It’s her job, she explains, to stop the other team from scoring points. Today Stevens is co-captain of Assassination’s all-star team, Conspiracy, where she’s a blocker. I love the people who are part of derby.” “I am so supported by the tribe that’s there. Stevens joined Assassination City Roller Derby, and she fell in love with the game and her teammates. “There are also people leaving with what we call ‘nine-month injuries.’ “Īs an adult Stevens’ husband encouraged her to try out for a roller derby team while they were living in Detroit, but she never did until the couple made the move to Texas and her friend said she was joining a team. Injuries aren’t the only thing that will cut a derby career short. This is the third time she’s injured her left hand, the second time she’s broken bones in her hand, and she’s also broken her wrist. “I’ve had broken and separated ribs and broken fingers,” she says while rattling off a list of injuries. Stevens says the game gets pretty physical, which can lead to shorter careers. She’s been a roller girl for six years, which is a pretty long roller derby career, especially for a woman in her 40s. “I got ‘sir’ a lot when I moved to Texas,” she says.
She took the name from an Adam Ant song about a cross dresser. Stevens goes by Greta X in the roller rink. “The hand is pretty decimated,” she said the following week, a few hours before seeing a hand surgeon to have metal pins placed in her hand. She played through the pain, completing the tournament and propelling her team to first place. In June, Stevens broke her hand during the second of four roller derby games at the Midwest Derby Fest. Monjure’s father was the rink’s manager and operator for eight years and has provided on-the-job training to AJ and his fiancé Sonya Gowens for the past three years.Holly Stevens at Thunderbird Roller Rink in Plano. Nail Sims is the original owner of and continues to be the owner of the Thunderbird Roller Rink. Advanced skaters, also known as “jam skaters,” tend toward the center of the rink, so “they can turn around there and make their moves,” Monjure said. Skaters as young as 2 years old can make their way around the rink.
In addition to continued maintenance of the original wooden rink floors, improvements such as new paint, lighting, and a music system have also been made. The multicolored lights and strobes create a festive atmosphere in the music spanning from the 1970s to current tunes. And when he says the carpet looks like it was 20 years ago, Monjure says, “It is.”Īs in previous years, a DJ announces skating activities, such as limbo, dice games, fast skate and reverse skate. They walk through the party room and say, “I had my ninth birthday here,” or, “I used to go to the money machine,” he said. Monjure said those customers take their loved ones on a trip down memory lane pointing to the highlights from their youth. Now, they’re bringing their kids grandson,” said manager and operator Anthony “AJ” Monjure. “We get a lot of people who come here saying that they used to skate here when they were little. When customers walk through the doors of the Thunderbird Roller Rink, established in 1972, many people revel in a wave of nostalgia.
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