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# Roller derby skaters face injuries without league insurance coverage
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/022207-story-20070222-2/
- Published: 2007-02-22T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:07:56.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Sports, Venice, #archive-import

skaters, they must rely on their day jobs or the emergency room for care. League officials said they are hoping the next step will be coverage for skaters, but so far the money just isn’t there.

“I’ve broken five bones due to roller derby, my big toe on my right foot,my thumb a grand total of three times and my right clavicle,” said Kelly Kaboom, a skater from Venice who plays for the Tough Cookies. “I have no medical insurance, so let’s just say that the county hospital and I know each other well.”

Despite the pain, Kaboom and other skaters keep coming back. Some love it so much they have to be restrained when injured because they want to skate so badly.

“It’s hard to just sit there and wait,”Forsythe said. “You kind of feel helpless. It’s frustrating being injured. The injuries are starting to get to me, but I can’t see myself stopping.

“I think I’ve got a few good years left in me.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/022207-17_02.jpg)

of Derby Dolls The Fight Crew and Tough Cookies (above) go at it in a roller derby clash earlier this month in Downtown LA, won by the defending champion Fight Crew. (Photo: Photo courtesy)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/022207-17_03.jpg)

of Derby Dolls The Fight Crew and Tough Cookies (above) go at it in a roller derby clash earlier this month in Downtown LA, won by the defending champion Fight Crew. (Photo: Photo courtesy)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 22, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/022207.pdf?ref=smdp.com)