The Feb. 23 start of the first bout of the DC Rollergirls’ second season was delayed by 45 minutes, because the line to get into the D.C. Armory snaked back to the Metro stop. Before the evening was over, the concession stands ran out of food. But the most telling indicator of the Rollergirls’ growing popularity (besides the cover story the Washington Post Magazine ran last fall) is the diversity of the crowd that showed up — all the types you might ordinarily find at a sporting event, plus a decent contingent of punks and goths.

Maybe it’s the motto (“With liberty and justice to brawl!”); maybe the it’s the custom of each player being known only by her self-selected derby name (Condoleezza Slice, Guantanamo Babe, Apocalypse Meow, and Demonica Lewinsky being only a few of the inspired noms de derbierre); maybe it’s the sad dearth of girl-on-girl violence in other forms of entertainment. Whatever the reason, Roller Derby is catching.

Photos by Eric Petersen