AFPC Airman joins local roller derby team

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Steve Grever
  • Air Force Personnel, Services and Manpower Public Affairs
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Airmen spend their off-duty time participating in a variety of recreational activities to help them recharge their batteries so they are more effective in accomplishing their respective Air Force missions.

While some Air Force members choose to run marathons or take part in other community activities, Airmen like Staff Sgt. Melissa Hernandez from the Air Force Personnel Center here have found another outlet by participating on the Alamo City Roller Girls' Las Pistoleras roller derby team in downtown San Antonio.

Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams with five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. It consists of a series of short matchups called "jams" and both teams designate a scoring player called a "jammer" who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team. Each team attempts to assist their own jammer while hindering the opposing jammer. The game consists of playing offense and defense simultaneously.

Hernandez became interested in roller derby after watching a few matches in Austin last year. After hearing about monthly tryout opportunities with ACGR, Hernandez worked out for ACGR's Las Pistoleras team, which is reserved for rookies trying to make the main Las Tejanas squad. She made the cut in January and began an intense three-month evaluation process to learn the fundamentals of flat-track roller derby.

"When you are in your initial three-month training period, you practice initial skills like falling, hitting, stopping and endurance drills," Hernandez said. "When you make the team, it's more about scrimmaging, strategies and learning to play with your teammates."

The Odessa, Texas, native said she first heard about roller derby in 2007, and began learning the ropes from veteran ACRG players. Her first bout with the Las Pistoleras team was on Nov. 6 against the Brazos Valley Derby Girls. Hernandez was brought in as a blocker to assist her team's jammer to progress through the pack. Las Pistoleras won easily over Brazos Valley with a 172-105 victory.

"You can let out aggression (in roller derby)," Hernandez said. "Obviously, it helps you get in shape too. The last time I did anything on a team was about 10 years ago in high school."

One of Hernandez's biggest supporters in becoming a roller derby player was Belle Hollis, a veteran ACRG Las Tejanas team member and trainer for new Las Pistoleras members.

"I love Melissa. She's got a really good personally and head on her shoulders," Hollis said. "When you tell her something, she takes it in and I almost see an immediate change the next time she hits the track. She never makes excuses. She's taken some hard hits and bad attitudes, but she does it all with a smile."

Hollis said having Air Force members on the team helps motivate others who don't come from a military background.

"I have to say I love the Air Force girls because they all go hard and know what hard work is," Hollis said. "When it comes to our Air Force people, they learn the team aspect (of the game) quicker and faster. It's always great to have them (on the team) because if you can get that one person who is talking in the pack, or gives advice, it is like a chain reaction. Sometimes people are afraid to speak up or let themselves be heard. The military teaches you to be a strong person."

Hernandez is an Air Force personnelist in AFPC's Total Force Service Center here. Her current position as a quality assurance evaluator involves monitoring one of the contracts the Air Force has with Lockheed Martin who provides customer service agents for the TFSC.

The 2011 season has come to a close for both ACRG roller derby teams, but Hernandez said she will keep training in the off-season to be better prepared to fight for a spot on the Las Tejanas team next year.

"Everybody's goal is to try and make the Las Tejanas team, so I hope to be there one day," she said.