Varla Vendetta Talks Derby

Posted on March 24, 2009

By Holly Hitsville

Varla Vendetta is the Co-Captain of both the Windy City Rollers (WCR) All-Stars and Hell’s Belles.  From the moment Varla started playing, she has been fervently addicted to roller derby.  The addiction also seems to run in her family.  I recently chatted with Varla about Nationals, her recent injury, her derby-loving parents, and our very own Racer McChaseHer.

How long have you been playing roller derby and when did you start skating for the WCR and WCR All-Stars? 

I started with the WCR at its inception in September of 2004.  For the first year, I think I only missed one practice.  I’ve continued to be pretty obsessive ever since.  Our first All-Star team was a short-lived one that was formed for the original Dust Devil 2006.  It was really important to me to be on that first incarnation of our nationally representing team.  So I’ve been with the All-Star team every season since 2006 and I am co-captaining the team with Malice With Chains in 2009.

What made you want to become involved in roller derby? 

I saw the Texas Rollergirls on that Dave Attell TV show “Insomniac” and it reminded me of how much I used to love to skate.  I was in a big transition period in my life and was looking for a new direction to point my energy.  When I glanced at a flyer advertising an info meeting regarding roller derby in Chicago, I felt like it was a sign.

WCR All-Stars are currently ranked #2 in the nation.  Your biggest nemesis has been the Gotham Girls All-Stars, a team that seems to be in a league of its own having beaten WCR both at Eastern Regionals (133 – 92) and at Nationals (134 – 66).  Is your team specifically training this year for another run in with Gotham?  Why do you think Gotham was so successful this last year against WCR All-Stars? 

Ha! Do you have to remind us?!  In reality, every loss makes me think about why things went wrong and sets my mind in motion of ways to change it up and fix it.  So, yes, of course we think about a new plan of attack for Gotham in hopes we’ll meet them on the track again.  But we’re always thinking of ways to change up our training to become stronger.  The one thing we were lucky enough to learn from experience is that the most unassuming teams can rise up out of nowhere and be formidable threats.  So, the WCR All-Stars are always training to be as strong and fresh in our playing as possible: to be ready for Gotham or anyone else for that matter.

There are plenty of teams we have played with the outcomes going back and forth in favor like Carolina, Madison, and Texas.  But Gotham is one team that we have played three times without a win: twice in title games.  Gotham is a very solid team with a tight game plan.  They seem very integrated in how they work and they have very, very, strong athletes that make up the team.  It’s a fantastic equation for success.  Chemistry is something you cannot recruit or teach, it is just there or it is not.  In some ways I am happy we have this elusive win to strive for…I think it keeps our team hungry and it forces us to always push ourselves.  Ultimately, I’m a firm believer in hard work paying off and that good things come to those who wait.

You are coming off of an injury you sustained at the end of the first half of the WCR All-Stars vs. Texas Roller Girls at Nationals.  What happened?  What was it like to not be able to participate in the final championship game? 

I sustained a hit that broke my collarbone in half in that Texas game.  The break was substantial enough to require surgery and I now have a metal plate and 6 screws fortifying my bionic shoulder!

The worst part of being injured was not being able to participate in the Championship game.  In a lot of ways, I felt like I was letting my teammates down because we all depend on each other to be out there at our best every jam.  I could take the pain and nuisance of being wrapped up, but not being able to hit that track with my teammates was an awful feeling.  It was the culminating game in an eleven-month journey that I had worked my ass off with those ladies to be a part of, and suddenly, I wasn’t able to play.  It was rough.  I’m pretty enamored of my scar, though.  I hated going through surgery, but I love that scar!

Your parents, Papa Doc and Mama Vendetta, are both involved in the sport.  Can you tell us what they do and how/why they got involved in roller derby?

My parents have always been really supportive and accepting of what I put my heart into.  When the league first started out, they would come out and watch occasionally, just to see what I was getting myself into.  My dad is a retired pediatrician and my mom a pediatric nurse and both of them had experience in emergency medicine and trauma.  When they saw girls getting banged up at those early practices, their medical instincts just started to kick in and they’d run out to offer help.  They quickly fell in love with the girls and the personalities on the league and offered to keep coming out if their backgrounds could be useful.

I think it’s been really fulfilling for them both because they can immediately and directly contribute to the skaters.  It’s not like being in an office, dealing with mundane checkups and colds.  Plus, they’ve been able to meet so many new people all over the country, so it’s social for them as well.  Now they come out to 2 and 3 practices a week, and all of our games.  They keep track of injuries and healing progress, tape girls, help girls manage colds and illness so girls can keep skating, try to educate on injury preventions, etc.  They are in action whether I’m around or not.  They really have a lot of respect for the commitment people involved in this sport give and they like being part of a very genuine, grassroots community.  Essentially, they have adopted about 70-some daughters and couldn’t be happier about it.

When you hear the name Detroit Derby Girls what comes to mind? 

Racer McChaseHer.  I was so impressed by her abilities when I first saw her at Nationals in 2007.  She’s such a polished skater and she just had this look of focus as she elegantly racked up points in Columbus…and on top of it all, she hits like a brick!  So, I guess what she embodies comes to mind when I think of Detroit: solid, hard-hitting bruisers but with a really smooth style…oh, and Tootie Tinwhistle.  Whenever I think of Detroit Roller Derby, I think of his dangerously short shorts.

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