Euclid alumna dishes on roller derby

Euclid alumna Bustin' Stuff, left, battles for the last chair at the Burning River Roller Girls' Full-Contact Musical Chairs competition this past fall. / Photo by Ivan Grieve

The Burning River Roller Girls will host their next bout Saturday, April 20 at the Ohio Nets Sports Complex in Parma. We took a moment to catch up with skater and Euclid alumna Bustin’ Stuff, to talk about what she loves about roller derby and what makes her tick.

For more information about the April 20 bout and to buy tickets, visit www.burningriverrollergirls.com.

Derby Name: Bustin’ Stuff

Team: Hellbombers

Favorite Quote: "Above all things if kindness is your king, then Heaven will be yours before you meet your end." ~ DJM

Bio: I am a single mom of a pretty awesome 15-year-old guy named Jeffery. I've raised him all by myself but was lucky to have the help of my amazing parents, Gino and Theresa. I've spent the majority of my life working to take care of him, so I never did anything for myself … until I decided to join the Burning River Roller Girls. It has changed my life for the better. I have become completely addicted to strapping those skates on and playing such a fun game.

Honors: Second place at Full-Contact Musical Chairs (on skates!) during charity roller derby bout this fall.

Likes: Sushi, horror movies, my dog, concerts, road trips, hanging out with friends and chilling out with my amazing kid, Jeffery :)

Dislikes: Rude people, animal abuse

Favorite thing about roller derby: The girls! I never knew that I could meet so many awesome, powerful women within one big group! The game is way more than girls in cute little outfits beating each other up … even though that is the fun part. We have such camaraderie within the league, and no hard feelings are ever held. You can hit a woman with all your might one minute, then have her high five you the next saying how awesome that was. I spent years being depressed and miserable with the redundancy of my life. Now, I'm the happiest I've ever been and I owe it all to roller derby.