A tough shell and a charitable heart

They are mothers, students, full-time employees but for one night a month, they get together for hard hits, physical play and most of all, charity. The scars and bruises that the members of the Sun City Roller Girls may not be as visible as the generosity that they show for local and national charities.

"Everyone right away assumes that we're just a bunch of big girls that beat up on each other but it's not like that," Las Catrinas captain Jude Garcia said. "When you tell them what we do as far as charity, what we're donating to and how we donate, it's like a whole different mindset."

Since its inaugural season in 2008, El Paso's first roller derby league has given back to the community. Each month, during their bouts at the El Paso County Coliseum, the league will pick a charity they wish to donate to and collect its financial contribution throughout their games.

Each match, volunteer players (usually from teams that are not competing that day) will sell raffle tickets for a dollar to its fan base of about 2,500 per game. At half time, winners will get items such as gift certificates and televisions with the majority of the prizes donated from local businesses. The league then matches whatever is made from raffle sales and gives that to their selected charity of the month. In some cases, the league will even donate a portion of their profit from the doors.

In 2010, the league donated its most for any year at just under $10,000. This year, the roller derby has donated roughly $2,600 to four separate organizations.

The roller derby donated more than just money to its most recent charity Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under the age of 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.

At its last bout June 26 between Las Catrinas and the Chuco Town Chulas, the league donated 12 ponytails and $400 to the charity. But the donations appealed to more than just those who gave their hair. The two stylists who volunteered to cut off and convince people to donate were also Sun City Roller Girls. Irene Rojo and Alexis Aguirre donated their time to focus their Sunday evening on two of their passions.

"Everyone has their own talents outside of the derby. Girls come from all sorts of different backgrounds and places so it's kind of cool to bring what we know into what we love," Aguirre said.

The league promoted the fact that they would be accepting ponytails for Locks of Love beforehand but the donating started off slowly. During the first half, only one person donated her hair, but the floodgates were opened once one derby girl Sonia "La Patrona" Castor of the Sexecutioners, had a stylist cut off her ponytail at halftime.

"I did it to encourage people. I hadn't cut my hair in over a year. It was interesting," Castor said. "The reason I did it was for personal reasons. My cousin had cancer and she was a survivor so I did it with her in mind."

From that point on, 10 others gave their ponytails of at least 10 inches during the bout. But the night was taken away by junior mechanical engineering major Sarah "Penny Piston" Leon. Leon, a jammer on the Chuco Town Chulas that won 125-96 June 26, said she joined the league because it's something she could be tough in and sexy at the same time while still giving back to the community.

"It shows that you can be anybody you want. You don't have to be a geek or a bad girl. All these women are mechanics or welders, just a big variety here," Leon said. "I enjoy that we do give charity or donate our time or clothes or something. It looks good for the league and good for the community."

For their next bout July 24 between Las Catrinas and the Sexecutioners, the roller derby will continue selling raffle tickets, matching its sale and donate to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). ASPCA has not confirmed that they will be the charity of choice for the month of July, which became a difficult task while trying to reel in another charity. According to Deniz Pinkerton of Las Catrinas, one national organization did not want to accept a donation from the Sun City Roller Girls this year because they felt they promoted violence.

"I consider this a sport just like any other but I guess because of the physical contact and that we're women, people tend to see this as a different type of physical," Chuco Town Chula captain Cynthia Salgado said. "Hopefully as we get bigger every year and people start seeing us, they'll recognize us."

William Vega may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.