Down and Derby: Freshman Clementine Gogol plays on the junior roller derby team for Kansas City Roller Warriors

Then-10-year-old Clementine Gogol sat in front of her mirror, streaking vibrant hair chalks into her brown hair and painting intricate makeup all over her face. She was replicating the character’s looks from the graphic novel “Roller Girl” — a book highlighting a female protagonist learning the sport of roller derby.

Then she laced up her roller skates in the middle of her living room and attempted the complex moves illustrated in the book — usually running herself into walls, tables and chairs in the process.

Now-freshman Clementine applies streaks of eyeliner, topped off with a layer of glitter for all of her roller derby bouts — just like the characters from her book that initially sparked her interest in roller derby. She completes her look with a pair of fishnet tights, rainbow knee and elbow pads and her shiny gold helmet.

“I’m a person who dresses in a very alternative style, and a lot of times I didn’t feel a lot of sports allowed a safe space for that,” Clementine said. “A lot of other sports have a certain body type associated with them and out of all the sports roller derby is definitely a more body-positive one.”

In the past two years, Clementine has leveled up to the highest level of junior roller derby at KC Roller Warriors — the only roller derby club in the KC area. She finds roller derby to be a sport catered to her passion and style, something she hasn’t found in any other sport.

Roller derby is a fast-paced contact sport played on a skating rink with roller skates, according to Clementine. The game’s premise is to have the one jammer get around the rink as many times as possible while the opposing team’s blockers are doing everything in their power to stop the jammer.

“I’d say [roller derby] is analogous to football,” Clementine’s father, Peter Gogol, said. “There’s hitting and contact, but there are also rules about how to conduct yourself when you’re playing.”

Clementine has been playing roller derby for two years. In 2021, she went to Skate City to practice her roller skating skills but still wasn’t confident enough to play roller derby yet. It wasn’t until her friend finally pushed her to join that her parents signed her up for KC Roller Warriors in Jan. 2022.

KC Roller Warriors has three different levels ranging by skill — 100, 200 and 300. Starting in the club, she was ranked at level 100 and after only a few months at the club, she was moved up to the 200 level due to her natural skill for the sport. She was also offered to practice with the 300s. 

She’d come home with sore muscles and bruised legs from training with the older advanced players. But despite the struggle, she learned many essential tactics through training alongside the more experienced players. In the advanced practices, she learned how to communicate effectively on the rink, yelling out to her teammates about what they should be doing and footwork strategies to use when blocking or jamming. 

She was even noticed by the other team’s coaches, which eventually led her to win MVP blocker at an away bout in Oklahoma — an award the hosting team’s coach voted on.

“I was experiencing a dip in self-esteem at that time and I was trying to counteract that by doing the best that I possibly could in that bout,” Clementine said. “It was a confidence boost for me because winning MVP blocker at an away bout feels great to anyone.”

She started playing in more advanced bouts when she was in eighth grade, while attending her first “St. Patty’s Day Smashup” — an event where roller derby clubs around the region play in a series of roller derby bouts.

At that point, Clementine had only been playing roller derby for one year and only expected to play in the beginner bouts. She watched the advanced players from the stands pushing and shoving each other against the sides of the rink — leaving bruises on their opponent’s arms and legs to win the jam.

Until her coach called her over: “There’s not enough players, we need you to play in the advanced bout right now.”

Clementine’s heart was racing as she skated out to the court. This would be her first time playing against older players in the highest level of bouts, allowing fewer penalties for roughhousing and harder plays she had little experience with.

“It was extremely chaotic and I was very nervous,” Clementine said. “I felt like I had no clue what I was doing, but the people on my team definitely helped me a lot.”

Whether it’s a bout she has been anticipating for months or a bout she was thrown into during halftime, Clementine’s immense training for roller derby allows her to be recognized as a crucial aspect of her team. She hopes to continue her love for the sport and eventually play for the adult league. 

“I’m just happy to see her out there on the floor,” Peter said, “I think it’s fun when she is skating alongside the teammates that have been on this journey with her.”