Julia Rosenwinkel was in her final quarter at DePaul University in 2004, working on an undergraduate degree in religious studies, when she did a burlesque show at the Double Door in Wicker Park.
As she stepped off stage, an old acquaintance handed her a flier about a roller-derby league forming in Chicago, and said that Rosenwinkel would be a perfect for it.
"To this day, I don't know why she thought that, but she was right," said Rosenwinkel, now a veteran with the Windy City Rollers (WCR)—and yet her first using her given name, not her adopted derby name, Lucy Furr, that she used for her first four years.
Rosenwinkel, 35, who lives in Roscoe Village and works as a bartender at Huettenbar in Lincoln Square, is in her seventh derby season. She is a jammer and captain for the Double Crossers.
"My approach as a [team] captain has always been to develop individual players both physically and mentally so they can be assets to the team goals," Rosenwinkel said. "I am bossy and I am in the middle of everything they are doing. If I'm not there training with them, I'll be calling the trainer who was and asking about their performance. I've seen a few wide eyes when they realize I know something they thought I didn't. This doesn't work well with every player; sometimes the skater feels she knows better than I do [about] how to train. But I can tell you, the skaters who follow my training program excel; I cannot say the same for the skaters that resist it.
"It's no secret I'm a better trainer than player, but my skating has improved a great deal since becoming captain again in 2010, and that is simply because I can't ask my players to do things I am not willing to do. If I have fear, they will have fear. If I take a break in training, they have no reason to work hard. Within about five months of training my way, my skaters become very independent, to the point where they no longer need me, and then they start to teach me a thing or two."
Rosenwinkel has been living in Chicago for 15 years. She was home-schooled growing up and a competitive horseback rider. She also was active in gymnastics—as well as religious studies.
"A little-known fact about me [is], I really tore it up on the junior Bible quizzing circuit for years in my youth. I think that's where I learned to love winning," she said.
Rosenwinkel is bisexual and is now dating chef Stephen Dunne. There also is a lesbian team captain in WCR among its eight home team captains and four travel team captains.
"Some of [the captains] I know very well, so I know who they like to kiss, and some captains I only know as captains/players/trainers; it's all work-mode and I have no idea where they live or what they do when they're not skating," Rosenwinkel said.
"I do know that sexual identity was a bigger issue in the first three years of derby than it is now. I remember one of our first WCR practices where awards were being given [out] and one was handed out to our 'token lesbian.' I think it was for perfect attendance, or something [like that]. I remember sharing a raised eyebrow with a friend and league mate at the time and discussing sexuality afterwards. We were both taken aback at the language because we both knew there was more than one lesbian on the track. And while we were sure no offense was meant, we both felt a little offended.
"Then, in the second season, there was controversy over me, as a captain, being involved with one of my players. I don't think people saw this issue coming, but I also don't think the bulk of our skaters at the time had played many team sports. I had only dated women who had played team sports. I was also fairly cocky in my attitude because they were making additions to [the] by-laws that would prevent captains from dating their skaters and I resisted that language in principle and took it personally. I felt they were trying to say I wouldn't do my job as diligently [as I could] if I were involved with a teammate. I felt that if someone was going to do a poor job captaining because they were dating a skater, they would probably do a poor job regardless.
"By the third season, it felt like a free for all. We had more openly gay skaters, plenty of skaters were dating or hooking up with league mates and all the policy about who can date whom eventually wilted. I don't even know if the policy is even in [place] anymore; I stopped caring and I think skaters feel free to sleep with whomever they have feelings for now. Everything is about game now. If someone is dating someone, I don't even hear about it until they break up, if then. Everyone has their close friends and that's who knows about their romantic lives. Practice is for building hamstrings and sprint; derby is for building a better life, and God bless you if you find love there, too."
Rosenwinkel said the highlight of her 2010 derby season was winning game five, especially since her team, "had every reason to lose—we had lost our top two players for the game, and our team was already anchored on players who had spent the previous season on the bench."
But they won, cementing their spot in the 2010 championship, which was their team goal.
"Our top jammer, a longtime teammate and former captain, was at home with a concussion and all I could think was, 'Who will get her points?'" Rosenwinkel said. "We were both modest, but consistent in scoring points, roughly 30 to 35 per game. I made a decision on the line of the first jam that it was my responsibility, as her captain, to make good on all her hard work and get those points. I scored 63 points that game, doubling my average. Most importantly, it raised the bar on our personal expectations, now we understand we can decide to win, and that motivates us in practice."
Rosenwinkel's 2011 campaign started in January—and the WCR offers monthly matches at the UIC Pavilion, 525 S. Racine.
"This season began with the devastating loss of our teammate Hammer," who died in late 2010, Rosenwinkel said. "Abruptly, all our careful thoughts about the season and training went out the window because it's all you can do to lace your skates and help your teammates do the same. It is very hard to watch my players suffer. It is extremely difficult to know they are trying to focus, to not cry until after practice, to keep the team first for two hours at a time. Every player on our team lost someone they loved. Some were more bonded to Hammer than others, but you love your teammate, [so] it doesn't matter if she's been with you a day or five years. You never want your team to suffer this way, but it does unlock a different kind of passion, your bond is more purposeful, you learn a lot more about one another if you pay attention and you find new ways to make skating mean something."
Certainly, derby certainly means a lot to Rosenwinkel.
More Julia Rosenwinkel:
—What attracted you to derby: "The idea of getting my nose out of the books for a while."
—Great expectations: "My expectations were to be surprised. It's not like any of us grew up saying, 'I want to play flat-track roller derby' because it didn't exist. I see so many women revealing the same experience: 'Wow, I can't believe they made a sport just for me.'
"Girls and young women across the nation can now say, 'I want to play roller derby when I am older. I want to play a full-contact, high-impact, semi-pro sport that is remarkably competitive and nationally organized.' And they can do it in addition to fulfilling careers, having families and anything else they choose. This is big stuff."
—Best thing about derby: Teammates
—Worst thing about derby: "Losing sleep because you wake up in the middle of the night with an idea that is either so exciting or so disturbing [that] you can't shake it and get back to sleep."
—Biggest surprise about derby: "That I'm such a jock; I had no idea."
—2011 derby goals: "Build your body, improve your skating skills, play with passion and grit, no fear and remember [that] you're never alone on the track; you play as a team with your team, always.
"Since the loss of Hammer, I am more committed to helping skaters stay in the moment. It doesn't matter if that moment is a breakthrough on the track, an excellent move, or a mental or emotional breakdown, I don't care. I just want them to appreciate whatever they are working on and stay in the positive, even if it takes a little ugly first. That is one of the things I learned from Hammer that is so important to me now. I'll be damned if I don't learn from these skaters every day."
