<p>Most of the time, Sloan Conner is an unassuming, mild-mannered 15-year-old girl.</p>
<p>Once she puts on a helmet and roller skates, though, a transformation takes place.</p>
<p>Conner, a sophomore at Franklin Community High School, doubles as one of the brightest young roller derby stars in the country. Next week, she’ll be representing Team USA East at the Junior Roller Derby Association (JRDA) World Cup in Philadelphia.</p>
<p>The two American teams will be competing against squads from Australia, Canada, Europe and Great Britain.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
<p>The World Cup team was chosen after a series of tryouts in three cities. The original stable of more than 150 hopefuls was whittled down to 25, and Conner then survived one final tryout in Tampa, Florida, to make the final 20-skater roster.</p>
<p>She is the second-youngest member of the team.</p>
<p>Conner first developed an interest in roller derby around age 8, when her parents took her to watch the Naptown Roller Derby, a flat-track league founded in 2006. She immediately wanted to try it herself.</p>
<p>"Once she found out there was a junior roller derby league, that was it," said Holly Conner, Sloan’s mother.</p>
<p>Though Sloan says she "wasn’t very good" when she started, her mom tells a different story.</p>
<p>"She’s pretty much a natural on skates," Holly Conner said. "That was pretty evident right off the bat."</p>
<p>As Conner grew and developed within the sport, roller derby went from being just something she did for fun to a more serious pursuit. In 2016, she represented the Great Lakes region at the inaugural JRDA Junior Olympics in Lincoln, Nebraska.</p>
<p>Conner has since given up on the other sports she played as a youth and put all of her energy into skating.</p>
<p>"Once you get into the competitive part, it’s more about that than just having fun," she said. "It’s always fun, but the more competition that you get, the more that you want. It’s kind of addictive."</p>
<p>Roller derby isn’t the free-for-all that those who watched it decades ago might remember ("They’re not throwing each other over railings anymore," Holly Conner said), but it’s still a pretty physical sport — comparable to ice hockey in terms of how much contact is allowed. And while Sloan Conner might not look like the type to mix it up like that when she’s walking the halls at Franklin, she’s earned herself quite a reputation on the derby circuit.</p>
<p>Most skaters have nicknames when they compete — colorful monikers such as Goldie Hurtsalot, Luv Tap and Psychotic Angel.</p>
<p>Conner’s name? Shoulder of Justice.</p>
<p>While she’s earned that tag with her ability to knock other skaters off their feet, Conner brings a variety of skills to the track. There are three positions in roller derby — jammer, blocker and pivot — and while pivot is her favorite, she’s able to play all three.</p>
<p>In roller derby, both teams have five skaters rolling counterclockwise around the track. Each team designates one skater as the jammer; that player scores points by lapping members of the opposing team. The other skaters are blockers, one of which can be designated as a pivot — who is allowed to become a jammer during play.</p>
<p>Skaters are basically forced to play offense and defense at the same time, working to help their jammer score while preventing the opposing jammer from doing the same.</p>
<p>Because of that dynamic, Conner says a selfless attitude is critical to success.</p>
<p>"It is a team sport; you can’t do it by yourself," she said. "You need your teammates to be in a good spot and have positive mental states too. So really, it’s about teamwork."</p>
<p>In addition to competing for Indianapolis in JRDA events, Conner also skated for the Chicago-based Midwest All-Stars at last year’s USA Roller Sports (USARS) national championships.</p>
<p>She’s planning to try out for the 2019 World Roller Games, which will be held in Barcelona, Spain.</p>
<p>Conner has enjoyed plenty of roller derby success — enough to get sponsored by Anabolix Skate Co of Indianapolis — and she’d like to continue competing as an adult. But she’s also started to venture into inline speed skating, which is quite a different animal.</p>
<p>"It’s a lot more speed on inline, because you’re cutting through the air and it’s less weight," Conner explained, "so you have to learn how to balance that on a straight line instead of evenly distributed through four wheels."</p>
<p>In time, she hopes to further transition from inline races to speed skating on ice, with an eye on possibly making the Olympics one day.</p>
<p>"That’s what we’re working for," Conner said, "but it’ll probably be a long process."</p>
<p>Good luck knocking her off course.</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="JRDA World Cup" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>Where: Sportsplex (Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania)</p>
<p>When: July 23-24</p>
<p>Teams competing: Australia, Canada, Europe, Great Britain, Team USA East, Team USA West</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]
