Sport and Sweet
Vintage games are in vogue, especially for women
ROLLER DERBY hit its TV peak in
the ’60s, but it’s finding a new audience in women, including those
50-plus. The sport has grown from
fewer than 10 teams in 2004 to
more than 500 worldwide; leagues
are in big cities and small towns.
Players say the mix of rough skating
and campy costumes is empowering: “It’s cool there’s an opportunity
that women never had as girls, to
participate in a full-body contact
sport,” says Seattle skater Donna
Kay, 54—known as The Hot Flash.
CURLING has long
been popular in Can-
ada and the colder
parts of Europe. But
the 2010 Vancouver
Olympics encouraged
thousands of Ameri-
cans to try curling
clinics across the country. ( We also
presume the Fire on Ice calendar,
featuring scantily clad female curl-
ers, helped spark love for the sport.)
ARM WRESTLING isn’t just for
settling bar bets. The Charlottes-
ville Lady Arm Wrestlers formed in
2008 in Virginia, spurring the start
of eight more ladies leagues. Women
donate proceeds to nonprofits but
also get fierce. Take Molly Bearden,
59, of Taos, New Mexico. A dietitian
by day, she’s Florence NightinHELL
in competition. —Audrey Goodson
FROM TOP: PICTORIAL PRESS LTD./ALAMY; ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN SNOOK
YOUR BOSS CAN MAKE YOU SICK If your boss has the people skills of, say, Joseph Stalin, you may want to stash a defibrillator in your office. Research suggests that men who work for bad bosses are likelier to have heart
attacks, and people who dislike their bosses take more
sick leave. Blame stress: When chronic, it can lead to cardiac symptoms, says Kenneth Reinhard, Ph. D., a New York
psychologist. But you have some recourse. “Don’t be a victim,” he says. “Assert your needs.” —Leslie Quander Wooldridge
