Skater Profile: Mayday Malone of the Manhattan Mayhem
by: Thomas Gerbasi
June 21, 2010Mayday Malone – Starting Over
Watch the Manhattan Mayhem take on the Bronx Gridlock on NYC life this Wednesday night, June 23rd, at 11:30pm, in a ninety-minute broadcast over the air and on cable channel 25 (22 on Cablevision).
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It’s a rite of passage for pro athletes, and whether you’re entering the NFL, NBA, NHL, or Gotham Girls Roller Derby, it’s been said that draft day can often be more stressful than the games that follow.
Manhattan Mayhem blocker Mayday Malone is not about to kill that impression, calling the draft process “pretty intense.” And that’s coming from a young lady who has been through the process before as a member of the Reservoir Dolls of Madison, Wisconsin’s Mad Rollin’ Dolls league.
While in her native
“It’s so hard for us rookies,” she said. “We go through a really intense fresh meat period. We have three months of training, and during that time, you’re kinda on your own going through this crazy process of becoming a Gotham Girls derby skater. And you have the other fresh meat, but you don’t really have a team.”
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| Mayday Malone lines up with veterans Miss American Thighs, Ana Bollocks, and Sweet Sherry Pie in her first Gotham bout on May 22nd, 2010. Photo: Asa Frye |
What all the rookies do have is a “bruise director”, and Malone’s was none other than 2009 Jammer of the Year Bonnie Thunders of the Bronx Gridlock.
“They pair you with a veteran that helps you through the process and who is there for you to lean on if you need any advice,” said Malone, who eventually bonded with her fellow rookies, even though she knew that most would be separated come draft day -- which may not come with the pageantry of the NFL or NBA draft, but which is just as important to the players. As for pageantry, that comes after the draft is over.
“The two captains of each team are in the draft room, and before that, it's set who gets which draft slots, and how many of the fresh meat they need,” said Malone. “The captains do such a good job; you usually get placed on a team where you are totally meant to be and where it's a really good fit for you, and I trust in that. An hour later they come out and they’ve decided who their new teammates are, but we [rookies] don’t find out until the Derbytaunt Ball.”
At this year’s ball, held at Public Assembly, in
“Once the draft happens and you have these other players and a team to call home, it’s such a good feeling, and right from the start, I think our rookies on the Manhattan Mayhem said that we’re gonna step up,” said Malone. “We all feel like equals, and it’s so nice; it feels like a little family that you have.”
Then team and league practices began, and all of a sudden, Mayday wasn’t in
“The Mad Rollin' Dolls are an amazing league, but there’s just nothing like
And in their season opener,
“For my first Gotham Girls bout, it doesn’t get any better than that,” she said. “What a great experience, and you couldn’t ask for a better game. We kinda felt like the underdogs in that bout, so to come out victorious just felt so good. It showed us that we could do this. Our team really came together and showed how well we could work together. From here, no matter what happens, I think we’ll be proud of ourselves.”
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| Mayday Malone breaks out of the pack vs the Gridlock during the Manhattan/Bronx battle of June 12th, 2010. Photo: Chris Chin |
Malone also has a couple people proud of her - her parents, who made the trek to
“My dad has become this massive derby fan and this huge supporter, and he thinks it’s the coolest thing ever that his daughter plays roller derby,” she beamed. “My mom is just scared. (Laughs) They were able to come to the May 22nd bout, and it was their first time seeing derby ever and both of them thought it was the coolest thing. They’re totally hooked and they enjoy seeing me do it. And I was surprised that my mom would say that.”
What’s not surprising is that Mayday gravitated to the sport following a successful stint playing competitive soccer back home in
“I played up until college on a really competitive level,” she said. “I was going to play in college and got a scholarship to play, but I realized that my academics were a lot more important to me than practicing twice a day for soccer. But I still play on an intramural team to this day, and I always will, because I love it.”
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Mayday works against Hyper Lynx of the Queens of Pain while looking to assist teammate Em Dash. (May 22nd, 2010) Photo: Tom Igoe. |
“I’ve always been kind of a tomboy, and loved playing sports and loved being on a team, and I think after college and even after high school, you miss being part of a team and playing a competitive sport,” she continues. “So I was always looking for something to bring me back to that, and derby seemed like the most natural fit, and I love being part of a team again.”
In fact, she loves it so much, that sometimes the end result doesn’t even matter.
“A lot of the times I don’t even pay attention to the score,” she laughs. “It’s just about being out there, playing, and having fun.”
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