Bork Bork Bork an all-star roller

There is a term out there which is referred to as "being borked".

If you don't follow the national and local roller derby scene, that's a high compliment to a blocker by the name of Bork Bork Bork. She's a Morris native who has played for the Manic Attackers, a team out of the Chicago League, and is currently an all-star player for the Windy City Rollers travel team.

It is just her second year of being involved with the roller derby circuit, but she has quickly risen in its ranks because of her toughness.

"In any team contact sport you usually have to make trade-offs between speed, agility and power in your roster, but Bork has been steadily building all three, which makes her super dangerous to opponents," her coach Justice Feelgood Marshall says. "Nobody wants to get 'Borked!'. We have a team of mostly very experienced veterans, so the fact that she's such a key player for us just halfway through her first all-star season is really impressive."

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Riding the rail

To say that Bork Bork Bork was born to be a roller derby player might be a bit of an overstatement. Especially when her earliest memories of skating are mostly all bad.

"I remember skating at birthday parties when I was 12. I remember not liking skating because I couldn't do it. I had to hold onto the rail just to stay up," Bork said. "I had never even owned a pair of skates (before derby). I had to re-learn everything."

She can skate most every which way now - including backwards, crossovers and stops - but just 21 months ago when she got involved with the sport, that wasn't the case.


Hello there ladies

It was in the fall of 2009 that Bork and a friend, one that would later make the grade herself, went to a live bout to take in the derby action. It was there that she figured out she wanted to try and make it in the sport.

"A friend of mine and I went to a bout in Sept. of '09 and they announced that there would be an information session afterwards for those who might want to be a roller," Bork said. "Until I heard that, I didn't know if I could. I went to some speed skating sessions and eventually both me and my friend ended up getting assigned to opposing teams."

Bork was drafted in Nov. of '09 by the Manic Attackers but didn't exactly impress the coaches right from the get-go.

"I've been in modern derby for about six years and I am happy to admit that I rarely have been more wrong about a new skater's potential than I was about Bork's," Marshall said. "When I first met her in late '09, she had just been drafted to the Manic Attackers and was repeatedly trying to pass her minimum speed test, and I thought she was a real likable person who would never be fast enough to be effective. But she's improved incredibly quickly, to the point that when we were building the 2011 all-star team, she was the only new addition that 100 percent of the selection committee was 100 percent in favor of."

Bork said that ever since being drafted, she has continually been learning the nuances of the sport.

"I liked it right away because it's a sport where you get to hit girls and somebody scores points. I started learning the sport in '09 and I'm still learning. I guess you never stop learning."


Watch and learn kid

Bork said that she's learned a lot over the past couple of years by simply watching the best in action.

"I watch the people that came before me a lot," Bork said. "Girls that are on the all-star team. I also look at people with similar body types and what they do."

She also said that getting to see the national all-stars in the past, and now up close, has also been something to behold.

"My eyes were opened at the depth and skill at the national level. We hosted the national tournament at UIC a couple of years ago and all the top teams were there," she said. "These teams have skaters who have great balance and quickness and almost never fall over. They are that good. Watching that is what made me realize how hard I was going to have to work to get where I wanted."


You've been Borked

A woman with a rather large frame, Bork doesn't hesitate to use her leverage to wipe out opposing jammers.

"The best hits are with your hip bone, though you can hit with your shoulder as long as your arm is stable," she said. "When you get in trouble is when your arms fly out."

All hits are closely monitored by officials on the infield and penalties are called. There are two forms of penalties in the modern derby - major and minor - with four minors equaling a major. You get one minute in the box for a major, which means the penalized team is one player down for a minute during a jam.

On the flip side to that is when the fans get to call out when one of her competitors gets "Borked."

"It always feels good when you cream someone," Bork said. "I might take a quick look back to see how far the person fell, but you have to stay in the moment in derby or you lose your focus."

Bork said that the best will sometimes get two and three opponents at once.

"I'd say probably three is the most," she said. "It depends if you do a quick-hitter or a run up the line. I know I've knocked down two at once for sure."


Your chance to see it

This past regular season, Bork's Manic Attackers finished second in the standings, then lost 121-77 to the undefeated Fury for the Ivy King Cup championship back in June.

Since then, the Windy City Rollers have secured the top spot in the WFTDA North Central rankings and are 10th overall in the nation.

The Windy City rollers summer schedule continues on July 30 at home at the UIC Pavilion before the ladies go on the road for a bout on Aug. 12. After that, the Windy City Rollers are back at home on Aug. 27.

"I'm truly happy to be with a top team that I can train with," Bork concluded. "I feel lucky to be able to show up and be part of the league."