"Slay" and "Stitches": MMACHS' Roller Derby Renegades

Madeleine Levesque (9) and Kaiden Snuffer (11).

By MMACHS Seniors Poppy Criswell, Paige Kreizenbeck, and Nova Kling

As the whistle blows, 10 pairs of skates scrape across the floor. Shoulders slam, and bodies collide as skaters fight to knock each other down. MMACHS freshman Madeleine Levesque, known as “Slay,” emerges from the chaos.

Roller derby is a fast-paced, full-contact sport. Each team has five players on the track: one jammer and four blockers. The jammer attempts to skate through the opposing team’s blockers to score points, while the blockers work to prevent the jammer from getting through.

Madeline and junior Kaiden Snuffer, nicknamed “Stitches,” are jammers for Renegade Jr. Roller Derby.

Because it’s such a high-contact sport, roller derby comes with both mental and physical challenges. From bruised ankles to serious back injuries, it requires sacrifice and strength, and it can take a toll on the body.

“The contact part definitely shapes you because you're going to be hit, and you just have to get up and go on,” says Kaiden.

That lesson applies off the track as well, teaching resilience in a way no class lecture ever could. In a sport where falling is inevitable, learning to get back up and try again is part of the game. For Kaiden and Madeleine, though, the mental battle can be just as intense.

“I think for me it was hard to get out of the mindset that I'm going to be hurt, and I'm playing against guys,” Madeleine explains. “It's so incredibly hard mentally, because you don't think that you can do anything against them.”

Despite these doubts, they keep pushing forward, just like they do on the track. And they never push alone.

“Everybody’s really welcoming,” Madeleine explains.

Sometimes joining a team starts with simply looking for something new. For them, roller derby became an unexpected place where a passion for skating turned into a sense of belonging. They found comfort in the roller derby community. Being on the same team gradually turned intimidation into friendship, strengthening a bond that wasn’t obvious at first.

For a full-contact sport, the reward is surprisingly gentle: kindness, understanding, and teammates who check in and make sure you’re safe when life gets busy.

When Madeleine and Kaiden say, “It’s a lot of hard work, though,” it isn’t a complaint. It’s pride in the time, effort, and skill they’ve invested. The fulfillment comes from earning your place, improving each season, even trying out for something as big as Team USA, and knowing they did it together.