To newcomers, Ithaca is known for Cayuga Lake, gorges and the annual Apple Harvest Festival. Few realize that it is a hotbed for the local roller derby scene, which will be expanding this winter with the start of satellite practices for Rochester’s Flour City Fear.
The Ithaca League of Women Rollers (ILWR), which was established in 2008, is made up of two teams: the SufferJets and the BlueStockings. ILWR is a member of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), which governs 443 leagues throughout 31 countries. Other local teams are based in Rochester, Syracuse and Elmira. Western New York is also home to the Rust Cup, a competition hosted by Jamestown Skate Products for transgender, non-binary and women skaters.
Apart from the WFTDA, there are 55 active open-gender leagues throughout North America, Europe and Australia under the Men’s Roller Derby Association (MRDA). Rochester is home to Flour City Fear, which began holding events on Oct. 1 to set up satellite practices in Ithaca.
The practices are being led by Juliana Garcia, who was introduced to Ithaca Roller Derby during her senior year at Cornell University. Garcia transferred to Rochester’s Roc City Roller Derby and joined Flour City Fear in 2024.
“I was feeling a little bit burned out from roller derby in general,” Garcia said. “Friends who have been doing derby for a long time were like, ‘You should try MRDA. … That helps reignite the roller derby passion.’”
A driving force behind the satellite practices is commutes. Garcia said Flour City Fear has many members based outside of Rochester, with some driving as much as three and a half hours each way for practices twice a week. In addition to making practices more accessible for existing members, Garcia said it may have a positive impact on new membership.
“We were kind of in a rebuilding year at Flour City,” Garcia said. “We had lost some members, so we were brainstorming — how do we build up membership? It sucked, because I know so many people in Ithaca who want to play, but no one wants to drive that far. And I was like, ‘Wait, why haven’t I thought of this sooner, to do satellite practices?’”
Satellite practices also mean that the Ithaca group can lean on existing Flour City Fear programming and leadership.
“Starting a whole league is really challenging,” Garcia said. “It’s incredibly costly, and a huge time suck, so it’s nice to already have something that’s preestablished. [Flour City] has their board, so we’re gonna join up with them and hopefully help contribute to the league so it can continue to thrive and exist in the MRDA realm.”
The sense of community is also strong in the ILWR. Sara Ryan, public relations chair for the ILWR, said that they are very close with neighboring leagues. Members can join up to two WFTDA leagues and outside of bouts the teams encourage cross-communication.
“A lot of people will drop in on [Elmira and Syracuse’s] practices just to get more skate time,” Ryan said. “I recently played a game with Elmira because they needed extra skaters — it’s a community of helping each other out and playing a fun sport as much as we can.”
Finding a place to practice has been a challenge for both Flour City Fear and ILWR. The SufferJets and BlueStockings moved to The Shops in 2023, but a steep hike in rent forced them to find a new space when their lease was up.
Since then, the league has been splitting time between Ithaca and Watkins Glen.
“It gets a little complicated with managing all the different locations and coordinating that, but our training committee [has] a pretty good sign-up system now,” Ryan said. “We’re making it work.”
Ithaca College junior Jett Sofko said while it has been weird practicing with the ILWR in basketball gyms and in areas outside of Ithaca, it has had its advantages.
“The floor [at The Shops] was horrible, so I’m kind of happy to be out of that space,” Sofko said. “[I’m also] kind of upset because there were locker rooms and you could have your own private stall.”
In the summer, the team hosts some practices at Cass Park in Ithaca, but the venue gets iced over as soon as hockey season starts. Because of that, Ryan said the team has made previously optional CrossFit practices mandatory in place of regular skating drills. Members work closely with an instructor that designs workouts around explosive motion, lower body and core.
“It’s newer-ish, but it’s been really good for us,” Ryan said. “We’ve seen a lot of overall strength gain from the team.”
The off-season also marks an essential time to train new members. ILWR encourages people of all skill levels to join their New Skaters Assembly, which is hosting skater orientation Oct. 16. Ryan said this is a major change from when she joined the league in 2022 during its post-COVID rebuild.
“When I started, it was just ‘show up and figure it out,’” Ryan said. “Now we do new skater assemblies twice a year. It’s a 12-week long program where we can take people from no previous skating history to playing roller derby by the end of it.”
Now, as PR chair, Ryan promotes New Skater Assembly through the league’s website, social media and word of mouth. Garcia has begun a similar process, posting about Flour City Fear’s meet and greet on Facebook and local websites like the Visit Ithaca website.
Although they will be sharing the same space, Garcia believes there will be little overlap or competition between the two leagues.
“It’s a different vibe,” Garcia said. “If we were starting another WFTDA team, that would be a pretty serious no-no, but since it’s a completely different organization, and it’s open gender … there’s not a huge issue.”
Ryan said that while it is still early in the process, with Flour City Fear yet to hold an official satellite practice, the ILWR is looking into collaboration, similar to its relationship with Syracuse’s Salt City Roller Derby and Elmira’s Black Diamond Rollers.
“This is actually a conversation we’re having right now within [the PR committee],” Ryan said. “Linking up with [Flour City Fear] for events, that’s very much in the works.”
The WFTDA and MRDA have a history of collaboration. They came together in 2014 to form a Memorandum of Understanding regarding rules development, safety guidelines and official certifications, before WFTDA decided to part ways in 2019. Restrictions against skaters being chartered in both organizations were removed in 2023.
Derby is centered around community. Sofko said members of the ILWR often have team bonding events, including “soup nights” at Ryan’s home. After practices, members also congregate at Personal Best Brewing in downtown Ithaca.
“One of our roller derby players, Pound Dog, works there, so we have an in,” Sofko said. “Everyone is so nice and friendly. You know group projects or gym assignments where you have to get partnered up with somebody, and you have to make sure your friends aren’t taken yet? You don’t do that with roller derby. You’re like, ‘You’re free? Let’s go.’ [There is] no awkwardness.”
