THIS WEEK, ORLANDO’S ROLLER DERBY TEAM IS HEADED UP NORTH TO CANADA TO COMPETE IN A REGIONAL PLAYOFFS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE LEAGUE’S 17 YEAR HISTORY. THIS IS A HUGE MOMENT FOR THEM. IT IS. WHAT A REMARKABLE ACCOMPLISHMENT. BUT AS WESH TWO LINDSEY TELLS US, THE SKATERS SAY JUST BEING PART OF THE GROUP PLAYED A PIVOTAL ROLE IN BRINGING OUT THEIR OWN PERSONAL PRIDE IN WHO THEY ARE. ON A THURSDAY NIGHT, THE GYM AT BARNETT PARK IN ORANGE COUNTY TURNS INTO A ROLLER DERBY RINK. WHEN I JOINED ORLANDO ROLLER DERBY, I WAS VERY SHY, VERY QUIET, REALLY NERVOUS. GABBY GORDON, AKA DONUTS, NAMED AFTER DONUT PRINTED LEGGINGS SHE WORE TO TRYOUTS, ISN’T SHY. NOW DOC WANTS TO SAY SOMETHING. YOU CAN’T BE IN A SPORT THAT REQUIRES CONSTANT COMMUNICATION. IT’S A LOT OF MOVING. IT’S A LOT OF JUMPING, JUMPING AROUND. AUBREY LEVINE STARTED WITH OFFICIATING HER DERBY NAME, AUBREY, AND OF TARTH AFTER THE GAME OF THRONES CHARACTER BRIENNE OF TARTH. SUCH A LIKE A STRONG AND LOYAL AND COURAGEOUS CHARACTER. BOTH HADN’T SKATED SINCE THEY WERE KIDS. NOW THEY PLAY ON THE TOP TEAM, THE OZONE SLAYERS. SO HOW DOES ABOUT WORK? THERE’S FOUR BLOCKERS AND TWO JAMMERS, ONE FOR EACH TEAM. THE GOAL OF THE GAME IS FOR THE JAMMER TO LAP THE OPPOSING BLOCKERS, AND EACH TIME THAT THEY LEFT, THEY GET ONE POINT. IT’S TRICKY TO KEEP UP AT FIRST, AS MY PHOTOGRAPHER AND I STOOD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OVAL AS SKATERS FLEW PAST US. BUT THE KEY IS TO FOLLOW THE SKATERS WITH STARS ON THEIR HELMETS. THOSE ARE THE JAMMERS. JAMMER COMING, JAMMER COMING. A WHITE WATCH FOR THE JAMMER. IT’S CRUNCH TIME FOR THE SLAYERS, WHO WILL BE PLAYING LOS ANGELES IN CANADA FOR THE FIRST ROUND. WE’VE HAD LIKE FILM REVIEW SESSIONS AND WE’VE BEEN TRYING TO TRAIN. THROUGH. YES. AND IF THIS BEHIND ME SEEMS INTIMIDATING, YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER WE ALL START SOMEWHERE IN THE SAME GYM. THEY HAVE THE FOLKS WHO ARE JUST STARTING TO LEARN TO SKATE ON FOUR WHEELS. AND THEN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FOLKS WHO HAVE BEEN SKATING FOR A LITTLE WHILE, BUT ARE THE FEEDER TEAM FOR THE TOP TWO TEAMS. BUT THIS SPORT IS MORE THAN A WORKOUT OR BRAGGING RIGHTS AS THEY HEAD TO PLAYOFFS. IT’S WHERE MANY OF THESE PEOPLE FOUND THEMSELVES. I WAS ABLE TO COME OUT OF THE CLOSET BECAUSE OF THIS SPACE AND BECAUSE OF THE SPORT, BUT REALLY BECAUSE OF THE PEOPLE ON THE LEAGUE. THERE’S A LOT OF. ANXIETY THAT COMES AROUND BEING AND FOR A LONG TIME, I WAS VERY I WAS VERY RELUCTANT TO BE OPEN, BUT IN A SWEATY AND I’LL ADMIT, LITTLE STINKY GYM, THESE SKATERS ARE EMBRACED FOR WHO THEY ARE WITH BEING TRANS AND ROLLER DERBY. IT IS A COMMUNITY IN WHICH IT’S NOT JUST, HEY, IT’S OKAY FOR YOU TO BE HERE. IT’S SOMETHING WHERE I
Playoff-bound: Orlando’s Ozone Slayers make roller derby league history
Updated: 3:03 PM EDT Jun 4, 2026
Orlando’s roller derby team, the Ozone Slayers, is competing in the regional playoffs in Canada on Friday, the first time in the league’s 17-year history. Gabby Gordon, aka Donuts, has been part of the team for 15 years. She got her name after wearing doughnut-printed leggings to her tryout. “When I joined Orlando roller derby, I was very shy, very quiet, really nervous,” Gordon said. She isn’t now. The sport requires constant communication. There are four blockers and two jammers, who wear stars on their helmet. The goal is for the jammer to lap the opposing blockers. Each time they lap those blockers, they get one point. “It’s a lot of moving, it’s a lot of jumping, jumping around,” said Aubrey Lavigne, who goes by Aubrey Ann of Tarth. “After the Game of Thrones character Brienne of Tarth, such, like, a strong and loyal and like courageous character.”Both hadn’t skated since they were kids. Now, they play on the top team. It’s crunch time for the team, who will be playing the Angel City Rocket Queens from Los Angeles in the first round. “We’ve had film review sessions, and we’ve been trying to train,” Lavigne said.But this sport is more than a workout or bragging rights as they head to the playoffs; it’s where many of these people found themselves. “There’s a lot of anxiety that comes around being a trans person in the U.S. today, and for a long time I was very reluctant to be open,” Lavigne said. “With being trans in roller derby, it is a community in which it’s not just, hey, it’s okay for you to be here; it’s something where it says no, we want you here.” If you’d like to watch the Ozone Slayers first game, it’s Friday at 9:50 a.m.
ORLANDO, Fla. —
Orlando’s roller derby team, the Ozone Slayers, is competing in the regional playoffs in Canada on Friday, the first time in the league’s 17-year history.
Gabby Gordon, aka Donuts, has been part of the team for 15 years. She got her name after wearing doughnut-printed leggings to her tryout.
“When I joined Orlando roller derby, I was very shy, very quiet, really nervous,” Gordon said.
She isn’t now. The sport requires constant communication. There are four blockers and two jammers, who wear stars on their helmet. The goal is for the jammer to lap the opposing blockers. Each time they lap those blockers, they get one point.
“It’s a lot of moving, it’s a lot of jumping, jumping around,” said Aubrey Lavigne, who goes by Aubrey Ann of Tarth. “After the Game of Thrones character Brienne of Tarth, such, like, a strong and loyal and like courageous character.”
WESH 2 News
Orlando Ozone Slayers
Both hadn’t skated since they were kids. Now, they play on the top team.
It’s crunch time for the team, who will be playing the Angel City Rocket Queens from Los Angeles in the first round.
“We’ve had film review sessions, and we’ve been trying to train,” Lavigne said.
But this sport is more than a workout or bragging rights as they head to the playoffs; it’s where many of these people found themselves.
“There’s a lot of anxiety that comes around being a trans person in the U.S. today, and for a long time I was very reluctant to be open,” Lavigne said. “With being trans in roller derby, it is a community in which it’s not just, hey, it’s okay for you to be here; it’s something where it says no, we want you here.”
If you’d like to watch the Ozone Slayers first game, it’s Friday at 9:50 a.m.
WESH 2 News
Orlando Ozone Slayers