At least five members of Portland’s Rose City Rollers roller derby team will be headed to the Roller Derby World Cup in Austria next week. And a few more members of the local team will be competing on the world stage representing their countries of origin. Lex Zhang, who is known as Lexsanguination when she skates, will be competing with Chinese Nations Roller Derby. The players for this team come from all over the world but share a common Chinese ancestry. The Roller Derby World Cup also features teams such as Black Diaspora Roller Derby, Indigenous Rising Roller Derby, Team Desi and Jewish Roller Derby. Zhang joins us to talk about the upcoming competition and the joy of skating with Chinese Nations Roller Derby.
Note: The following transcript was transcribed digitally and validated for accuracy, readability and formatting by an OPB volunteer.
Jenn Chávez: From the Gert Boyle Studio at OPB, this is Think Out Loud. I’m Jenn Chávez. Next week, roller derby players from around the world will converge in Austria for the Roller Derby World Cup and you know Portland will be representing. Multiple players from the Rose City Rollers will be competing in the event, including Lex Zhang, or as she’s known on skates, Lexsanguination. But she won’t be on the U.S. team. She’ll be there playing with a borderless team called Chinese Nations Roller Derby.
Lex Zhang joins me now to talk about the World Cup and the joys of roller derby. Lex, welcome to the show.
Lex Zhang: Thank you so much.
Chávez: I want to start at the very beginning. How did you discover roller derby and what do you love about it?
Zhang: I actually grew up roller skating and rollerblading with my dad because it was just a fun, cheap thing that we could do together. And as I was growing up, there used to be roller derby on TV. I think it was one of the Texas teams that used to play. It was televised, and my dad and I would watch. It was just so exciting to me. That was something that I wanted to do. So when I moved to Portland, after I got settled, one day I was just like, “Yep, I’m going to do it. I’m going to try it out.” Rose City Rollers has a Derby 101. So I grew up, if you will, through the Rose City Rollers program.
Chávez: Amazing. Like I said, congratulations on going to the Roller Derby World Cup in Austria. For the uninitiated, can you tell us a little bit about what this event is?
Zhang: When people have asked me recently, I explain it a little bit like the Olympics. Roller derby is not an Olympic sport. So this is sort of our Olympics. Many teams from different nations send roller derby skaters as part of a team and we play each other. So I get to play many different countries. The first team that we’re playing is the West Indies team. I just think this is a fantastic way to get people from all over the world to play roller derby together on skates and to meet new people from across the world.
Chávez: Like you mentioned with the Olympics and other international sports championships, people expect to see teams representing different countries, and that will be happening here for sure. But I love that there are not only one but multiple borderless teams competing as well. Tell me a little bit about your team, Chinese Nations Roller Derby, and who your teammates are?
Zhang: I’m really excited about this team. Roller derby is a relatively white sport, so I don’t see a lot of people that look like me on the track with me. So when this team first started in October of last year and asked for skaters to join, I immediately sent in the form because I really wanted to skate with people who are also of Chinese descent. Chinese Nations Roller Derby is a team of people who have Chinese descendancy, that is our heritage.
It does not necessarily mean that we live all in one place. In fact, we have skaters that are coming from Australia, all parts of the United States, Canada and across the UK to join us in Austria. And I think it’s something really cool that we share this cultural heritage and we’re skating in the same uniform, underneath the same flag, because we share this culture together and not necessarily because we’re from the same place.
Chávez: What has that meant for you? You’re used to operating in this environment where it’s majority white and you’re suddenly able to play with a whole team of people who share your culture and your heritage. What has that meant for you?
Zhang: It’s been really amazing. I haven’t skated with them yet. Austria will actually be the first time that we all skate together. There have been contingents that have gotten together in Canada and in the UK but not together as a whole team. But this means a lot. For me growing up, a contact sport was never something that I was ever pushed towards. It was never like, “you can’t do that” kind of thing, but it was just something that isn’t part of my culture. So to be able to get on the track and share this part of me with other people who share the same culture as me is really, really awesome.
And for the first time ever, also, my Chinese name is on my uniform, which I think is really, really amazing. I didn’t realize how big of a deal that would have been to me until I got my uniform and saw my Chinese name written on it.
Chávez: I love that. That is so wonderful. And like you mentioned, your teammates are from three different continents. Their hometowns, their home teams are spread out across the world. What does the existence of this team say to you about the Chinese diaspora and what it looks like today?
Zhang: What you feel like you belong to and belong with does not really root itself in where you live or where you came from. So, I think for a lot of people who have Chinese heritage, you don’t live in China, Macau, Hong Kong, there are a lot of people who live across the globe and identify as being Chinese.
I think that’s really cool and I think that’s really a way to connect with people as well. Even though I might not be from the UK, France or Australia, this is something that we can connect on. This is something that we can share. We’re going to have a team dinner at a Chinese restaurant, and it just seems really, really awesome and really right that that’s what we’re doing.
Chávez: Fabulous. Another one of your local teammates from Portland’s Rose City Rollers is coming with you. So I just want to give a shout out to your teammate, Brute – shout out to Brute! But like we’ve been talking about, your other teammates are from all over and it’s not like everyone’s flying into practice with one another. What do you think it’s going to be like, to play on a team with folks that you may have an opportunity to practice with only once before you start competing? What are you thinking that’s gonna be like from purely the roller derby sport perspective?
