it's something that you basically you know walk into a new family. I have my family, I have my friends that I have before roller derby, but I also have the—you know these people that you share something with them when you're going out there, it's more—just seeing women go out and bang out on each other is not typical. And then to have them do it with such flare and personality, and use different personas, it's just makes – all the more fun. Blazin Ace: Roller derby is a real sport, there are serious injuries that can happen, --or knee, a girl last year went to the wall and have to have screws and bolts put in her shoulder, so definitely you're going to take it seriously. It's a real sport with real strategy, and definitely the concern of getting hurt. Female: The average life span of a roller girl is 3 to 5 years with all the hits that our bodies take. We practice 3 times a week. Many of us have—our families on the outside and so it takes a lot of energy for us to go through this day in, day out, you know get this bouts going. And it's a hobby, we pay to do this, we pay for our equipment. We pay monthly dues, so until we get into the professional world and people start paying us, yeah this is just a hobby. Seth: Well you know what, we’re here with Renee and one of Blaze Ace’s kids down here, which you can't see on camera, there she is. You know we had a great time coming out here. And I'm so glad we finally had the chance to see this. If you guys have never been to a Naptown Roller Girl match bout, you have to get out here. I mean it's a such an amazing place. The fans are wonderful, the competition is great, it's just a lot of fun. So for Doing Indy, I'm your host Seth Hancock and remember in Indianapolis, it's always so easy to do so much-- Renee: You just have to get out and do something in Naptown.