Fishnets, skulls, red and black knee-high socks: rollerskating never looked so badass.

The Terminal City Rollergirls are Vancouver’s newest roller derby league, resurrecting a sport last seen here in the 1930s, when coed teams competed at UBC. Founded just over one year ago, the league got its start when a group of rollergirl firestarters posted a Craigslist ad calling out for team members – a move that garnered a flurry of enthusiastic responses.

“A woman I work with brought her new roller skates to work and I flipped my wig,” says Andrea Fraser, a.k.a. Andi Struction, the captain of league team the Faster Pussycats. “I said, ‘Where did you get those skates? Why do you have them? Where do you skate? Aieeee!”

After the initial ad, word of the league spread quickly. It’s now over 50 members strong, and a hotbed of DIY athleticism and entrepreneurial badditude.

The Terminal City Rollergirls are part of a growing number of urban leagues that have sprung up, seemingly in the wake of the reality TV show that followed the Austin, Texas, Lonestar Rollergirls – a bunch of punkabilly hotties more reminiscent of SuicideGirls than of the roller derbies of the ‘30s. However, this revival has come concurrently with the growth of a thriving burlesque scene, at least in Vancouver. With lots of black and red, crazy flirty names and playful costuming, a shared aesthetic exists between the two. However, derby isn’t about flirting and pasties; it’s about kicking ass and taking names.

“It’s a pretty rough, full-contact sport,” says Fraser. “Feisty, competitive girls are attracted to roller derby, so that can fuel some pretty intense rivalries. That, in combination with a 5-foot-10, 185-pound girl in a short skirt and fishnets trying to knock you over, can add some spice to your life.”

However, Fraser does point out that there are rules and regulations in derby, such as no hitting from behind, no tripping, no elbowing.

During the match, points are scored by each team’s ‘jammer’, indicated by the star on her helmet. She gets one point per opponent lapped, and they don’t make it easy.

“Each team thought of their own team name. My team, the Faster Pussycats, is named to pay homage to the old Russ Meyer movies. Each girl picks her own name, or sometimes a name is given to them,” says Melinda Breda, a.k.a. Bella Fortuna, the Terminal City Rollergirls vice-president.

Fraser goes on to add, “Our names are combinations of nicknames, homage to famous tough broads, innuendo, puns and plays on words. Sexy/tough/scary will usually do the trick. Some of my faves are Blanche Davidian, Bruise Lee and Judith Priest,”

The high-impact, hard-loving ways of the sport—ripped T-shirts, full-sleeve tats, busty broads et al—suggests marked differences between the Rollergirls and their Lulu-clad contemporaries. “Most of our girls were skipping gym class in high school so they could hang out in the smoke pit.” says Fraser. “It’s not usually the gym-class-soccer-team-good-girl type—it’s the kind of girl that doesn’t like to be told what do to or what to wear or what to say. Way more fun than the minivan majority.”

The counterculture ethos of the Rollergirls dominates on and off the track, rendering a unique anti-sport league of athletes. Dee Linquent, captain of the Girls From Bad Homes cites “the moral, environmental and endlessly growing cost of the Olympics” as one of the worst aspects of Vancouver. Such words are seldom heard from a serious sportsperson.

Rare for many athletes, too, is the challenge of finding practice space—especially in a city rife with 2010 anticipation. “As the Olympics get closer, it’s getting harder to find indoor places to skate,” says Andi Struction. For now, the Rollergirls practice space and venues change with the seasons, from New Westminster’s Royal City Curling Club in summer months to winters at the Mount Pleasant Community Centre and UBC’s Osborne Gym. Despite this inconvenience, the girls remain optimistic. “We’re a bunch of feisty broads, so we’ll keep trying,” says Fraser. “Derby or Die!”

Also, the Rollergirls cite the diversity of its members as one of its greatest strengths. “It’s a sport where you see women of all ages, sizes and ethnic backgrounds,” says Breda. “We range in age from 19 to 43, I believe, and we have women from all professional backgrounds, from nurses to graphic designers to TV producers to photographers to stay at home moms.”

In a league operated solely by its members, all responsibilities are shared, this includes: promotions, basic operations, and organisation of special events. The apparent strength of the year-old Rollergirl community bodes well for it’s continuation and growth.

“Every practice is different,” says Fraser. “Some days it’s like we’re playing in the Stanley Cup finals and trying to flatten each other like pancakes. And other days it’s a big love-fest, and we’re hugging and sharing our feelings.”

Between cans of whup-ass and buckets of love, the Terminal City Rollergirls are here to stay. Check out a match, and you’ll learn a few things about humanity.