The Mississippi Brawl Stars are one of the newest sports teams to the Golden Triangle, but with a twist: envision one hour of fast-break basketball on an oval course. Add in the physicality of hockey, the injury risks of water skiing on concrete and the wardrobe of punk rockers.
Now, add lipstick.
Several players took a break from preparation for Saturday night”s bout against the Pearl River Swamp Dolls at the Columbus Fairgrounds to talk to Dispatch reporter Gary Estwick about injuries, extra padding and fishnets.
“I don”t know what you want to call this. A bruise? Someone ”drove” on my (right) thigh. It”s pretty bad.”
Brooke “Daisy Diva” Ward
“I had to sit out the very first bout of this season, which really sucked. But I got to be a coach for awhile. So yelling at people was kind of fun.” Isa “Babs Havok” Stratton
“A year ago when our team started, there was a girl who broke her wrist and a couple of girls broke their tailbones. We didn”t know you should really take a long time to build that endurance up. Because you have all these muscles you”ve never used before in a sport.”
Emily “Full Metal Fiona” Griffin
“In derby, you fall a lot. And not only that, you practice falling. Before you ever start skating laps, you learn how to fall correctly so that you don”t bust your knees up – worse than you would anyway.”
Amy “Susie Packwrecker” Duclos
“I thought great, let me exercise because I hadn”t skated in 15 years. And then by the time you buy all the gear and the socks and all the fun fishnets and everything, it kind of became an obsession… It”s fun. We feel like rock stars.” – Ward
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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