Jennifer Wilson, known as Hydra, is a

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...

skater who has played a leading role in the development of the sport. Hydra joined Bad Girl Good Woman (BGGW) in 2001, around the time that the league was founded.January 2010 Featured Skater: Hydra
", WFTDA, January 4, 2010 She worked as a hydrologist and selected her derby name in reference both to this, and to the mythological monster. She played a leading role in the team, utilising her experience as a high-level

American handball American handball, known as handball in the United States and sometimes referred to as wallball, is a sport in which players use their hands to hit a small, rubber ball against a wall such that their opponent(s) cannot do the same without the bal ...

player. later joining its

Texas Rollergirls 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 ...

split. She played for Texas in Phoenix, AZ, against the

Arizona Roller Derby 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 th ...

in 2003, winning the first ever flat track intraleague bout. Hydra was the creator of the Master Roster of roller derby skater names, maintaining the registry until she transferred the duties in 2005. Hydra was a founder member of the United Leagues Coalition (ULC), and in 2004 was already envisaging it becoming a national governing body.Melissa Joulwan, ''Rollergirl: Totally True Tales from the Track'', p.238 The ULC later became the

Women's Flat Track Derby Association 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 Co ...

(WFTDA), and she served as the WFTDA's first president. She captained the Texas team which won the 2006

WFTDA Championship The International Women's Flat Track Derby Association Championships ("WFTDA Championships" or "Champs" for short) are the leading competition for roller derby leagues. The Championships are organised by the Women's Flat Track Derby Association ( ...

. The WFTDA championship trophy is named the

Hydra Trophy 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. Named in honor of Hydra, founding member of the WF ...

in her honor. 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hydra Hydrologists Sportspeople from Austin, Texas Roller derby skaters Living people Year of birth missing (living people)