Our All-Stars team has definitely been feeling the effects of having KarmaKazi play with Cornfed. Karma joined us this fall as a transfer, which she says was “a bit daunting, but Cornfed has welcomed [her] with warm open arms.” We’ve all been happy to get to know her fun personality, great attitude, and merciless hits. As a blocker, Karma reminds jammers that they’ll always get back what they dish out–and more.
KarmaKazi started skating in January 2015 with A-Town Roller Derby. She says that she fell in love with roller derby “immediately, even though [she] could barely skate!” Her skills have grown rapidly since then, and she gives credit for that to the supportive roller derby community, which she says is her favorite part of roller derby.
Many roller derby players choose their name based on people they admire, traits they have, or another activity they love. Karma chose her name for different reasons, though. She says that she “wholeheartedly believe[s] in Karma,” and wanted a name to reflect that. So she “added a little pun action and BOOM, there she was.” And, since Karma–the concept and the skater–can come for you at any time, her number is 24/7.
When Karma isn’t stopping jammers in their tracks, she works as an office assistant at Caregiver Homes in Indianapolis. She also works at Tangram, Inc. as needed as a Direct Service Provider, where she “provide[s] direct support and care to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.” Karma also enjoys “reading, watching movies, and The Arts,” and spending time with her Dad and younger siblings–who have never missed one of her home games!
When asked about how she’s feeling about Cornfed’s 8th season, Karma said that she’s “super stoked!” She said that “It’s wonderful to be a part of such a talented, strong group of humans who push and support each other! I see great things happening, not only during this season, but many more to come!” We can definitely see Karma doing great things this season, too, as she pursues her goal of continuing to improve and pushing herself even harder. She even hinted at potentially getting back into jamming, which should scare any blockers that are going to play the All-Stars this season!
Make sure to come see KarmaKazi in action at Cornfed’s Season Opener against Naptown on February 25th at Gibson’s Skating Arena! Tickets are $10 in advance through Brown Paper Tickets and $12 at the door. This doubleheader starts at 2 PM with the All-Stars versus the Warning Belles, later, the Missfits will play the Third Alarm. You won’t want to miss seeing Karma teach jammers that what goes around, comes around.
The Force is strong with this one, folks! When Juke Skyblocker first started skating, the Cornfed Derby Dames didn’t even have a home rink yet. “We were about 20 girls in booty shorts skating laps in a church sanctuary that really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.” She’s not kidding about the booty shorts. There are pictures. Through hard work, determination, and a little help from Ibuprofen, Juke stuck with it and became an all-star skater who is an invaluable asset to her team. Since the church days, Cornfed has propelled our way up through the rankings, and our motivation is still as strong as Day 1. “Six years later we’re a group of hardworking athletes who strategically plan out our seasons and games. We know what we need to do and we work our butts off for it. It’s amazing to see what we’ve achieved and it makes me feel like this tiny team from Muncie could really become something so much more.”
It hasn’t been an easy road. I was not a natural skater by any means. I envied my teammates who seemed to have been born with skates on, and I silently struggled with the simplest moves. Merely staying on my feet was a challenge at first and often my fear and anxiety made my heart pound in my throat.
I’m so honored to have the opportunity to play in the first ever Cornfed B team game. The fact that we now have a B team is amazing! We’ve always been a small team and have, at times, struggled with numbers. But our ranks have swelled, giving each and every skater so much more opportunity to learn and grow.
It’s been a long journey from that spring day in 2010 to now. One that I’m grateful for every day. There’s been a lot of sweat, tears, tweaked muscles, one unfortunate broken tailbone and bruises beyond count, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
