Ain’t too hard for me to jam

As Havilah Curtis suits up before she takes the roller derby track, she slides a band with the number 147 stitched on it up the bicep of her left arm — her league number, created by combining the birth months of her three children.

When Curtis hits the track she’s Havoc, the lead jammer for the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls. And while she’s hell on wheels when it’s game time, the word havoc doesn’t describe Curtis at a glance.

Her demeanor conveys confidence, control and efficiency; viridescent eyes shine through thick lashes, framed by deep brunette hair that cups the apples of her high-set cheeks. She’s no more than 5-foot-4-inches, and while weight was never discussed, one could reasonably guess she’s around 100 pounds with a single-digit body fat.

When she speaks she is clear and concise, but not at the expense of being warm and inviting. Her complexion is smooth and unblemished, perhaps the result of a clean diet and ample hydration as much as good genes (but all seem to be at play here).

In taking in the striking, compact package that is Havilah “Havoc” Curtis, it’s easy to forget she’s a mom to three kids, ages 17, 8 and 5.

She just turned 34 this year.

Curtis has done a lot and she does a lot — it’s kind of just who she is: roller derby jammer, single mom, former gymnast, speed skater, Jiu Jitsuka, small business owner, former high school science teacher, model; Curtis never stops looking for the next challenge.

Curtis says she started training in gymnastics when she was around 2 years old. Her’s was a story most gymnasts’ parents are familiar with:

“I was jumping on couches and flipping off,” Curtis says. “My parents were like, ‘Wow. OK.’ And they enrolled me.”

She competed at the highest level for 12 years, even training to qualify for the 2000 Sydney Olympics when she was 17 years old.

And then she got pregnant.

“It basically ended my gymnastics career,” Curtis says. “But I began my mother journey.”

There’s no frustration in her voice when she talks about moving on from gymnastics. Curtis makes it seem very matter-of-fact: that chapter of her life was closing and another was beginning. It’s easy to get the impression that Curtis doesn’t look back often, perhaps because it’s unsafe to look backward when you’re traveling forward at such speed.

Curtis continued to foster her athleticism after her daughter was born. She got into speed skating while she was in school at the University of Colorado Denver, where she was working on her secondary education degree in biological science. She was a three-night a week regular at Skate City in Aurora, practicing and blowing off steam. It was about three-and-a-half years ago that Curtis was rounding the rink in Aurora when she saw girls from the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls league handing out flyers for tryouts to join the league.

Curtis took a flyer and thought, “Well I could do that.”

She tried out, got accepted and got hooked — which is understandable. Roller derby leagues are filled with unstoppable women just like Curtis.

“It’s really empowering within a group of like, 120 females who all work together to build this strong empire,” Curtis says. “Everybody works hard to keep it going. And not only is it friendships, they become your second family.”

And that’s because joining a roller derby league is no trivial commitment for those who truly want to play. Leagues are not for profit; each team member pays to play. Everyone has to have a job, everyone has to pay dues, everyone has to attend so many practices and everyone has to promote games.

Like with all other endeavors in her life, Curtis not only worked her way up to lead jammer for the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls, she also took on the lead role in securing finances for the league, a job she calls “one of my greatest accomplishments.”

“I’m the one who goes out there and brings in the money,” Curtis says of leading sponsorship for the league. “It’s another full time job. I have a team who works under me — I couldn’t do it without them. It’s so rewarding to be able to say, ‘I just got this sponsorship for $3,000.’”

Curtis is responsible for building relationships with local businesses, negotiating and drafting contracts, all so the Rollergirls can keep on rolling.

As the lead jammer for the Rollergirls, Curtis takes her position seriously — she’s the one who scores points for her team. You can find her in the gym five times a week, without fail.

“Strength and conditioning is very important to me. I have this weird idea that if I’m strong and I’m fast, it’ll be easier for me to jam,” she says. “My strength adds to my ability to be in control of my skills on the track.”

Control is a key word in derby. Derby isn’t run-of-the-mill, middle-school-birthday-party rollerskating. Jammers have to be capable of moving through packs of other skaters in order to collect points. It requires agile footwork: 180-degree turns, shuffle and crossover steps. If an opponent has a leg stuck out, a jammer needs to be able to jump it and keep skating.

Curtis speaks easily about roller derby, from her role with the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls to the history of the sport. It’s clear she loves it. And like everything else she’s committed to her in her life, she commits to roller derby fully, and she does it without sacrificing her commitment to her children or her job or her sanity.

“My kids come with me to practice, that’s how I do it,” she says with a laugh. “My kids know the team, they know my kids. It’s a family friendly environment. Kids 12 and under get free admission to bouts. I don’t know a league in the world that charges kids for roller derby.”

Curtis says her kids are proud of their mom, while being different from her.

Her oldest writes music, plays multiple instruments and draws. Her 8-year-old “is gonna be as tall as a basketball player but can’t throw a basketball,” she says with a smile. “He’s an artist, a mathematician, a magician.”

“And my 5-year-old is gonna be the next heavyweight champion of the world,” she says. “He just started jujitsu.”

Curtis clocks even more face-time with her kids by taking jujitsu with them. As a single mom, it just makes sense.

The roller derby world has been steadying for Curtis — a place filled with other women just like her.

“It’s such an empowering place to be for a single mom because you don’t need anybody else. You’re working toward a goal and with a team of other strong athletic woman who are all there for the same goal: to become better.”

As for Curtis’ next goal, like always, she’s got big plans. She hopes to train for obstacle courses like the Tough Mudder. She’s got another venture she wants to talk about but she says the words every journalist dreads hearing:

“You’re going to love this, but you can’t write about it just yet.”

Looks like we’ll have to wait and see what Havilah “Havoc” Curtis has up her sleeve next.