All around Charlotte during the 1990s, rollerblading and inline skating had been one of the coolest ways to get out and have fun with friends, or just spend time navigating the streets equipped with a Walkman. After a few years into the 2000s, skates and blades had faded from mainstream sports culture into underground scenes, allowing skating to thrive in different ways.
One of those ways is in the reinvention of roller derby. While the sport itself has been around since the 1930s, the modern version was retooled in 2001 and is played internationally. In 2006, Charlotte gained its own competitive team under the banner name “Charlotte Roller Girls.” After almost 20 years in existence, and one name change later, the Charlotte Roller Derby (CLTRD) is a Queen City original that brings ferocity to the track, while also positioning itself as a beacon of camaraderie and inclusivity among its members, as evidenced by players from the LGBTQ+ community and multiple gender players. As the 2025 season starts to warm up, Qnotes got to talk with team members May Q. Sick and Tara Byte about the team, their origin stories and what’s in store for the year.
Jonathan Golian: Thanks for taking the time to talk about the team today. How long have you been a part of Charlotte Roller Derby?
May Q. Sick: So, I joined via skater school in 2023 in a non-Derby related accident. I like making that explicitly clear. I sprained my ankle about three weeks into skater school, having zero skating experience beforehand, but decided to try something new. So unfortunately, my progress was put on hold for a couple of months, but I did stay involved with the league as what’s referred as an NSO, a non-skating official. I was still very much welcomed in the community, even though my skating skills are, even after a year and a half, still lacking. I just joined the board of directors this year as our head of PR, so that’s super fun. As far as the exciting stuff in skating, I will let Byte talk to that because she’s way cooler than me (laughs).
Tara Byte: No, it’s all relative. I’ve been with the league just one year longer than May. I started roller skating as a pandemic hobby in 2020 and had been skating around tennis courts, watching YouTube videos, trying to learn what I was trying to learn. And then, when the world started opening up again in 2022, that was the first year that CLTRD offered another boot camp to the public. That’s where they train up people on basic skating skills and give them a pathway into derby, or just go off and do your own roller skating thing. I got hooked, and I’ve been there ever since. I’m head of training, also on the board of directors.
JG: What draws you to this sport specifically?
MS: I was initially exposed to roller derby about 15 years ago. They were having a blood drive, and if you participated, you got a free ticket to the bout. So, I was like, why not? Let’s try something new. And I immediately became obsessed. I was like, “this is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.” You know, especially 15 years ago, it was not a very common thing to see a group of female identifying individuals just being complete and total badasses. It was fun and cool, the crowd was really hyped, and so I initially was drawn in with that. And then, as it happens, life gets in the way, and I also moved away, so [I] kind of put that on the back burner for a while. But then, in 2023, when I came back, and even with my limited skills, I still was very much welcomed into the community. There was never, and still is never, any judgment on anyone with their skill level. I still practice with the team, and now I’m trying to make this my year that I’m focusing more on my skills and actually starting to attend practices regularly, and all that fun stuff. But, the short answer really is the community. It’s just amazing. I remember when I went to the info session in 2023 before skater school. I remember texting one of my friends and telling them that I was so excited about the diversity that I saw, specifically to the body types. I thought, “oh my god!” There are people that are incredibly petite and five-feet-tall, and then we’ve got other individuals that are more plus size and six-foot-two. And the age ranges! But, I echo that we’ve got people that are college students, and to me, much younger and all that kind of stuff. And then we’ve got people that have been skating for 15 to 20 years and are still kicking ass. It’s cool that what truly drew me in and kept me in was the community.
TB: I have a pretty similar answer. I think when I started in skater school, it was pretty much the community that drew me in. I started because I wanted to learn to get better at skating and was still trying to make friends. It’s hard to find places as a working adult, when you have responsibilities, to continuously meet with the same people and really nourish your friend group. And so, this was such a nice facet where you really meet people like me. That said, of all diversities, in addition to different sizes [and] backgrounds, it’s also the people. I work in tech. I pretty much talk to people who work in tech. I read articles about people who work in tech, and it’s a limited thing. Now I have friends who are professional hairdressers, some who work in theater as a profession, and others who run escape rooms, like people that I would never really get close to on a regular basis, right? So it was just that we all have the commonality of wanting to roller skate and we all want to play derby. So it is such a great community.
JG: What, or who, has been your biggest competition out on the floor?
TB: The biggest competition right now is ourselves because we set really lofty, competitive goals for this season. At the start of the year as a league, we voted on goals, and we wanted to be ambitious and go after the playoffs. To do that, we really have to put in a lot of hard work and better ourselves as a team. So, it’s not really about who we play, it’s about how we play ourselves. Our most recent home game was against Twin Valleys, and that was our season opener. Our first game set the tone as we go for these competitive goals, and we won that game. But, there’s a game within the game because it’s not only about who wins or loses. The way earning rank points works in our governing body is that a team will earn incrementally more rank points if they double, triple or quadruple the score that the opposing team got. Given that, it’s really important that we maximize how much value we get out of each game. Against the Twin Valleys, our goal was to double the score. We ended up doing that and [it] moved us up 11 whole ranked spots to be number eight in our region at the time. It was a good way to start.
