I grew up listening to my mom tell stories about being involved with roller derby and being a goalie on a roller hockey team. After years of ballet experience, she was recruited by a skating coach to use her combination of grace and skating ability to compete in dance skating. She later on followed in her dad’s footsteps of being a roller hockey referee. She received Best Goalie in the 1991 Women’s Division National Ball Hockey results while on the Modesto Rebels team, and her name is listed in the Team USA archive under 1994 Rink Hockey.
In short, I’ve been told a lot about roller skating my entire life. I went to the rink about a month ago with some friends, and I immediately binged all the roller skate content I could find online the second I got home. I stumbled upon Indy Jamma Jones’s YouTube channel (which you should definitely check out if you’re interested in skating at all), and through Indy, found Honey Gonzales.
“[Indy’s] video was so random and was one of those right place at the right time kind of things. It was cool, because I was really starstruck by Indy, and she already knew me somehow,” Honey (21) said.
“I started roller skating because I was recovering from an abusive relationship, and when I removed myself from that situation, I really didn’t have anything. I didn’t have a home, and I didn’t have friends. I also wasn’t very strong mentally and didn’t live for myself. I went to the roller skating rink for the first time by myself, and it was so vibrant and fun and diametrically opposed to my home life. I bought roller skates, and that was the first time I had done anything for my own happiness. It felt so rebellious to do something that was only for my happiness. I was alone, but I felt happy because I had my roller skates! Having to go to school full time and work full time while having to [deal with] court proceedings, roller skating was my only outlet and was ultimately what helped me overcome my tribulations. Now I skate every day, and it’s become an inherent part of my identity. They’re a symbol of my reclaimed freedom.”
“They’re also super cute, and I’m able to work on my physical endurance and mental endurance, because, honestly, skating is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It forces you to work on yourself, which is something every human should work on mentally and physically.”
“The Heartbreakers Club is my joie de vivre! I got tired of skating alone and started to get a little more confident on my skates. I had a little bit of a following online and posted that I wanted to start a club where I would teach them how to skate and dance, and a couple girls messaged me that they were down.”
“Bambi [22] is one of the original members of HBC. We’ve had a couple girls join and withdraw, but Bambi was part of the original team. She was always around my atmosphere of friends, but I never personally spoke to her until we started skating together. Although all the girls on my team are beautiful, we all agree that Bambi is the looks of the group. She’s very sweet but has hidden fire.”
“The Heartbreakers is a group of friends that embrace our femininity through dressing up and having fun on roller skates. I got involved when I saw a super cute girl [Honey] post about how she was looking for girls who skate. I’ve always loved roller skating, so I messaged her on Insta,” Bambi said.
“I've followed Bambi for a while because I went to high school with her. We never talked, but apparently we both thought the other was super cute, but there was a mutual intimidation. She had posted about the club asking if any girls wanted to join. I, for some reason, had the balls to message her and ask her if I could come. I never knew about park skating at all. I had skated my whole life, but all I knew of was jam and dance skating. I have pretty severe social anxiety, so when I showed up to the park, I sat in my car and debated leaving or not. It was a very intimidating thing to approach these girls who were—yes—gorgeous, but also so fucking cool. The first day, they welcomed me, taught me fundamental basics, and also Honey let me borrow her skates because I had shitty thrifted ones,” Nena said.
“Nena [23] came along a little later and is the grooviest chick I’ve ever met. She’s the class clown and is funnier than any one of us could ever be. We always laugh at the story of her [nickname], because when we first met, I couldn’t remember her name [Carina]. I would just call her the ‘Nena’ which means the ‘little girl’ in Spanish, but she thought it was a nickname. It somehow just stuck,” Honey said.
The creation of the Heartbreakers Club rapidly fell into success.
“It encompassed my life very quickly. I worked on outfits for us, routines, getting matching Heartbreaker jackets, and teaching the girls how to be fluid on skates,” Honey said. “All our hard work got us noticed by Impala, and eventually we all were on the Impala team.”
Impala Rollerskates launched in 2017 in Melbourne, Australia, and now sells roller skates worldwide.
“All the Heartbreakers are on the Impala Skate Squad. I think when I started the Heartbreakers Club it was just [the] right timing. Impala was still getting their foot through the door as well, and they needed skaters on the ground. So it was kind of a right spot at the right time type of thing,” Honey said.
“The Heartbreakers are a group of badass ladies that get together and skate with a goal: to be seen in a boy-dominated territory. To take up space that we are told traditionally is not ours,” Nena said.
