The goal of For the Love of Derby with the Windy City Rollers was to explore the world of roller derby through clips and interviews with team members of a local Chicago derby team. 

The Windy City Rollers is a nonprofit organization. According to their website, their mission statement is to

“strive to promote athleticism and fraternity among its members and seek to foster professional, personal, and athletic advancement for all its members…that said, the goal of the organization beyond advancing the sport of roller derby both in the city of Chicago and nationally, is to create a network of talented, multi-faceted individuals offering both opportunity and training in order to continually self-govern the organization and raise up all its members — we achieve these goals through community outreach, athletic training, and open opportunity for all who are willing to commit themselves toward the advancement of these goals.” 

The organization has been around since 2004, founded by Elizabeth “Juanna Rumbel” Gomez and Kelly “Sister Sledgehammer” Simmons. The two brought the sport back from their roots in Austin, Texas. In their first year of forming Windy City Rollers, their debut season broke the record for the largest attendance at any track derby event. Since then they have only grown as an organization.

Header illustration by Kiernan Sullivan