LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — This past Saturday night, the City of Lexington showed up to support the Roller Derby of Central Kentucky.
Fans filled the seats, and the Rockers fed off the crowd. This shows the team's growth from fan support to size. Last year, they struggled to get just enough players to play.
"Number wise? It's incredible. Even at the beginning of last year's season," Captain Cat Zamarron said. "It was really hard to even piece together one active team to skate. Now we have two full rosters."
As a non-profit, R.O.C.K. has to do everything from finding a place to practice to getting volunteers to help run the games. Still, Captains Laura Hohman and Cat Zamarron have noticed their hard work is slowly paying off, with more people finding out about central Kentucky roller derby.
"You can see people are getting interested again. Like they are excited to know that roller derby is here," Captain Zamarron said. "A lot of people, when they find out we exist, are like, oh my god. I didn't know we had this here. I haven't watched it since I was a kid."
Captain Hohman added, "I just feel like Lexington is a really sports-savvy city. They appreciate what derby is."
For these players, roller derby is more than just being there for entertainment; they say it is for everyone who wants to be part of a group that cares about each other and the community.
"It's a really nice close community of people who care about derby, that care about people, and I have met some really amazing and lovely people," Captain Hohman said.
