Women in short shorts, high socks, fishnets and tank tops, skating around a track and bashing into each other. That’s the game of roller derby. Although you do see all of this at a Detroit Derby Girl bout, the game is also an intense sport of trained athletes hoping to be active while having a good time.

“I think a lot of people don’t know about roller derby, and if they actually came and watched it, I think a lot of people would like it if they could see it for themselves,” said Julie “MeanStreak” Vilburn, an Oakland University alum and player on the Detroit Pistoffs. “It’s not just a show, it’s a real sport.”

The Detroit Derby Girls, established in early 2005, is an all-female owned and operated flat-track roller derby league. Over 60 skaters strong, Detroit Derby Girls is part of the national rebirth of roller derby that began in 2001.

Members of the roller derby team starred in Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut film, “Whip It,” which was filmed in Michigan. More than 50 skaters from Detroit Derby Girls and Grand Raggidy Roller Girls attended the tryouts, which included line readings with a director and a skating demo on a banked track.

A majority of the Roller Derby culture resides in the players and the names and numbers they choose for themselves. Most players pick names and numbers that explain where they come from or their personality, or something that stands as a pop culture reference.

In order to make one of the DDG teams, players must participate in Derby! U: 101, a two-day weekend class in which potential players learn the basics of Roller Derby.  Participants must also take speedskating classes and attend as many open-skate sessions at local roller rinks as often as possible.

After Derby! U, recruits complete two rounds of skills testing. Applicants then participate in two weeks of scrimmaging against veteran skaters. Here, team

captains decide whom they want to draft. Captains then complete the first-round draft picks and fill the five DDG teams based on which skater types are needed.

Many players become involved with the league via friends and acquaintances.

Lauren “Wham!tramck” Uchalik, a skater from The Pistoffs, works at Starbucks and was introduced to the league through a customer and DDG who heard about her extensive ice skating background.

“She went out to her car and got a pair of her old skates that she just happened to have and said, ‘you need to go to Derby! U,’” Uchalik said.

After watching her sister Catherine “Combat Cat” McMurray take part in the DDG league, Vilburn decided that she would like to try Roller Derby for herself.

Kristy “Sufferin’ Sucka Bash” Perkins of the Devil’s Night Dames, one of the league’s other teams,  is   also an OU alum. She was introduced to roller derby through a friend of her husband who knew of her roller-skating and martial arts skills.

“She was like, ‘you would be totally perfect for roller derby.’ So I went and saw a game and I fell in love with it instantly,” Perkins said.

You don’t have to be a skater to get involved in Roller Derby. Dr. Burns — who is part of the graduate admissions committee for the physical therapy

program at OU, has taught a neurology class in the past, and helps with modalities classes every fall at OU — is beginning physical therapy research with the league. The injuries and recuperation expectations among derby girls are different from male athletes and even non-skaters.

Burns enjoys working the league and respects how these women are making exercise fun and playful.

“I really love the fact that this is a group of women who are completely self-empowered and who are working hard to be physically active,” Burns said.

Even though there are five separate teams within the league,  the competition between them is mostly friendly.

“I’ve found myself making friends with so many new people (on the teams),” Uchalik said. “We have found our home as a group.”