When we say derby is a family, we mean it!

Our Skater of the Month is Poppa Pain: Rocky Mountain NSO, lover of spicy foods, and father of former Rocky skater (and gadabout with Gotham and Team Korea) Sophie’ll the Pain. Poppa Pain got involved in derby in 2014 when his daughter joined RMRG’s Junior League, the Punks. He started officiating in 2015 and has been a staple of our off-skates officials ever since.

NSOing is a crucial part of derby, whether it’s time tracking, score keeping or any of the other myriad positions we need filled to make a game run smoothly. We’re very lucky to have a dedicated group of people who keep the skaters organized. Poppa Pain is a fantastic addition to our team, cheerfully explaining the intricacies of the game to volunteers and skaters getting volunteer credit hours. He even makes going to the penalty box a more cheerful experience!

Pops has two doggos named Sadie and Heineken and 2 grand cats. Poppa Pain also loves cooking and adventurous eating (which we hope means octopus and not possum). He is also an accomplished jazz musician and is also a string picker, dabbling in banjo and guitar.

We thank Poppa Pain for all of his hard work and dedication, RMRG appreciates his work, even if it means we’re in the box with him.