Boston Derby Dames: ‘Still No Place to Call Home’

“the Nutcrackers” Boston Derby Dames Team photo Courtesy of Joe Medolo

With just a little more than a week to go before they’re vacated from their practice space and headquarters in Somerville, members of the full-contact roller derby league, Boston Derby Dames, still don’t have a place to call home.

“[Boston Derby Dames] has yet to secure a practice space and the location pursuit is still in progress,” a spokesperson from the group said in an email this week. “In the meantime, we are renting skating rinks as a temporary solution.”

In October, Boston reported that the league’s landlord notified the Derby Dames, the area’s preeminent all-female roller skating squad that represents New England on a national level, that they would need to pack up and move out of their Union Square rink by January 31, due to an existing land sale agreement.

Members of the league, which consists of 100 women trainers and competitors on both the local and national travel teams, said the move from their Somerville digs would “break up” the community.

Four months into their frantic search for a new arena where they can practice hip-checks and elbow jabs, the league, founded in 2005, said their options are slim, despite a plea to the public asking for any leads on a permanent facility that meets their needs.

Group members said they will be forced to rent space on a per diem basis if they can’t close a deal within the next week, but traveling around in that capacity will make it difficult to store equipment and keep the sport centralized and easily accessible for league members.