JG: What do you feel CLTRD’s role is in the Charlotte community, and in the LGBTQ+ community?
MS: At the core of our values, we celebrate inclusivity, diversity and making sure we remain a safe space for any and everyone. We’re an open gender team, and everyone is welcome. With the political climate and different things happening, we definitely are making sure that we were addressing all of that on our social media and publicly. I felt very privileged that I got to be part of that voice, like just reminding the community of what we stand for. Beyond that, we want to make sure we’re also fostering the community that already exists within Charlotte roller derby. We also want to make sure we are holding ourselves responsible for continuing to learn and evolve. When my interest first started with the league, it was referred to as Charlotte Roller Girls. Then in 2018, we realized that didn’t really reflect who we were and who we wanted to continue to be. That’s when it changed names to Charlotte Roller Derby. I have two children, both identify as queer. One is nonbinary, and I want to make sure that this next generation can also look at this successful group of adults that are also part of that community and be like, “Hey, it gets better.” There will be safe spaces for you, and we’re going to do our part to make sure that that continues to exist.
TB: We do really take inclusivity seriously, and we always welcome everyone. We’ll find a space for you if you don’t fit in into this or that. I think a lot of our skaters and our community find peace and solace knowing that we’re a safe space and we’re not judgmental. It goes beyond our league values.
JG: What do you hope attendees take from coming out to the games?
MS: For me in the role of PR, I want people to have fun. I feel like a lot of people, when they hear about roller derby, they might think it to be ultra-aggressive or super chaotic. Some people even think that it’s fake and very theatrical, with a kind of WWE feel. However, I can assure you that it’s very real. I’ve seen plenty of our skaters walk around with bruises to attest to the realness of the sport. But it’s also fun. We also market it as being family-friendly, because it is. Our halftime shows are always like games. We do a bunch of kid-friendly games to have them down on the track, interacting with the skaters, which is always really fun. This year, in lieu of mobile or online programs, we did autograph books instead, and that was one of the most fun things we’ve ever done. It was fantastic to see, like, all the little kids running around trying to get every single skater’s signature. It was adorable and oh so cute.
What I want people to take away from it is it’s a safe space and tons of fun. I think one of the things that was most surprising for me as I joined the community is, I don’t want to say I was surprised by the camaraderie, but when you think of sports, especially something with as much contact as roller derby, you kind of expect a little shit talking and things like that when they’re getting ready on the jam line. Instead, you will hear giggling. You will hear compliments between each other. And it can be something as silly as, “Oh my god, I love your laces.” Or, “You knocked me on my ass two games ago, like, good job,” and that is what was kind of surprising. And so, I hope that people that attend our games can see that this is still a very intense and competitive sport, but it’s also really supportive just [for] the community as a whole. We have after parties with both teams that are there, and it’s just good fun, and I hope that people get to experience that, and that’s kind of what they take away from it.
TB: Okay, I have a little bit to add there too, and this kind of alludes to some of what May was saying there earlier, but I think our home games are really important because it’s a time where we get to really interact with the community and spread our message, sharing who we are and everything. I really hope people can leave our games feeling empowered, because I think one of the most beautiful things about the sport of roller derby is the impressiveness of diversity among the athletes and [various] participants, and everyone who helps put on the Derby. There’s no correct body type or job, or status, or anything. It’s just people who have a common interest going after something they want. I hope that fans are able to see some representation of someone that’s like them on the track and going after something that they want to do, even if you don’t have a traditionally athletic body type, or you have hair in weird places, or you’re showing your armpits or whatever. Like, “I’m here to do what I want to do, and I’m doing it. And look at these people watching me doing it.” So I hope the fans are able to feel like “I could do something like that,” whatever that means, whatever they’re trying to go after in life, I hope they feel empowered.
JG: Last question! What is coming up for the team in 2025? What are you most excited about?
TB: I feel like we’re really hitting our stride as a league, since our sort-of comeback from COVID, and we’re figuring out how to do things better for our league, for our attendees, and for everyone involved. I’m just excited to see us grow the community and go for these new competitive-like goals. We’ve already seen us level up as a competitive team with some pretty inventive strategies and plays that we’re running, and I want to continue to see that. I think this is our year.
MS: So, we have our next bout on April 3, but the bout after that, our next home bout, is going to be June 21 which falls in the middle of Pride Month, which is always just a super fun time and has a great energy around it. It’s also going to be a triple header, which also brings its own set of excitement. I think, when it comes to our triple headers, and I won’t sugar coat it, but [those] are long days. Most of us start our day at nine or eight o’clock in the morning, and we’re going to be going till at least midnight. That being said, for our fans and people that are attending, with the three bouts in a single day, it gives them the opportunity to see plenty of action, versus a single header or even a double header, where it’s more restrictive on time. It’s going to be really cool and I’m very excited. I got the green light earlier today to go ahead and start the planning, and I think it’s going to be really fun.
Charlotte Roller Derby’s next Home Game, Throwdown Thursday in Wonderland is April 3 at the Grady Cole Center. Tickets are on sale now.