Jamming with Suzy Hotrod

Do you know what roller derby is? It’s okay if you don’t, we’ve got someone who can definitely tell you all there is to know about it. Roller derby is a sport that many know absolutely nothing about and we’re going to change that. It’s a fast paced, hard hitting, alternative contact sport that’s played all over the world. Since its early beginnings to its modern iteration, which started in 2001, roller derby has always been super inclusive, and this still holds true today!

Suzy Hotrod has been playing roller derby with Gotham Roller Derby (GRD) for around 20 years and she’s still going strong. Gotham Roller Derby is NYC’s roller derby league. They compete locally, nationally and even globally. Suzy has appeared in ESPN Magazine’s 2011 body issue, has memorabilia in the Smithsonian and has appeared in a few documentary films. 

We tracked down Suzy for a chance to learn all we could about roller derby, Suzy herself and see what GRD has been up to recently.

[Main image by Sean Hale]

Episode Transcript