The Brawlin’ Betties Are Back

Team Captain Faye Jones, better known to her team as Feytality — the name emblazoned on the side of her helmet — leads the team through stretches and drills. Players meander across the rink, some stretching, some skating laps, until she calls for the group to convene in the center. As they circle up, her voice rings across the outdoor space. “When I yell ‘Squat,’ y’all squat,” she shouts.

This is the Brawlin’ Betties, getting ready for their October 21 home bout.

Because they’re back.

The Betties, Santa Barbara’s only full-contact roller derby team, will return to the Earl Warren Showgrounds for their first match on home turf since 2017. Following COVID-19, lease issues at their home rink, and scheduling conflicts, the Betties — a gender-inclusive team that competes in flat-track roller derby — are gearing up to host Antelope Valley’s team: Wasteland Roller Derby.

The bout will begin at 6 p.m., with the doors opening at 4:30. Bouts, the roller derby term for games, are two 30-minute periods that are made up of two-minute “jams,” in which the offensive player, or jammer, attempts to pass the other team’s defensive players.

Wasteland Roller Derby, the Betties’ soon-to-be opponents, are in another all-gender league in a sport that is by and large considered to be mainly for women.

“Since we are very firmly gender-inclusive, we really want to connect with other leagues who also share those values,” says Jillian Ellis, the Betties’ head of gaming.

Gender inclusivity is one part of the Brawlin’ Betties’ mission to create a welcoming, supportive environment in which anyone can learn roller derby.

That support is what drew many of the Betties to this team, including Ellis, who is also known as Silver Slapdragon. For her, rather than just the skating itself, the team drew her in because of the encouragement she saw fostered by the sport.

“I remember at the end, both teams were cheering for each other and high-fiving and were so excited to have been there together and to have skated with each other,” Ellis says.

Betties Coach York Shingle, derby name Lady Faga, says that he felt that camaraderie right away. He attended a Betties bout at Earl Warren and became enchanted by the sport that he describes as “fast-acting, hard-hitting, and super queer.”

“I sat in seats right at the end over there and just thought, ‘This is an incredible sport.’ There is not one body type that is successful at it. There is this team that works so well together,” says Shingle. “I’d never played a team sport before. I’d never been interested. And then I came to a bout here and was like, ‘I need to be a part of this.’”

The Brawlin’ Betties face the Wasteland team on Saturday, October 21, at Earl Warren Showgrounds (3400 Calle Real). Doors open at 4:30 p.m.; roll-off: 6 p.m. See brawlinbetties.com.