Early this November, River Ridge Park watched the San Marcos River Rollers play their final game of the roller derby season. As the season ended, so did the career of one of the River Rollers’ final three founding members, Angelica Hogan, or as the roller derby world knows her, Arch Angel.

Founded in 2017, the San Marcos River Rollers is a skater-owned non-profit organization aimed at creating a supportive community that encourages strength and teamwork. According to founding member Rebecca Hudson, the league allows women equal opportunities to earn virtuous qualities through competition.

“Our country is built on this game of football, and lots of boys get to play that at a young age. They learn communication, they learn how to lose [and] they learn how to win,” Hudson said. “It sets them up for the rest of their lives.”

According to Hogan, joining the River Rollers was part of an effort to find something that could beat the mundane and repetitious life routine many face. In doing so, she found a place where she could take back some satisfaction through her roller derby alias’ strength.

“I needed that break. I needed something to break up the routine of ‘go to work, go home, be a mom,’” Hogan said. “So, when I saw [the River Rollers], I saw this opportunity to kind of step back out and take something back for me.”

Hudson agrees roller derby fosters a healthy mind, and added that having something physical to provide a mental release brings her back to the sport time after time.

“For me, why I derby, [it’s for] that release, man,” Hudson said. “I’m like an adrenaline junkie for sure. I found it in derby and I just can’t let it go.”

Through countless derby matches and even a compound fracture in her ankle followed by self-administered physical therapy, Hogan said her experience and career on the roller derby track have filled her with profound confidence.

“When I came back on the track [for] my first practice after that [injury], it was like ‘I am unstoppable,’” Hogan said.

According to Hogan, her injury comeback isn’t the only thing that gives her confidence. When she transforms into Arch Angel on the track, a new level of empowerment overtakes her, she said.

“I found this playful person I could be where I can dress up and kind of create this whole other character,” Hogan said. “What I found was, when I play, she was fierce, and just tough and mean on the track and all the things that I wish I could be in my [day-to-day].”

Though her reputation proceeds her in the world of roller derby competition, Hudson said the time has come to shift her focus away from the River Rollers.

“I may be hanging up my skates, but I’m still going to skate around town,” Hogan said. “I may come back, who knows? But I’ve loved the journey.”

For more information on the San Marcos River Rollers, visit sanmarcosriverrollers.org/why-we-derby.