“I remember watching and thinking, ‘Look at these athletes … they are incredible,'” said Mack Savage, the Windy City Rollers’ sensation who skates for the Manic Attackers and the Windy City All Stars. “I talked to someone after [that] game and they encouraged me to join. The minute I realized I could join, I signed up for skating classes.”
After her first day on the track, Savage admits she was sore, but thankful she had been taught how to fall properly.
“A big [career] highlight for me was the first game of my second season,” she said. “I was in the starting line-up and remember being confused. I thought that my coach had made a mistake. After my first jam, I went to sit on the far end of the bench, where the players who don’t get much playing time sit. My coach asked, ‘Where is Mack?!’ I responded, ‘Over here.’
“Then, in the most loving way possible, she said, ‘I can’t keep track of you if you’re not in front of me. You’re playing every other [jam], so you sit right here and go in unless I tell you otherwise.’ It was the first time in my derby career I was expected to play, and expected to do well.”
Savage said she was “absolutely terrified … and a little star-struck” when she was drafted to the Manic Attackers. “I remember looking around at my new teammates and just thinking how lucky I was to get to train with them,” she said.
Savage said she doesn’t have much of a differing persona. “I’m pretty much the same Mack on the track as I am off,” she said. “I’m pretty goofy, a little vulgar and tend to be pretty laid back. I do derby because it’s fun, and the only way I would have fun is being myself,” she said.
“A lot of people still think of derby as fighting and fishnets, [but] it’s come a long way since then. Anyone who thinks derby still is about that WWE mentality should come check out a game; I think the athleticism would surprise them.”
Savage said her dad and brother think it’s “awesome” that she does derby; her mom, though, is nervous her daughter will get seriously injured. Her co-workers think it’s “pretty cool” and her friends “say it takes up too much of my time,” she said.
“I guess my [derby] goal right now is to just never stop being challenged and to always remember to have fun,” she said. “I’ll keep going until I lose those two things. So, if that’s the case, I guess my goals are to move up the ranks in the ‘derbyverse.’
“Derby gave me body confidence I’ve never had before, in an unexpected way. Before derby, I only saw my body as this thing to put on display and to play dress-up in, but once I started derby, I was able to see my body as a tool. I saw my reflexes getting faster, my endurance getting stronger and I was more powerful. Derby helped me realized the full potential of the human body, and for that I will be forever grateful.”
The Stats
– Age: 25
– Neighborhood: Lincoln Square
– Background: Grew up in Hanover Park, Illinois, and moved to Chicago at age 18
– Hobbies: Knitting and cooking
– Relationship status: “I live with my current girlfriend.”
– Orientation: Lincoln Square
– Favorite drink: Bourbon, neat
– Favorite movie: It’s a Wonderful Life
– Favorite TV show: A Swedish show called Jordskott
– Favorite pizza topping: Pepperoni
– Favorite professional sport: Hockey
– Favoriteprofessional athlete: Candace Parker