Coach Melissious Intent, center, celebrates with the team during a bout last season at the Calumet Colosseum. (Photo courtesy of Coleton Photography)

Coaches are an integral part of a sports team, the leader bringing the team together with a common goal. They are often the masterminds of the team, coming up with strategy that the players use when taking on their next opponent.

What qualities are needed for a good coach? Do they need a background in actually playing the sport at the level they’re coaching? Perhaps an extensive knowledge of the rules and strategies of the game? Maybe the optimistic outlook that there’s nothing a team can’t achieve?

While the AppleTV show Ted Lasso showed a positive attitude and belief system can take a team far even if a coach has never once played the sport they’re coaching, he is a fictional character the likes of which hasn’t been seen in sports reality. Fortunately for Keweenaw Roller Derby (KRD), Melissious Intent brings all of the aforementioned traits and more to coaching the team.

Her career with roller derby started back in 2010, when she had tired of Jazzercise and Zumba and was looking for a new type of exercise. She got exercise in spades while participating in derby. What derby had that was lacking with the other exercise types was the culture and sense of community.

People Melissious Intent has met while playing roller derby have become lifelong friends and family. In her case, the statement is quite literal as she met her wife playing derby.

She started her derby career in Champaign, Illinois, skating with the Twin City Derby Group. That group had enough players to field multiple teams and she was part of The ‘Paign (a play on the city name and pronounced pain).

Like many other skaters, she turned to friends to help brainstorm derby names who helped her use a play on her name with Melissious Intent. She chose the number 1079 for reasons similar to Jeffrey Dahminator: a police code. In this case, 10-79 means “notify coroner,” which she thought went well with her name.

Playing with that squad constituted her formative years of derby, and she remembers it fondly. Anyone who doubts what all of the skaters have said about the community of roller derby being so awesome need only listen to the nostalgic way Melissious Intent still talks about her first team.

“I played with, and raised my glass with, the most loyal and fierce team ever – The ‘Paign,” she said.

She is also quick to point out this doesn’t diminish her love for KRD, an organization she was thrilled to join when life moved her up to the Keweenaw. Working at the Mont Ripley Ski Area now, she loves the winter and the snow.

Melissious Intent has put on helmet for many different roles over the years including as a skater, as a skating official, and working with the team during practices and training. Currently, she is the chairperson for the training committee and plays an active role in the new skater program.

“I particularly enjoy the new skater program,” she said. “Seeing players go from wobbly-legged freshies to [great] athletes is really rewarding.”

As far as coaching is concerned, she works with the captain to coach the team during bouts. Her favorite part of the work is analyzing, which takes on two main forms for her. First, she really likes watching the other team during a bout, and formulating a strategy to counter all the great players they’ve brought to compete. Second, she loves looking over, collating and analyzing the statistics after the bouts.

Derby’s amazing culture is something Melissious Intent hopes other people see when attending the bouts. Anyone watching the team closely during a bout will see KRD thrives on good energy.

During the bout, particularly during time outs, the players will dance along to the music, both on the track and on the bench. While the action is going on, there is definitely less track-side dancing, but the players on the bench are still having a great time, clapping and cheering on their teammates.

As a coach, Melissious Intent says the team loves to win, but are the most motivated, and play better, when they can just have fun as a team. Every player on the team emanates good vibes.

She thinks anyone who hasn’t been to a bout before would have a great time with the atmosphere, the music, and the refreshments. Many of the players now rostered on the team, according to Melissious Intent, have started by coming to a bout and saying, “I want to do that!”

Everyone is welcome to participate in roller derby, regardless of individual skill levels. As long as there is a desire to learn, there are plenty of people on the team willing to teach.

Even if you’re not a skater, Melissious Intent stresses that everyone can find a home at KRD. They are particularly proud of being a safe space for all people to join together for fun, athleticism and camaraderie.

You can watch Melissious Intent coach and help her cheer on the KRD team at the last home bout against the Kingsford Krush on Saturday, Aug. 31, at 6 p.m. in the Calumet Colosseum, with doors opening at 5 p.m. If you want to know more about supporting 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/.