Throughout our sixth season, I'll be interviewing members of the Windy City Rollers. Our next bout is Saturday, March 27. Get tickets here!

Loco Chanel: This is your second year with the Windy City Rollers. Can you compare and contrast the feelings of going into this season vs. your rookie season?

Hermione Danger: When I was a rookie, I fought to earn my spot on the track. This season, I’m fighting to keep it. My drive to become a better player hasn’t changed from one season to the next.

My dad used to tell me that I’m becoming a better athlete when I push myself on the hard days. The easy days only count for fitness. The hard days count for greatness! Mostly, I just want to play roller derby and play it well.

LC: What was sports background before joining WCR?

HD: In seventh grade, I rollerbladed down a hill into a tree and broke my arm. That was the last time I put on skates before I joined derby.

Aside from a few years on my high school soccer team, a sad attempt at little league softball and a formidable four years on my high school color guard squad, my athletic background has been primarily self-motivated and quasi-antisocial. I was a gym rat, frequented bike trails and had more than a handful of personal trainers.

It’s hard for me to remember my life without roller derby, even though this is just my second WCR skating season. In 2006, I decided I wanted to play. When I make a steadfast goal, you can bet your ass I’ll achieve it. After a year on a league that has since disbanded, a series of setbacks and injuries, a year on our amazing referee squad and a lot practice, I tried out for Windy City and was drafted to the Belles for the 2009 season. Then I played on the first ever Windy City B Team, the Second Wind, last summer.

LC: You and Shocka stepped up to captain the Hell's Belles this season and are both first-time captains. Along with two new leaders at the helm, there are a lot of new faces on the team. How has the experience been thus far and what can fans expect from the 2010 Belles?

HD: The Belles are a team of fighters. Many of the skaters have been working for years to get on a team, and I am so proud of all they have accomplished. I knew this season was going to be a challenge, but I’m not one to do things that are easy. I’ve been Shocka’s No. 1 fan since she started skating, and I’m honored to be standing beside her. I want our fans to be proud of our skaters, and I want our skaters to be proud of themselves.

LC: What's been your favorite WCR memory/experience thus far?

HD: Probably the first Belles practice after the first draft this season: I remember looking around the practice space during warm ups and feeling excited for the team we were starting to build. Or perhaps about a week before the first game this season when I realized that I was finally a jammer. That was surreal and felt damn good. Or… winning games with the B team and knowing that I had been a part of making that happen.