Inside the Washington Avenue Armory, the Albany All Stars Roller Derby team is skating in circles, running through drills and practicing different stop techniques. Amongst the skaters is Sommar Aster, a newcomer to Albany and the team.
Aster was introduced to the team when she began dating one of its captains last year. She officially joined them after she moved to the area. The skater says roller derby has been a great way to make friends.
“I enjoyed doing, like, sports with people, team sports, and just having a community of people,” said Aster. “Everyone on the team has been so great.”
Aster says she also enjoys being a part of an inclusive sports league. She can recall when a Long Island roller derby team filed a lawsuit against Nassau County in 2024 for preventing trans women from playing on girl’s and women’s teams competing in county-owned facilities. Although the team lost its bid to temporarily block the ban, it is still appealing that decision.
Aster says it meant a lot to her, as a trans person, that a team was taking measures to vouch for their trans athletes.
“Hearing that, it just made me feel really great about being part of the team,” said Aster. “I know that they would do the same thing if anything like that happened with us.”
Roller derby is often seen as an intense contact sport played by cis women. However, in recent years, leagues have expanded what it means to be a derby player by opening their rinks to other gender minorities. The push comes as trans athletes around the country are facing legislation and executive orders on who can play in what leagues.
Dominique Quirino joined the Albany All Stars over a decade ago. They say being more expansive about who can play derby is one-way leagues are staying true to roller derby’s original mission.
“Cis men have, historically, you know, had a place in sports that gender minorities and marginalized genders haven't,” said Quirino. “So, it's just very important to us to continue to foster that space and have it be somewhere where people feel safe and comfortable and welcome.”
For Quirino, the space has also helped them explore their sexuality and gender identity as a non-binary lesbian.
“ I am a very different person now than when I first joined. So, if anything, it's like it actually just helped me come to terms with my queerness and realize things about my own, like gender identity and whatnot,” said Quirino. “So, I definitely, I personally, you know, feel very safe.
For Jackie Danger, the team feels like safe space because they get to focus on the game. They pointed to how a recent decision by USA Rugby to bar trans women from playing in the women’s division left a bad impression with many rugby players.
While USA Rugby did attempt to compromise by creating an open division where anyone could play, Danger says the move read less like progress and more like avoidance. Danger says — in the sport they play — they liked the move to include all gender minorities because they are treated the same as any cis player.
“Maybe that's why [Roller Derby’s] inclusive, is it doesn't feel like I'm being special treated or anything,” said Danger. “Just because I'm trans, they just kind of treat me like everybody else gets treated here, and that's it.”
