Photography by Dakota Gilbert
Sure, the 518 is home to traditional American sports of all sorts: baseball, football…You name it. But there’s so much more to explore when you look beyond the basketball court. This story is part of a larger section featuring Capital Regionites who are channeling their athletic energy into the more niche sports of table tennis, roller derby, and cricket.
When people think of roller derby, they often think of performances in which elbows are thrown and skaters are slammed over the rails. Sure, it’s a full-contact sport—but Lindsay Boris, skater and Public Relations Committee Chairperson for Albany All Stars Roller Derby (AASRD), wants you to know it’s so much more than that.
Boris discovered AASRD in 2014 after meeting a skater in a kickboxing class who invited her to a bout. “It was love at first sight,” she says. “To find a full-contact women’s sport I could play was amazing—growing up, there was never that opportunity for me.”
She tried out, made the team, and began AASRD’s 90-day new skater program—despite having undergone leg surgery just months earlier. “I watched my friends get rostered, but I wasn’t there yet,” she recalls. “I just would not give up.” Her perseverance inspired her derby name, Di Tryin’.
Beyond having creative names, skaters are encouraged to express themselves through different accessories, hairstyles, and makeup. It’s part of what makes attending and participating in bouts so fun—along with raffles, vendors, crowd games, snacks, drinks, and a DJ.
A core tenet of AASRD, which is a member of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, is community service: Raffle prizes benefit local charities, skaters volunteer together at animal shelters and food banks, and the team co-hosts Albany’s Santa Speedo Sprint every year, donating funds raised to the Albany Damien Center.
Because of AASRD’s community spirit and inclusive nature, Boris recommends the team to anyone looking to find their people. “When people first hear about roller derby, they think they could never do it, or that it’s too hard or tough,” she says. “Yes, there’s definitely a skill to it, and you have to put in the work to learn it, but it’s not a scary space to be in. We’re a really lovely, wonderful, welcoming group of people.”
Not your thing? That’s fine, too. Become a non-skating official, help set up for bouts, or, as Boris says, “Just come and watch us. We’d love to have you.”
