To newcomers, Ithaca is known for Cayuga Lake, gorges and the annual Apple Harvest Festival. Few realize that it is a hot bed for the local roller derby scene, which will be expanding this winter with the start of satellite practices for Rochester’s Flour City Fear.

Sheltered from street view, a skate shop on the side of an otherwise quiet hill in Jamestown, New York, holds a hidden world of exuberantly rowdy skaters, there to compete in Rust Cup 2025. Among the contestants...