Lansing roller derby skater wins junior national title

While roller derby has often gone under the radar across the country, the sport has consistently thrived in Tompkins County. The Ithaca League of Women Rollers (ILWR) is still going strong in its 18th year of existence, while the Ithaca League of Junior Rollers (ILJR) features many up-and-coming star skaters. One Lansing native has gone on to star for the top junior team in the nation.

Maya Montfort-Balfour has been a part of the Philly Roller Derby Junior All-Stars for the past two years, and both times she helped the team win the Junior Roller Derby Association (JRDA) championship.

The most recent triumph took place on July 13 in Colorado. In a tight battle with FoCo Junior Roller Derby, Philly came out on top 251-249 to capture its fourth straight title, something that has never been done before.

“We really stressed staying positive through the entire game,” Montfort-Balfour said. “We have chants for each one of our jammers. We’ll chant for them from the bench. While sitting on the bench, the energy needed to be up. Positivity needed to be up. It was hard to do. I will say that it was very stressful, intense, but really I felt great through the entire game, and I think most of my teammates did, so I’d say we achieved that pretty well.”

There are two types of skaters in roller derby: jammers and blockers. Jammers are the offensive skaters—signified by a star on their helmets—who pass through blockers in order to score points, while the blockers are the defensive skaters aiming to create openings for the jammers. 

Known as ‘Sol Crusher’ in the roller derby scene, Montfort-Balfour has been a jammer for most of her career, but she has excelled in her new role this year.

“I’m going to do whatever is going to help the team win,” Montfort-Balfour said. “Learning that blocking role this year and really getting into it, I had a lot of fun. In my opinion, blocking is just as important as jamming, even though you’re not the one scoring the points. But I like working with my team members. I worked a lot more with people in the blocking role than I did as a jammer.”

Learning a new position has helped improve her own game in various aspects.

“When I was put in that blocker role, I learned how to talk a lot more about what’s happening, who’s coming up, is there going to be offense,” Montfort-Balfour said. “I would say [I improved my] communication and track awareness especially.”

Montfort-Balfour’s roller derby journey began when she was only eight years old. Her mother took her to a women’s game one day, and she instantly fell in love with the physical nature of the sport. 

Montfort-Balfour spent the first eight years of her career with the ILJR before joining Rochester Area Junior Roller Derby for one year. With Montfort-Balfour still looking to improve and experience higher-level competition, Philadelphia felt like the perfect place to take her talents.

“I had done a clinic with them in the fall before I joined, and afterwards I had such a great time,” Montfort-Balfour said. “The skaters and the environment were so nice that I had asked if they had any slots open that I would be able to take. They said they did. They save slots for skaters just like me that are good enough and really want to join. They’re really enthusiastic.”

For the last two years, Montfort-Balfour traveled eight hours round trip to Philadelphia every weekend to skate for the premier junior roller derby team in the nation. It’s safe to say all those long trips have paid off tremendously.

“The community is so great that it doesn’t even feel like you’re driving eight hours there and back,” Montfort-Balfour said.

Montfort-Balfour has given back to the roller derby community in a valuable way. She coaches beginner and level one skaters in Philadelphia and the junior team in Ithaca.

“I really enjoy furthering the roller derby youth knowledge because I know that’s going to be the people who are succeeding me on the All Stars,” Montfort-Balfour said. “I know that if we’re going to win more championships, they need to be good, and I want to help make them good.”

With Montfort-Balfour having just graduated from Lansing, she has aged out of the junior team. She will take a gap year to continue coaching the future generation of skaters in Ithaca and Philadelphia. She is also considering skating for the ILWR and will be on the lookout for USA Roller Derby tryouts.

Whether it’s playing or coaching roller derby, Montfort-Balfour is helping grow the sport that she’s dedicated a decade of her life to.

“The community is so welcoming,” Montfort-Balfour said. “Everyone’s wanted. Everyone’s needed. If you pay attention and you learn the rules, it is such a fascinating game. You start to see strategy come out. Plus watching other people hit each other is just great.”