Monday, March 29, 2010


The Dick Tater of South Side Roller Derby

by HiJackn' Jill
03/26/2010

As we stand chatting on a Monday night, her eyes keep returning to the skaters. She is anxious to start working on skills and drills with some Fresh Meat before the boot campers join in at 8 p.m. "Tell the boot campers to stay on the floor the entire time." she tells me, "If they do that, then they have potential."

Dick Tater, a.k.a., Brenda Holley Cooper, grew up locally and has been skating competitively for most of her life. She has competed in national-level skating and has been a member of U.S. Roller Sports since 1986. She holds the title of a world-class figure skater and has been coaching roller skating for over 25 years.

Her longtime friend, Jessica, known as Playa H8r, recalls Tater's early years of skating. "In 1992, we were skating together at the Almeda Skating Rink. She was a bit older than me, and I looked up to her. We were artistic roller skaters, which is the same thing that ice figure skaters do, but on roller skates. She was always the girl with the crazy programs and unique costumes, and she was known for her beautiful spins. One memory I have is at the 1993 regionals - she had this gorgeous blue and white dress, and she skated to a traditional waltz that cut into this crazy techno music. Only Brenda could pull something like that off," said Playa H8r.

While reading Roller Skating Association magazine in 2005, Tater saw that they were filming an A&E documentary about the TXRD Rollergirls. She searched the Internet and found out about the nearest league, Houston Roller Derby. At that time, Tater was teaching an an outdoor inline skaters group and an adult roller skating class. So as she began training for tryouts, more girls, including Playa H8r, joined her class to train for the HRD tryouts as well. When Tater tried out for HRD later that month, she said, they were reluctant to draft her to the league because since she was already a skating coach and she may not take well to the instruction of others.

Playa H8r said, "Brenda took to derby like a fish to water. I think she realized that she had found her calling. The next day, I received a phone call that I had not made their league, which I was fine with. Later I called Brenda cause I knew she would make it - she did so well at tryouts and was so excited to play roller derby. But she told me that she didn't make it either. I was shocked! She genuinely wanted to skate with them and at that time, had no intention of starting her own league. But from that point, South Side Girls were born."

So in March 2006, after getting the phone call saying that she would not be accepted into HRD, Brenda's training classes became "Roller Derby Boot Camp". By June 2006, she and the original boot campers, including Esther Conolly, thought up the name and concept for South Side Roller Derby. "I met Brenda at Roller Derby Boot Camp," said Esther, "I thought at that time, and I still think, she is the most amazing skater I have ever seen."

Over the last four years, many skaters have come and gone, but SSRD has grown to become a league of over 100 skaters and seven competitive teams. While the main focus is on SSRD teams competing against each other, travel teams also participate in several travel games every year, especially when trying to help out new leagues. The league encourages all of its skaters to participate in the areas of training, recruitment, public relations, events, artwork, business operations, and most exciting right now, building a banked track.

Tater and the other skaters of SSRD are currently building the 5th working banked track in the world in their newly-leased building in Texas City, with the first banked track bout being planned for April 2010. Within the next five years, Tater wants SSRD to buy a building as a permanent practice facility, and she also plans to transport the track to larger venues that hold more fans, such as Reliant arena. The goal would be to become like any other sport, with larger sponsors and more television advertisements and exposure.

"Tater is determined and passionate," says MoJo, who has been with South Side since October 2006. "She will not let anything get in the way of South Side's growth. We have had setbacks and disappointments along the way that would have forced many people to give up, but Tater is not a quitter. Her attitude got us where we are today, and her skills as a skater and a teacher have helped our girls become strong skillful skaters."

I asked Tater a few quick questions before she went back to instructing the skaters out on the floor:

HJ: What are your interests outside of derby?

DT: Fitness, nutrition, natural medicine, and my web design business, EyeAppealDesign. com.

HJ: What's your favorite thing about derby?

DT: The competition. That's why I started skating. I wanted to skate and wanted to compete and be great at it.


HJ: Do you have a favorite league/team/ player outside of SSRD?

DT: Renegade Roller Derby. They play by no rules. Anything goes, but it's not too crazy because they train for it.

HJ: What would you tell a girl who wants to play roller derby?

DT: Come to Roller Derby Boot Camp and you can learn everything you need to know. For more information, go to southsiderollerderby.com or if you have questions, find out more email us at info@southsiderolle rderby.com.

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