When Ash Mateja walked into Homewood Auditorium for the first time, she saw the stadium-style seating and broke out into a huge grin. The setup is perfect for the crowd interaction that is such an important part of roller derby, Mateja said.

Owner and operator of Chicago Knockouts Roller Derby (CKO), Mateja was searching for a location to host practices and bouts. Her ideal space would have room for a full-size angled “bank” track, but Mateja said she is happy to be in Homewood while the organization works its way toward that goal.

“I learned about Homewood Auditorium from another skater who knew about it,” Mateja said. “Turns out it’s too small to set up a track, but it’s an opportune space.”

CKO now hosts three practices per week, and one bout – that’s what roller derby matches are called – per month at Homewood Auditorium, the west end of the Homewood Village Hall complex at 2020 Chestnut Road. The league consists of about 50 skaters, athletes who race around the track with specific roles to either score points themselves or help teammates who do.

Rolling cast of characters

Each skater in the league embodies her own character, complete with creative names, costumes and taglines. At a CKO bout you might see Eurothrash, What’s Her Name, Dr. Beverly Crush-Her, or Beat-Her-Juice, who is dressed like the “Beetlejuice” character.

Among the characters Mateja personifies is Bikini Kill, rounding the track as a jammer wearing a strappy swimsuit top.

CKO roller derby bouts start with skater introductions, when the audience raucously cheers and jeers for their favorites and foes respectively.

“What we do is a blend of sport and classic theatrical roller derby. It’s a classic style of play, facing forward and going fast,” Mateja said. “We have to embody that character while doing something that’s physically demanding. To create spectacle, you have to have skill behind it.”

At a recent bout, Raiye Rosado skated as Mommy Fearest for the Retro Rumblers. Rosado is co-owner of Rabid Brewing, a Homewood business that partnered with CKO as its beer vendor early on. Roller derby’s attitude matches the Rabid ethos, Rosado said, making the two a natural fit.

The Homewood resident now skates with CKO, and fought her first bout in February. Her position focuses on offensive and defensive blocking. Rosado said she was drawn to help create the theatrical spectacle that is roller derby.

“It was an amazing, wonderful feeling, a feeling of accomplishment,” Rosado said of her first bout. “You feel like you just had a great workout. You’re energized because you connected with the audience.”

‘Larger-than-life’ experience

Around 7:30 p.m. on bout night, Homewood Auditorium starts filling up with spectators. Tickets cost $15, available online and at the door. The setup includes spaces for the teams on each side of the room and an announcer’s table up on stage. Referees stand in the center of the ring, and the “Breaux Bros.” are on hand to break up brawls between skaters with a unique hippie-biker attitude.

“It’s a great time. The really great time is when the crowd gets into it,” Rosado said. “To know that everything that happens is a piece of living art and they’re participating in it.”

Five skaters from each team rotate into play during each round, called a jam. Each round has two jammers, skaters from opposing teams who work to move ahead of the pack and make laps to score points. You can spot a jammer as the skater with a star on their helmet. Teammates block for their jammer and use strength to propel them forward.

Sam Jones and Judith Dominguez, of Joliet, brought their grandchildren to a recent CKO bout. They both used to watch roller derby on TV when it was broadcast in the 1970s.

“I used to watch it growing up,” Jones said. “We know of the (Homewood) area, so we thought we would come check it out.”

Mateja said CKO is looking to connect with new audiences and help rekindle love of roller derby for those who previously enjoyed it.

“We can help bring back that magic they connected to when it was on TV,” Mateja said. “We’ve got those larger-than-life characters, the speed, the action. It’s just unlike every other sport out there.”

Open and affirming space

Play gets intense, and spectators see pushing and shoving, skaters taking spills and offenders getting sent to the Sin Bin — roller derby’s penalty box. There’s an air of mystery around how much of the action is planned. Regardless, Mateja said it’s a fulfilling, not degrading, experience for the skaters getting bruised.

“I would describe what we do as entertainment, and it’s a full contact sport,” Mateja said. “We as a society accept violence a lot more readily when it’s men engaging in it. We’re used to seeing men in big football pads taking it out on each other. They’re participating in it joyfully.”

Equity and access sit as core values in Mateja’s operation of CKO, she said. Beginning in 2023, she ended dues for skaters, removing financial barriers from their involvement. Mateja said the league is also open to people of all genders, and includes skaters who identify as non-binary.

“We’re giving people of any gender the ability to express themselves this way and engage in this exciting thing,” she said.

The league also includes people of all sizes, and Rosado said each skater has a role to play on the track.
“Derby as a sport, it’s for everybody,” she said. “There are things that women of size can do better or differently than smaller women, things that smaller women can do better, and everything in between.”

New neighbors on wheels

CKO’s first bout at Homewood Auditorium was in June 2022, and Mateja calls the last six months “proof of concept.” In addition to Rabid Brewing, she said CKO has partnered with Homewood bike shop GoodSpeed, which organized a mini-bike race as a bout halftime show.

“We’ve gotten so much good feedback — ‘I love that this is happening in my town.’ That’s a big thing to hear from people,” Mateja said. “Now I’m ready to redouble our mental investment in the community, and I’m looking to develop even more of a connection.”

This summer, she said residents can expect to see skaters up on wheels at farmers markets and other outdoor events. Mateja said she wants CKO skaters to be “regular faces” around Homewood.
Rosado said she loves to see events happening at Homewood Auditorium.

“This is drawing a huge crowd from outside the village. It’s wonderful to have things that cater to our residents, but this is how you enable (more economic) development,” Rosado said.