A track, lined out in bright green duct tape on a rubber plastic floor about the size of a basketball court, is filled by a group of women preparing to practice.
A whistle blows, and the women are off.
This is the No Coast Roller Derby League. The women skate full speed and knock each other down, while encouraged by cheering teammates, as they compete to get their scoring player through a sea of blockers.
Emma Gammel, a No Coast League member, said even though they are knocking each other down, someone will always be there to pick you up.
“Every time I come to practice, somebody gives me a hug, or they'll say just the sweetest things, and they're all just really, really kind individuals,” Gammel said.
Gammel, known as "Emforcer" to her teammates, has been a part of the No Coast Roller Derby League since she was 10 years old. Her father saw a Facebook post and encouraged her to join. Gammel, now 22 years old, said at first she hated skating, but her dad’s persistence kept her on the track.
“It's a different sport, and so I think he really was persistent on me to keep trying,” Gammel said. “And so over time, I continued it, and I got better. As time went on, I met a lot of really amazing people.”
Gammel is now captain for the Mad Maxines, one of two teams in the No Coast league. The Mad Maxines compete nationally while the Road Warriors compete regionally. Both teams play under the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), which is the governing body for the sport that sets the rules and standards.
Lincoln’s No Coast Roller Derby league rolled onto the scene in 2005. The female-founded nonprofit followed in the footsteps of other leagues created during a resurgence of roller derby in the 2000s. After a group of women from Austin, Texas started a league focused on female athleticism, empowerment and community in 2001, leagues popped up in over 40 countries by 2006.
Christine Newell Snyder – known as "Sylvia Bullet" – said there's nothing like the roller derby community, and it’s special to see a league stick around for 20 years.
“When we started, I remember joking about how we would have derby reunions in the future, and we'd all arrive with our new knees and our new hips and our assistive devices from having destroyed all of our joints,” Snyder said. “But even knowing that, we still continue to pursue roller derby. It's purposefully a community that is inclusive, seemingly, of the people who are most often excluded.”
After roller derby was invented by Leo A. Seltzer in 1935, a sportswriter suggested more physical contact would make it more interesting and challenging. The suggestion turned roller derby into the modern, full-contact sport of today.
Roller derby participation declined during World War II, but it experienced a resurgence in the early 2000s.
No Coast was part of that resurgence and had its first season in 2005.
“I became part of the team and there was just this unconditional acceptance, while also acknowledging that we're all so human and we'll make mistakes and get in fights,” Snyder said. “It was a really beautiful, like, family and that just helped me, personally with my self-esteem and not feeling like I had to show up every time a certain way in order to be accepted, which has just been incredible for me.”
Part of that family is former Executive Director and team captain Andrea Tarnick, who joined No Coast a few months after it was established. She said she was hooked after the first practice and loved the community.
“You don't see a lot of players in any other sport interacting with fans on game day as much as we do, and I think our fans get really excited about that, and you build relationships,” Tarnick said. “We have super fans that have been coming every game for years and years and years, and it's fun to see them still going and supporting.”
Tarnick said when the league started, she didn’t know how long it would last. But once it found its stride in 2012, she saw its impact — not only for the players but the members of the community.
The league continued to grow, but it also endured a number of struggles. Tarnick said a structural change in the WFTDA that changed the ranking system and encouraged more tournaments was hard on the No Coast league
“Tournaments got more popular,” Tarnick said. “However, tournaments are expensive and they're not big money makers, and so for us it wasn't all about the money, but if you want to play in Pershing or a bigger space like that, you have to produce money, because you have to pay for those spaces. It kind of hurt the fan base.”
With the implementation of the new WFTDA structure, other teams across Nebraska had to disband due to a lack of funding. No Coast worked hard by spreading awareness about tournaments and doing fundraisers in the community to keep up the support.
But then No Coast faced its toughest struggle yet: the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
The WFTDA suspended play for longer than other sports leagues, which caused both fans and players to lose interest.
While the junior league, girls aged 6-18, was able to restart, the adult league was still on hold.
In 2022, Gammel and her teammates emailed the board of No Coast to get the adult league restarted after COVID had restricted play within the WFTDA.
“For the last two years, we started getting the league back up to speed and kind of getting its feet running, started to host games, and become what it was before the pandemic had hit,” Gammel said.
Gammel's heart was set on continuing this league because of the community it had created for her in Lincoln.
This effort has been felt in the roller derby community, as new members like Chelsey Sellars entered the league. Sellars said that after she moved to Nebraska from Mississippi, she found her community and an inclusive space in roller derby that helped her grow in Lincoln.
Sellars is just one of a few new players that has joined this year – not including the junior league that is preparing the next generation of derby girls.
All these skaters past and present are looking forward to the 20th anniversary of No Coast on Aug. 9 to celebrate the sport and the community that has left a lasting impact on their lives.