“I love women inserting themselves in these spaces. Like I said before, we’re not really taken seriously, and we have to prove with our skill that we also deserve to be there. A lot of girls have messaged us saying how they were too scared to skate at a park, but they saw us doing it and so they went too. Representation is really important. I also started Los Lost Boys [@loslostboyss on Instagram] which is a club of our boys who roller skate. All my boys are the most precious dreamboats you’ve ever met. They’re so mischievous and daring. It’s so fun to watch them skate. Boys are so scarce in the skate community, and no wheels should be gendered,” Honey said.
“Being in the group has changed me. I feel so much more confident and much stronger than I've ever felt. I grew up with all boys, and since being around them, I feel more in touch with my femininity, even while we’re getting bruises and sweating and whatever else,” Nena said.
“The Heartbreakers had our first skate March fourth, 2019, so we just turned a year [old],” Honey said. “I originally intended for HBC to be more of a dance jam skating team for the skating rink, but we all were so drawn to the skate park and the community.”
“The skate community before was all about being hard and raw, and we offer a different approach to skating. I think a lot of people didn’t take us seriously because we’re girls in roller skates, but I want to manifest that girls deserve to be in these spaces too. We dress up with glitter and skirts, and we sweat and bleed too. There’s no denying what we do is hardcore. We insert ourselves in these spaces and prove again and again that we deserve to be there.”
“My whole life, I’ve loved doing things like making costumes and dressing up. I felt like I couldn’t do that because the people I surrounded myself would think that it was silly or dumb, but I met these girls, and I can finally be me. We all love playing dress up on the daily,” Nena said.
“I was the captain of my cheer team in middle school and high school, and I definitely conduct the Heartbreakers like I did my cheer team. I love matching outfits and glitter and routines. I also incorporate a lot of my gymnastic ability from cheer into my skating. I have this one trick called a Honey Drop which is a back bend into a bowl, and I entirely credit that to my cheer career,” Honey said.
“Inviting someone in is a very special occasion for us,” Honey said.
“I started showing up regularly to their meet ups, which were usually once to twice a week. To be honest, I had no idea that it was the sort of thing where you get inducted into it. After a month and a half or so, they asked me via a group chat and I was stoked! Basically all we want in a member is someone who shows up consistently and is actively trying to learn and grow, but anyone is welcome to skate with us anytime!” Nena said.
“I would love to skate for a company, but roller skating is still so new and I’ve turned down companies because the skates just weren’t adequate for skating,” Honey said. “I would love to open a studio and give lessons with the girls or make our very own roller skate! I sure didn’t think there was going to be so many girls that would come skate with us! I wanna start making a web series teaching skate basics and how to get better.”
“I would like to add that I’m a first [generation] Chicana and am very gay. I think representation is important. 97% of our following are women, and a big chunk of them are teens. A lot of them look [up] to us, and it’s our job to show them what is possible. Being first gen, there’s an inherent need to make your parents proud, and that really shows in everything I do. I am about to graduate with my BA from university, and I have two jobs at the moment. Although I have these backups, I would ultimately like to make skating a career.”
“Already what we’ve accomplished is so much more than anything I have ever anticipated, but I hope to continue to teach and inspire other skaters.”
Nena's Set Up
All the skates I have (four pairs) are from Impala Roller Skates, and I love them a lot! In the past I used the Stardust skates by Sure-Grip and Moxis that Honey let me borrow. Most of my Impalas are the original setup that it came with except one pair that I replaced with RollerBones wheels I like to use for the park. The only thing super special about them is the DIY paint jobs I do to them because I'm extra.
Bambi's Set Up
My setup that I mainly use now is a pair of Impalas. I have Moxi outdoor wheels because they really make it easy to go over rough terrain. For protective gear I prefer the Pro-Tec Street Pads. They come in primary colors which is really cute, and they really do save you from bad injuries.
Honey's Set Up
I have a lot of skates that I love, but I use my pink Impalas as my primary skatepark skate. They have a blue leather toe guard and I have Disco Blox installed for grinding. I’m going to be retiring these soon due to me skating so hard and just wearing them out. After a year of continuous use, they have done their duty, but I plan on replacing them with another Impala skate to be my primary skate park skate. As for casual skating and skating at school, I skate my red Lolly Moxis. Red is my favorite color, and the Moxi wheels are so gummy, it’s like skating longboard wheels. Tripping over rocks? Never heard of her.
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All images courtesy of Bambi, Nena, and Honey.
Responses have been edited from Instagram direct message for grammar and formality.