When Rachael Warrington told her parents in southwest England about her first foray into team sports, it took a moment to sink in. “My mum said it sounded fun that I’d be roller-skating,” she said. “I used to skate around our cul-de-sac at home. But my dad knew about roller derby. He said, ‘That’s a bit of a tough sport.’ My mum said, ‘Oh, dear, you’d better be safe.’”
Warrington, a postdoctoral researcher at UCSB’s Neuroscience Research Institute, joined the Mission City Brawlin’ Betties a year ago. “I went to recruitment night, and everybody seemed so enthusiastic, open, and friendly,” she said. “You start out as a Nugget [a developmental program], learn to be safe on your feet, how to stop, and other things before you do any contact.”
She took to the sport so well that, when the Betties stage their first home bout of the year Saturday, May 25, she will be in their starting lineup as a blocker.