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The women at a recent practice of the Juneau Roller Girls were still learning each others' names and faces, but co-coach Jeanne Crochet tells them they'll need to get comfortable in a hurry to become effective blockers.

"We're always grabbing ass in derby. We should all be familiar with our supple little bottoms," Crochet tells them with a straight face and a Southern twang.

She's setting up a drill that requires squads to skate around the track in a single file. Putting a hand on the skater in front of you helps establish a common pace and keep the file cohesive. "It's all about communication," Crochet says.

Not everyone is there yet. When the whistle blows to start the drill, many of the hands peel off, or hover awkwardly near, but not on, the next girl's hindquarters.

The 15 women who turned out at this practice were mostly 20- and 30-somethings and novices to roller derby as well as roller skating. Their skates, helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards and mouth guards look brand new.

The Juneau Roller Girls incorporated as a nonprofit early this year. The group has been practicing up to three times a week this summer and turnout is on the rise.

Some are looking for new friends. One mom says it gives her a break from family life. Some come for the exercise.

"I lost a whole lot of weight, almost 60 pounds. I need to have activity to keep that weight down, you know? This is something fun we can do indoors not in the rain," said board president Valleri Collins.

And there's the allure of roller derby itself, a women-only throwback sport with a tough girl veneer. Part of the draw is adopting a derby alter ego for a few hours a weeks and shedding their identity as an emergency room nurse, computer tech or barista.

"Go easy on me, I don't have health insurance," one woman says as she gears up for practice.

"What's that? Hit you harder?" another quips.

One way derby reinforces the alter egos is through unique derby names that each skater will eventually adopt. The most memorable derby names combine one or more parts pun, snark, entendre and raunch in clever ways. Some end up sounding like awry superheros; Crochet skates as "Jean Claude Hot Damn."

Another defining derby characteristic is a counterculture aesthetic. The wardrobe even at practice seems to celebrate loud, clashing colors. Novelty tube socks finally have a home. The tattoos on display don't raise any eyebrows, pierced or otherwise.

But they're nice girls, honest.

Crochet and Collins note that it's an accessible sport. It's not exclusive to women who are young, in good shape or have a particular body type.

Juneau has enough enthusiastic women willing to put in the time to learn the rules, condition their bodies, and improve their skills to become a viable derby league, Crochet says. The main challenges now are administrative.

"We don't have a place that's our home," Crochet said.

The club has arrangements to use covered play areas at local schools to practice in - until October. That's when public and private recreational space all over Juneau gets booked up by other sports. The club is eyeing what Crochet calls "a 6,000-square-foot mecca of a warehouse" off Airport Boulevard, but it sounds like it will simply cost too much to rent. Other potential facilities aren't willing to risk damage to their unprotected floors.

Michelle Maynor, founder and president of the Fairbanks Rollergirls, said her league got around the flooring issue at their current competition venue, the Carlson Center, by buying a $23,000 portable tile flooring system made specifically for roller derby. Maynor's three-year-old league raised the money through ticket sales from previous bouts.

That's a chicken-and-egg situation Juneau's club has yet to figure a way around. Setting a target date for the first public scrimmage is premature without securing a location, organizers say. And the locations they're using for practices now are barely big enough to lay down lines for a regulation track, let alone accommodate a crowd.

Across the border, Whitehorse's Yukon Roller Girls are in a similar position. Organizer Shannon Pearson said her group's roster has swelled to more than 50 dues-paying members since starting up in April, but that they're scrambling to find a space come winter.

Meanwhile, the leagues in Anchorage and Fairbanks have been maturing. Each city supports two home teams and an all-star travel team. The two travel teams met for a bout at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer this past weekend. A derby group in Wasilla has also begun recruiting.

Hundreds of leagues have sprouted up across the nation in the last decade with most major cities represented. That shouldn't discourage derby enthusiasts in the Juneaus and Whitehorses of the world, said Juliana Gonzales, executive director of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association based in Austin, Texas, and Danielle Krienert, roller derby director for USA Roller Sports based in Lincoln, Nebraska. It can and is working in smaller markets.

And, "I'm not aware of a league ever folding," Gonzales said.

Since WFTDA was founded in 2004, the organization has become an authority on the sport's governance for independent derby leagues. For its highly competitive member leagues - which Anchorage and Fairbanks are working toward becoming - WFTDA has established a national ranking system and national championships.

Maynor said some derby drama is inevitable, especially for new leagues.

"Women in derby, for the most part, are type A personalities. You get that many in one spot, it can be hard to keep going," she said. "I've been there, I know how much work there is in getting it going. But it's worth it."

Women interested in learning more about Juneau Roller Girls can contact coach Jeanne Crochet at 337-349-2332 or jeannepecan@yahoo.com, search Juneau Roller Girls on Facebook or visit http://juneaurollergirls.blogspot.com/.

Jeremy Hsieh is a freelance journalist in Juneau. He may be reached at jmlhsieh@gmail.com.