| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Hydra |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | San Benito, TX |
| Residence | Austin, TX |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Roller derby |
| Club | Texas Rollergirls |
| Team | Hotrod Honeys |
| Retired | 2006 |
Jennifer Wilson, known as Hydra, is a roller derby skater who has played a leading role in the development of the sport.
Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating counter-clockwise around a track. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly inside the United States.
Hydra joined Bad Girl Good Woman (BGGW) in 2001, around the time that the league was founded. [1] She worked as a hydrologist and selected her derby name in reference both to this, and to the mythological monster. [2] She played a leading role in the team, utilising her experience as a high-level American handball player. [3] [4] later joining its Texas Rollergirls split. She played for Texas in Phoenix, AZ, against the Arizona Roller Derby in 2003, winning the first ever flat track intraleague bout. [5]
American handball, known as handball in the United States, is a sport in which players use their hands to hit a small rubber ball against a wall such that their opponent cannot do the same without it touching the ground twice. The three versions are four-wall, three-wall and one-wall. Each version can be played either by two players (singles), three players (cutthroat) or four players (doubles), but in official tournaments, singles and doubles are the only versions played.
Texas Rollergirls is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Austin, Texas. Founded in early 2003 and widely credited as the league that started the modern roller derby movement, the Texas Rollergirls were the first flat-track league in the nation to play a version of roller derby using new standardized rules and a track design based on the dimensions of the old banked tracks. As flat-track derby caught on in other American cities, the Texas Rollergirls' rulebook and track design eventually evolved into the specifications that were adopted and ratified upon formation of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) in 2005, of which Texas is a founding member.
Arizona Roller Derby is Arizona's first all female roller derby league. It was founded in 2003 making it one of the oldest resurgence roller derby leagues in America. Arizona Roller Derby, abbreviated as AZRD, is one of the founding members of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association.
Hydra was the creator of the Master Roster of roller derby skater names, maintaining the registry until she transferred the duties in 2005. [6]
A derby name, roller derby name or skater name is a nickname used by a skater while playing or officiating roller derby.
Hydra was a founder member of the United Leagues Coalition (ULC), [1] and in 2004 was already envisaging it becoming a national governing body. [7] The ULC later became the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), and she served as the WFTDA's first president. [1] She captained the Texas team which won the 2006 WFTDA Championship. [1] The WFTDA championship trophy is named the Hydra Trophy in her honor. [1]
The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is the international governing body for the sport of women's flat track roller derby, and association of leagues around the world. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Coalition (ULC), but was renamed in November 2005. It is registered in Raleigh, North Carolina as a 501(c)(6) business league organization, a type of nonprofit organization.
The Hydra Trophy is the trophy awarded to the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) team that wins the WFTDA Championship Tournament at the conclusion of every WFTDA roller derby season.
Hydra stood down as WFTDA's president in 2007, but served on its board of directors until the end of 2009. In 2010, she was still playing roller derby, for the Texas Rollergirls Rec-n-Roller Derby. [1]
