Corrections: The player originally identified by the pseudonym Marley Poe actually goes by Marley Quinn. Also, the organization has not yet purchased a building in Chicago but is working toward that goal.
The Chicago Knockouts, a roller derby organization, has practiced and competed at the Homewood Auditorium for four years, but will move to a new space in Chicago’s West Pullman neighborhood in the coming months.
The Homewood Auditorium is set to undergo major renovations, transforming it into a space exclusively for performing arts and unavailable for roller derby. When the construction begins next month, the village will no longer host the Chicago Knockouts, assistant village manager Terence Acquah said.
Roller derby is a full-contact sport played on roller skates. The Chicago Knockouts have one youth league and two adult leagues for different levels of competitive play. Teams aren’t gender-seperated and include nonbinary individuals.
The organization was founded in 2018 and has been based in Homewood since 2022. The teams include the Punk Rock Punishers, the Comic-Book Crushers, the Retro Rumblers and the Horrific Haunters.
“We have people as far north as Evanston, as far west as Aurora, as far south as Wilmington, and as far east as Lafayette,” Chicago Knockouts owner and operator Ash Mateja said.
Practices are set to be held at the Homewood Auditorium for the rest of the month. The Chicago Knockouts is currently finding a temporary, transitional space in or near West Pullman before moving to the building they’re hoping to purchase in the neighborhood, Mateja said.
“The bank track is larger than life. It gives a completely different crowd experience,” Mateja said, referring to the West Pullman building. “It used to be a bowling alley, basically, and we’re going to be renaming it and having it just be our space – The Chicago Knockouts Roller Derby.”
Chicago Knockouts players make their own costumes, but a costume must align with the team color, Mateja said.
“We encourage every single skater, including our youth skaters, to all have their own distinct characters,” Mateja said. “Everyone comes up with their own derby name and their own individual style.”
Personas include Marley Quinn, a skater who dresses like the DC Comics character Harley Quinn, and another skater decked out in heavy metal fashion, Mateja said.
On the court, Mateja goes by the Crimson Vixen and has what she described as a “1940s-style aesthetic.” Players on Mateja’s team, the Retro Rumblers, wear red, her favorite color.
“There’s nothing else like roller derby,” Mateja said. “It’s contact, aggressive, and exhilarating sport and athletics. It’s creative, performance and theatrics. And then, it’s also community – getting to do this with such a special group of people.”
“The Chicago Knockouts have been great partners [with the village], and we appreciated the opportunity to host them,” Acquah said.
The village received $1,481,500 from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), and they’re using these funds for Homewood Auditorium renovations, Acquah said.
“Because the grant requires a performing arts focus, the village will not be able to accommodate roller derby once renovations are complete,” Acquah said. “The renovation will scale back the original concept and instead create a flexible, multi-purpose performance venue for small concerts, conferences and rehearsals.”
