Kent Kraft/For the Gazette Keweenaw Roller Derby team captain Jeffrey Dahminator (on right, facing camera) blocks the Mid-State Roller Derby jammer at a bout earlier this season.

CALUMET — As the Olympics have played out in Paris, millions of Americans have tuned in to see how our country’s athletes are faring. Anyone who has watched sporting events in person and on television would most likely admit to a difference in the atmosphere.

Watching televised events can be exciting, but there is a vibe at a live sporting event, a rush of adrenaline from being an eye-witness, an intangible element that makes it better. While they don’t have roller derby at the Olympics (yet, anyway), that in person energy is pulsating at Keweenaw Roller Derby (KRD) bouts, and that’s what pulled in the skater known as Jeffrey Dahminator.

Back in 2018, a friend (now known as KRD skater Seldom SALY) asked Dahminator if she wanted to go to a two-day boot camp the KRD squad was having. Neither of them would’ve gone alone, most likely, but bolstered by one another’s presence, they went to see what it was like.

Before the first day’s activities were done, they were both hooked and knew they’d purchase the gear and attend the new skater program. Both of them are still skating with the league to this day.

When it came time to pick a derby name, she turned to her love of true crime podcasts and decided serial killers are something most people would find intimidating. A few names with derby related puns were tossed around before she decided on Jeffrey Dahminator. She can let the name intimidate the other team before she even takes to the track.

Then, for a number, she went with 187 which is the police code for a homicide or murder. She felt this fit both with the name and the desire to go for something intimidating.

It also paid off in unintended ways as a prolific maker of safety pads has the company name 187, so you’ll see Dahminator’s number all over the place. She hopes the other team wonders if she’s just such a good derby player, they named the pads after her. (Note: she did admit it is indeed just a happy coincidence, but don’t tell the other teams!)

In her time away from the track, Dahminator enjoys gardening, the solace of working with her hands to create something beautiful. Still, she can’t help but be intimidating even in the garden where she grows dominating ten-foot-tall sunflowers.

The irony is, she doesn’t come off as intimidating in a one-on-one setting when she isn’t in derby regalia. She doesn’t have a foreboding physical presence. If you met her off the derby track, it would most likely be as she is chaperoning her kids or when you are renting gear at Mont Ripley, where she’s employed. (Side note: another name she contemplated was “Shred Bundy” which has a skiing flare to it.)

In fact, during the interview, she even made a self-deprecating joke about her name, saying she’d let the name and number do the intimidating before she skates out, hoping it would work in case she doesn’t have the skills to back it up.

Not unlike the serial killers who put on a public face that differs from their maniacal and homicidal nature, Dahminator can lull you into a false sense of security with her non-skating demeanor. Once she has on the pads and is out on the track, her teammates agree she has plenty of skill to back up the intimidation she’s trying to invoke.

They fully respect her ability, her dedication to the team and all the effort she puts into making KRD a success both in the Calumet Colosseum and throughout the Copper Country. She was also voted onto the board of KRD where she serves as the public relations chair.

Her skill and fortitude are some of the reasons the team voted Dahminator as team captain this season (as well as her rousing speech after being nominated). As Captain, she meets with the referees before every bout and during any official reviews or timeouts.

Further responsibilities as Captain include wearing the “C” on her jersey, increasing her intimidation factor yet again, sitting any penalties her teammates can’t serve (in case of injury or expulsion), and being in charge of keeping up team morale and motivation.

When she thought back on her derby career thus far, the memory that rose to the top displays many of those traits. She talked about playing in Thundery Bay, Ontario, in an away bout that only eight KRD skaters could attend.

Five skaters are always needed on track for a jam: jammer, pivot and three defenders. That means at any given time, only three players were able to take a break. While the team didn’t win, they put up one heck of a fight for such a small group, and she remembers it as a spectacular day to turn 35.

Echoing many of the other KRD members interviewed, Dahminator says the community of the league is what keeps her returning to the group every year. She joined the team with a friend, but soon the entire team was a friend to her.

Immediately upon walking into the boot camp in 2018, she recognized this as the most diverse group of people she’d encountered in the Keweenaw, having lived in the area for about three years. Here, among the members of KRD, are her people, and here is where she plans to stay.

Dahminator is also keen for people to know she isn’t hoarding this wonderful group of people, making sure to note they’re always recruiting for new members, always looking for more volunteers, always in need of more Non-Skating Officials (NSOs) and always welcome anyone to join, whether or not they want to be on skates. KRD welcomes anyone and everyone.

She even promises not to be so intimidating during practices.

Should anyone be interested in trying out the plethora of opportunities KRD has to offer but still is a bit nervous to come, Dahminator suggests finding a friend to come along. Not only is that the very way she found her way into the league, but there is also the added benefit of KRD getting two new members instead of just one!

For anyone who hasn’t been to a bout yet, she again echoes many of her teammates in saying you’re missing out. That adrenaline you get from watching a live sport is amplified in roller derby and, she bets, is something most people will be surprised by the first time they come to view a bout.

You can cheer on Jeffrey Dahminator and the rest of her KRD teammates at the last home bout against the Kingsford Krush on August 31 at 6pm in the Calumet Colosseum, with doors opening at 5pm. If you want to know more about supporting Dahminator and the team, including learning how you can be a part of the action by volunteering, you can visit the KRD website at https://keweenawrollerderby.com/.