2015 Draftees (Part 1): Nickel City Knockouts & Lake Effect Furies

With the move to Riverworks this January, The Queen City Roller Girls are becoming a bright light on the Buffalo skyline now more than ever. This year’s draft picks shine just as bright; the up-and-comers in the league bring a new kind of grit and enthusiasm to the experienced veterans, whose dedication made the move downtown possible. The mix is sure to make for an exciting, competitive season like we’ve never seen before.

Today we meet the newest Nickel City Knockouts, as well as one of our three additions to our all-star Lake Effect Furies squad. Stay tuned to meet our newest Devil Dollies (including our other new Furies) and Alley Kats.

For Jules Burn — named after the French author, Jules Verne — this year’s derby experience has been surreal. While her teammates have been whipping her into shape on skates, Jules carries a competitive history with swimming and softball. The skater likes to get dexterous with sewing, drawing, and making things with her hands. On the track, she says she uses her hands a little too much, racking up the high blocks. However, with a strong endurance from biking and a good work ethic, Jules hopes to become a valuable asset to the Knockouts.
 

Smackie Onassis chose her name because her mother thinks she should be more like a Kennedy, but this skater wasn’t born into fame. Smackie has been working hard since 2013 to secure a spot as a valuable, confident player on the Knockouts, even bouncing back from a concussion. When she’s not wrangling in her three children or going to school as a full-time PA student, she also works on the merch committee and as a non-skating official. She hopes to someday become a junior referee in the league.
 
 

Bricks was always a rough-and-tumble type of girl, scaling trees in Hawaii and wrestling with the neighborhood boys. Though she used to street skate in the heat of summer, it wasn’t until three years ago that she made her first hip check and got hooked on roller derby. With the move to Buffalo’s league this fall, Bricks immediately rose in ranks to become a coveted member of the travel team. She brings with her an army-honed competitiveness but a zen positivity to the track.

“When I was in the military,” she said, “I used to have a platoon sergeant that used to say I was, and I quote, ‘a damn good soldier ‘cause yer built like a brick *hithouse.”