Kraken Hips attempts to get past Jeffrey Dahminator in the foreground as Kim Kong tries to get past Johnny Crash in the background during KRD's Friends and Family Bout on Sunday, July 20. (Kent Kraft/For the Gazette)

CALUMET — Keweenaw Roller Derby (KRD) has seen a rise in membership over the past few years as they’ve blossomed from a team hoping to have enough skaters for a bout to having a competitive roster where not all skaters will be able to skate at every match. There is also a large contingent of fairly new skaters who have competed in scrimmages, but not in an actual bout yet.

This gave rise to KRD’s “Friends & Family” bout which, contrary to the name, does not involve getting team members’ friends and family on skates to compete against the team. Instead, KRD split their roster up into two teams, Team Thunder and Team Lightning, and turned their usual Sunday scrimmage into an actual bout.

Friends and family were invited to come watch the practice session on Sunday, July 20, so there would be an audience. Referees came wearing their usual black-and-white stripes. Non-Skating Officials (NSO) kept score, ran the penalty box, and did line and penalty tracking.

Everything was planned with the intention of mirroring a bout as much as possible to give the newer team members the experience of a bout while still competing just against their teammates. Seeing their first bout style action included The Melon Menace (25), Kraken Hips (8282), and Hook, Line, and Sink-Her (94).

Despite skating against teammates, the action on the track was frequently just as heated as it would be in a regular bout with a visiting team.

Familiar jammer and current KRD team captain Suomi Slammer got her team, Thunder, in an early lead through the first two jams. Team Lightning leaned on the talents of Kim Kong to pull them back into the bout which was tied up, 11-11, after the third jam.

Kim Kong wasn’t satisfied with a tie, however, and scored an unanswered eight points in the next jam to put the Lightning up 19-11. Dairy Queen, who played jammer a few times in the bout against Traverse City, clawed back four points as jammer for the Thunder squad.

Several minutes later, Lightning has extended their lead to 30-19. Kraken Hips took on jammer duties for Team Thunder. In her first jam, she passed the pack after her opponent, Kim Kong, but was able to put some pressure on and keep the veteran jammer to just a couple of points.

In her next jam, Kraken Hips got lead jammer but had to call it off quickly as Kim Kong was hot on her heels. Taking lead jammer again on the next jam, Kraken Hips snagged four points.

This seemed to give her confidence as, nine jams later, Kraken Hips not only got lead jammer, but managed to go on an 11-0 run in that jam and close the score gap to 46-42, still in favor of the Lightning.

All that changed on the next jam when Dairy Queen, up against Rainbow Bash as jammer for Team Lightning, managed an 8-0 jam and Thunder took the lead, 50-46.

In the final five minutes of the half, both teams added double digits worth of scoring to the board, but Thunder extended their lead to 81-57.

Each squad started this match with seven skaters, down from the planned nine skaters each, due to unforeseen injuries before the bout started. During the bout, two skaters had to leave the competition early for Team Lightning, as did one skater from Team Thunder.

As the second half started, Kim Kong took to the track as jammer for the Lightning group and started off on a stellar 6-0 run. An on-track injury took place, grinding things to a standstill. As it was another member of Team Lightning, the bout had to be called off due to a lack of skaters.

Safety is always paramount in contact sports, and the crowd seemed most understanding of the early conclusion to the match, giving the players a round of applause for their incredible efforts. While the truncated bout showed a winning score for Team Thunder, bragging rights were the only thing ever at stake in the match.

Anyone interested in joining up with KRD is encouraged to talk to current skaters to learn more about the squad. An excellent starting point is volunteering to help put on the bouts, and there are still two bouts (first Saturdays in August and September) that KRD could use help with.

More information can be found on their website: https://keweenawrollerderby.com/

Up next

KRD will host their invitational bout, Smackdown on the Farm, on Saturday, Aug. 2, at the Calumet Colosseum. So many people signed up to participate, they’re actually putting on a double header. Tickets are still the same price: $8 online before 10pm on Friday, Aug. 1, or $10 at the window on bout day. Kids 10 and under are free. New times for the doubleheader: doors open at 4 p.m. with the first whistle at 5 p.m.