Judy Sowinski (7 July 1940 – 27 July 2011) was 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 and coach. Sowinski was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and became interested in roller derby after watching a game at the

Chicago Coliseum Chicago Coliseum was the name applied to three large indoor arenas in Chicago, Illinois, which stood successively from the 1860s to 1982; they served as venues for sports events, large (national-class) conventions and as exhibition halls. The f ...

in 1957. She tried out and was soon picked up as a professional, skating for the San Francisco Bombers. She cultivated an obnoxious persona, but preferred the games themselves to remain genuine contests. She later also skated for the Philadelphia Warriors,Sally A. Downey,
Skater, coach could roll with the best of them
, ''

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', 31 July 2011 spent nine years with the Los Angeles Thunderbirds, and captained the New York Bombers.New York-L.A. Clash Saturday At Hubbard in Skate Derby Tilt
, ''

Youngstown Vindicator ''The Vindicator'' is a daily newspaper serving Youngstown, Ohio, United States and the Mahoning County region as well as southern Trumbull County and northern Columbiana County. ''The Vindicator'' was established in 1869. As of September 1, 2019 ...

'', 20 October 1971 In 1972, Sowinski appeared in '' Kansas City Bomber'', a movie set in the world of roller derby. She finally retired from the sport in the early 1980s, taking a job at

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is the flagship hospital of Jefferson Health, a multi-state non-profit health system based in Philadelphia. The hospital serves as the teaching hospital for Thomas Jefferson University. History Originally form ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, living with her female partner. Judy returned to skating several times in the 80's and skated her last game in March 1992 at the Hershey Arena for the IRSD league run by Bob Raskin. Sowinski returned to roller derby in 2003, coaching the Penn Jersey She Devils, initially on an unpaid basis. In 2004, she was inducted into the

Roller Derby Hall of Fame The Roller Derby Hall of Fame, also known as the National Roller Derby Hall of Fame, was founded in 1952,William H. Young and Nancy K. Young, ''World War II and the Postwar Years in America'', p.596 by the editors of the ''Roller Derby News'' paper. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sowinski, Judy 1940 births 2011 deaths American roller skaters Lesbian sportswomen American LGBT sportspeople LGBT people from Illinois Sportspeople from Chicago Roller derby skaters American sportswomen LGBT roller skaters 21st-century American women