The Acadiana Roller Girls, Lafayette’s women’s roller derby team, has begun its fifth season of battling it out on the track for charity. Home bouts, which take place at Top Shelf Sports Arena in Broussard, offer family fun peppered with fast-paced action and bone-rattling hits.
“Roller Derby is one of the only sports out there where your body is, I guess, the ball. Your body scores the points,” said Colonel Sanders, the team’s assistant coach.
The exciting sport, however, can be physically demanding and many of the women have the scars to prove it.
“You’re gonna get hurt. It’s not for the faint of heart,” said Sean “Sista Soulja” Harris, who is currently mending a broken fibula.
Fun and fighting aside, the non-profit Acadiana Roller Girls’ larger mission is to benefit the community, whether it’s by donating a portion of every bout’s ticket sales or volunteering around Acadiana.
“We don’t get paid for this,” Harris said. “We do it because we love it.”
Story by Jared Perrio