Our Featured Skater for the month of March is Eight Track
of the Kansas City Roller Warriors!

How did you first discover KCRW, and what made you decide to join the league?
“I attended my first bout with my sister for her birthday, I was eleven and she was turning fourteen. My uncle was good friends with Kay C. Shuffle, one of the Black Eye Susans. So from that bout on, I was a Susans fan for good. The last bout of that season they announced the start of the KCRW Junior derby league. I had known since that first bout that I wanted to be a rollergirl, so naturally, I was pretty psyched that I didn’t have to wait another six years to do so. My name was second on the list, right below my teammate, Demon Seed.”

Describe the origin of your derby name.
“It took me a while to choose a derby name — that is to say, it took me six years to choose a derby name. Using one of my names from my time in juniors felt oddly akin to using the email I made as a child (glamprincess97@yahoo.com, now inactive) for business or school. I’m a sucker for deadpan puns (eight wheels on a track), but the real reason I chose ‘Eight Track’ was because I admire the durability of the 8-track system (not in terms of sales or marketability, obviously, but the physical, mechanical durability of the system). I am also drawn in by 8-tracks’ arguably needless obsolescence. I feel like there is something relatable about its sort-of disconnect from the modern world that has no real reason for being there, but is a gap that is, nonetheless, seemingly unbridgeable.”

Who inspires you on the track?
“My first idol was Kay C. Shuffle, so I mostly looked up to the Susans and my Juniors coaches: Track Rat, Enigma, Jade Lightning, Murphy’s Law, and so many more. It’s funny, there are so many skaters, retired or still skating, that made such a huge difference in my life, and straight-up have no idea.”

Photo provided by Eight Track

How has roller derby changed your life?
“There are too many ways that roller derby has changed my life to list, but I think the best lesson I ever got out of this sport was how not to quit; that perseverance and patience are the only way to get where I want to go. I fall more than most people when I’m on the track. Kind of a lot more, but I have yet to stay down, and I think that just proves that I won’t be off the track anytime soon.”

To see more of Eight Track and all the Kansas City Roller Warriors in action, visit our photo albums on Smugmug, like us on Facebook, and check out our newly-launched Pinterest and Instagram pages.