Zhang: We’ve had a couple of meetings now to talk about strategy. We have a playbook that we’ve developed. And a lot of times we are just trying to find shared language … “We know that start too, but we call it something completely different.” When you describe what that start is, everyone knows what it is.
So what’s really cool about roller derby is that a lot of the strategy can be very similar. If I say something, it might just take us a second to be like, “Oh, that’s not the language that we use, but this is something that we all do that’s very similar.” I think it’s going to be a bit chaotic, but I think that’s part of roller derby. I think it’s going to be really fun to figure out how to skate with each other and to watch us all gel together in the days that we’re there. I’m sure the first game will be a little bit chaotic and a little messy. But as we skate together more, I anticipate that we’ll gel together and play well together.
Chávez: What else are you usually thinking about? What’s usually going through your mind when you’re gearing up for a big competition like this?
Zhang: Oh, boy. I get pretty nervous before any of our bouts, so I am usually thinking about what I’m going to be doing. If I see a certain person on track, what moves I might want to do, to try and avoid that person. Or how am I going to move my body so I can get around people. I anticipate I’ll be doing the same. It’ll just be slightly different because, instead of knowing exactly who I’m going to be playing against, it’s going to be someone completely new and different.
Chávez: I have to say I am super impressed by your roller derby name. As soon as I heard it the other day, I immediately looked up the definition of exsanguination. It was like, oh my God ... So please regale us with the origin story for your name?
Zhang: I love a good pun, so all of my derby names actually have my name in them, just because I think that’s the way to go about it. I was about to start this roller derby journey and I was in a car full of people. I was like, “Hey, does anyone have a good medical or some sort of interesting word that starts with ‘ex’?” And one of my friends, who’s a doctor, immediately said “exsanguinate.” Oh, Lexanguination would be better. It’s an incredibly long name, so on the track, people just call me Lex.
Chávez: I feel like that pun works on three different levels. And we in public media love puns so you are in good company. I think, and correct me if I’m wrong, but do you also work in health?
Zhang: I work in public health.
Chávez: That sounds like it might be a stressful job sometimes. Does roller derby help you deal with stress from your job or just in general?
Zhang: It does. One part of roller derby that’s really great is the friends that you make along the way. So even if I’ve had a really rough day at work or a really hard day at work, it’s always great going to practice or scrimmage to be able to see my friends on the track. And also, it’s a great way to release some stress by sweating with your friends and either hitting people or taking some hits.
Chávez: You mentioned your jersey before. You’re wearing it right now. It is gorgeous. Can you describe it? And you spoke to this a little bit already, but what does the jersey mean to you?
Zhang: Our jerseys are made by Cloud Seven. On the front of the jersey, which is red, it says Chinese Nations. It does umbre down to yellow at the bottom with sort of like dragon scale looking things, with a dragon on the side as well. On the back is my number and my name, my pronouns, as well as my Chinese name.
This jersey is incredible, it’s beautiful and it represents a lot in terms of our Chinese heritage. Red is a lucky color. It’s bordered in green, which represents jade. And there’s a cloud motif on the front, as well as the dragon, which is all traditional in China.
Chávez: What are you most excited about for this trip and this competition?
Zhang: I’m really excited to meet everyone on the team, other than Brute and Maiden, who I’ve met before. I’ve not met anyone yet. So I think that’s going to be really exciting to be able to meet and share the track with people who have Chinese heritage, who want to play roller derby and want to have a good time. I’m also just really excited to watch some really good roller derby. I’m pretty sure there’s going to be an epic showdown between the top teams.
Chávez: Yes, I want to say, “Epic showdown” and then, like, “Monday! Monday! Monday! Tuesday! Tuesday! Tuesday!” Anyway, love that. [Laughs] How does it feel to see a sport you love, a sport that empowers women and gender expansive folks on the world stage like this? What do you hope people take away from that?
Zhang: I love it, first of all, because I think roller derby is somewhat of a niche sport. Not everyone knows what it is and to be able to share this journey with other people, I think is fantastic. It’s a fun sport to watch. I think anyone can play roller derby. I truly believe that it is a sport for everyone.
To be able to share this with, not just people in Portland, people in the U.S., but on a national stage, international stage, is amazing. I do hope that people who are interested in playing roller derby, check out Rose City Rollers. We do have Derby 101 and that is how I started.
Chávez: Derby 101. I’m like, should I take Derby 101? But I do have a question about the Rose City Rollers because you are not the only Rose City Roller who’s going to be at the World Cup. Some of your teammates are going to be on different teams. Do you know if you’re gonna be playing against them?
Zhang: I highly doubt we’ll be playing each other. There’s representation on a lot of different teams. I was actually just trying to think of all the different teams that Rose City Rollers represents and it’s more than a handful.
There is an accelerated Swiss bracket system, I believe, that’s going on. That’s where teams are ranked by strength and there’s different quartiles, and I’m not so sure we’ll end up in the same quartiles. But there is a chance.
Chávez: Well, we can just root for everyone from Portland then. On that note, we are rooting for everyone from Portland here at OPB as well. Lex, aka Lexsanguination, thank you so much for being with us today. This has been super fun.
Zhang: Thank you so much for having me.
Chávez: And good luck. Yes, good luck, go get ‘em.
Zhang: Thank you.
Chávez:Lex Zhang, aka Lexsanguination, is on Portland’s Rose City Rollers and will be playing with Chinese Nations Roller Derby at the Roller Derby Wo
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