On paper, the numbers are staggering. Thirty-four consecutive victories over two seasons. More than 4,200 points scored. A trip to the Junior Roller Derby Association Championships in Chicago. One of the nation’s most dominant junior roller derby teams.
But ask the young women of the Santa Cruz Gromshells what they’ll remember most, and none of them start with the scoreboard. They talk about confidence, friendship and becoming the people they never imagined they could be.
For coaches Shanna and Chris Kerr, that’s exactly the point.
As the Gromshells celebrate another national title, three of the program’s longtime skaters are also preparing for something much bigger: adulthood.
Eighteen-year-old Vita Hardy graduated from Harbor High School and will study nursing at Chico State this fall. Rebecca Dietrich, also 18, graduated from Leigh High School and is headed to the University of Victoria in British Columbia to study anthropology. Seventeen-year-old Kate Brandon, another Harbor High graduate, will attend UC Santa Barbara to study history, public policy, law and governance.
They have spent nearly a decade growing up together on roller skates.
“I found my voice here,” Hardy said. “I built confidence here. I struggled, and I saw breakthroughs. I saw my hard work pay off. It wasn’t easy, but it was always worth it.”
Hardy was among the first children to join the Gromshells when the junior program began.
“I was 9 or 10,” she said. “My best friend was already playing, and my mom had been following roller derby. As soon as they opened it up for younger kids, my little sister and I joined. I just loved it and stuck with it ever since.”
The sport quickly became much more than competition.
“I could never really find a sport before this,” Hardy said. “This is such an empowering space for girls. I had role models who were a few years older than me, and I looked up to them. Setting goals and finally achieving them really boosted my confidence.”
That confidence has become a hallmark of the Gromshells program.
Dietrich said leadership isn’t something coaches simply assign—it is something earned.
“When you’re asked to be a captain, you’re a role model for the younger skaters,” she said. “You have to set a good example. The younger girls are looking at you and thinking, ‘That’s who I want to become.’”
Those lessons, she believes, will follow her long after her skates are packed away.
“This program taught me commitment,” Dietrich said. “It taught me to stick with something, even when it’s hard. It also gave me confidence. I’m excited to take that into college and my career.”
Brandon agrees.
After 10 years with the program, she plans to take a break from competition while attending college, but not because she’s ready to leave the sport behind.
“I’ve been playing roller derby for 10 years,” Brandon said. “I want to experience college, but I definitely want to come back and play again.”
That decision is made easier by the Gromshells’ growing alumni program, which allows former junior skaters to continue competing together as adults.
For Presley Jimenez, a rising senior at Salinas High School, next season will look very different.
She’ll be one of the veterans.
“It’s been hard thinking about them leaving,” Jimenez admitted. “This is my last season with them. I don’t want it to end.”
But she’s already watching the next generation emerge.
“The younger skaters are amazing,” Jimenez said. “I think they’ll grow into those leadership roles because they had these girls to look up to.”
Like many of the athletes, Jimenez said roller derby teaches something that extends far beyond athletics.
“If you’re an introvert, you find your voice here,” she said. “You’re forced to communicate, and everyone depends on each other. Your success depends on your teammates.”
That sense of belonging may be the team’s greatest strength.
“This program is one big family,” Brandon said. “If something’s going wrong at home or in your life, this is a place where you can come and talk to people.”
Dietrich agreed.
“We’re so close that there’s rarely any drama,” she said. “If you have an issue, you talk about it. We all understand that this is bigger than ourselves.”
The results speak for themselves.
The 2026 Gromshells roster features 20 skaters, including seven newcomers and 13 returning athletes. Six of the new skaters advanced from the club’s developmental Freaky Fridays program, while another transferred from a different league.
Despite the new faces, the winning hasn’t slowed.
Following an undefeated 20-0 season in 2025, the Gromshells posted another perfect 14-0 regular season in 2026, competing in five tournaments across five cities against 11 different opponents. They outscored those teams by an astonishing 4,204-121.
At the JRDA West Playoffs in Burbank, the top-seeded Gromshells defeated the West Coast Junior Knockouts 320-5 before defeating the Rose City Rosebuds National team 184-34 to capture the championship and qualify for the JRDA Championships in Chicago on July 11-12. Once there, the Gromshells swept the tournament and defended their title of national champions for the fourth consecutive time, and fifth overall.
For Coach Shanna Kerr, listening as her graduating seniors reflected on what roller derby had given them, her emotion was impossible to hide.
“I think about how many days these three have left,” she said. “Every morning.”
She knows this is exactly what the program is supposed to do.
“I want strong women who go out and advocate for themselves, stand up for other girls, lead in whatever they choose, and never believe someone who tells them they can’t,” she said. “I know they’re supposed to leave,” she said. “That’s what this program is for. But I don’t want them to go.”
For a coach, perhaps that’s the hardest victory of all.
Interested in learning more about junior roller derby and following the team’s unprecedented success? Visit santacruzderbygroms.com.
