By day, Cori Totoro is a mild-mannered buyer for Spencer's in Egg Harbor Township. But twice a week Totoro dons roller skates and knee pads and becomes "AC Skater," a take-no-prisoners, hard-hitting member of the Jersey Shore Roller Girls roller derby league.

"You can become a completely different person for that one night," the 26-year-old Ventnor native said. "I'm very competitive, so when it comes to a bout, I want my team to win."

In the 1960s, roller derby was the professional wrestling of its day. Thousands would file into arenas in Philadelphia and beyond to watch women with nicknames like "The Queen of Mean" and "Toughie" skate around banked tracks pushing and punching their way to victory. But by the 1980s, the sport was all but extinct.

Now roller derby is trying to make a comeback. In southern New Jersey alone there are two leagues vying for attention.

In 2007 Totoro and three fellow derby fans formed the Jersey Shore Roller Girls, a league made up of women from Atlantic, Ocean and Monmouth counties who skate out of Jackson Skating Center in Ocean County. The league has more than 50 members ranging in age from 20 to 47.

"It was a lot of word of mouth," Totoro said. "A lot of recruiting through MySpace."

On the other side of the state is the South Jersey Derby Girls league, founded by Mullica Hill sisters Melissa and Raechel Morera. The league skates in rinks in Bridgeton and Deptford.

"At first it was just me and my sister," Melissa Morera said. "Then we added about one girl a week until we had approximately 12 girls. Now, we teeter around 20."

The number of teams in each league varies, depending on the number of people who join. The Jersey Shore Roller Girls league has three teams - The Anchor Assassins, the Murder Beach Militia and the Right Coast Rollers - to accommodate its 50 members. The South Jersey Derby Girls have only one team at present, the High Voltage Hotties.

A roller derby competition, better known as a bout, features two teams of five women each. A pack of eight players skate around the rink with two jammers, one from each team, behind them. To score a point, a jammer must push her way through the pack and pass the front person, known as the pivot.

"It's chaotic when you're in it," said Patty Curran, 42, of Ventnor, a jammer for Jersey Shore. "You're just trying to survive."

Hard hits

One of the first things Jersey Shore rookies learn is how to fall.

"You learn to drop to your knees so you don't wipe out," said Megan Callaghan, 31, of Forked River. "Then they teach you how to hit somebody."

Roller derby is not the sport for weaklings. Bumps, bruises and broken bones are constant realities, relished by the participants.

"I grew up playing sports," Raechel Morera said. "But there was never any full-contact sports available for girls."

Now, Morera gets to hit all she wants. Known as "Billy Rae Siren: The One-Hit Wonder" to her teammates, Morera is one of the heaviest hitters among the South Jersey Derby Girls.

"You haven't been hit until you've been hit by Billy Rae," said Lyssa Franks, 38, of Buena as she iced a sore shoulder during a recent practice. "It's become sort of an initiation (into the league)."

Most derby girls can boast at least one serious injury.

Sue Gandy, 36, of Franklinville recently returned to the South Jersey Derby Girls after nursing a broken tailbone. Kristen Fleetwood, 24, of Dividing Creek will leave the team in February for ACL surgery, but that didn't stop her from attending practices throughout January.

"I'm numb right now," Fleetwood said at the end of practice. "I fell a couple times just now, on my wrist. You've just got to keep getting up."

Roller derby is typically an all-girl sport, but some leagues are coed. Franks' son Kenny Taylor, 18, of Vineland skates under the name "That Kid Kenny" with the South Jersey Derby Girls. Taylor enjoys the sport, but admits he had some trouble getting over the golden rule: "Boys don't hit girls."

Franks gave him some motherly encouragement

"I knocked him down a couple of times," Franks said. "Then Billy Rae christened him. He learned to hit back."

Taylor is the exception, Most guys are left on the sidelines to watch their girlfriends and wives beat the daylights out of each other in the rink.

When Claire Smith of Toms River came home saying she was going to help start the Jersey Shore Roller Girls, her husband, Wally, hit the Internet.

"I went right on the computer to look up all the rules," Wally Smith said. "It's a tough sport."

While watching his wife limp off the rink with various bumps and bruises isn't always fun for Smith, he tries to be supportive.

"As long as she doesn't get really hurt," Smith said. "And as long as she's happy."

The Persona

In roller derby's heyday, skating abilities took a back seat to theatrical storylines, rivalries and drama. Today's derby girls like to focus more on the athletic aspect of the sport, and less on the stereotypes, but some traditions remain.

All derby girls must choose a skate name before they compete. The Jersey Shore roster list reads like a "Most Wanted" alias list, with names like "Sleazeside Sally" and "Melicious Megs."

"It's kind of like a character or a personality," said Totoro. "It makes it a little bit more fun."

Roller girls play into the tough image. Most skaters sport tattoos and piercings. Their uniforms are sexy and edgy, with skaters showing up to play wearing fishnet stocking, short-shorts, skirts and plunging tank tops. But beneath the costumed exteriors are very different women.

"We have nurses, teachers, attorneys, hair dressers," said Totoro. "We get such a different assortment of girls who come along and get along."

Comeback

While roller derby is making a comeback in New Jersey, it's still struggling to regain the popularity of the 1960s and 1970s. Of the 200 spectators who paid $5 apiece to attend a recent bout featuring the South Jersey Derby Girls, most were family and friends of the participants.

"We would like to see more people," Melissa Morera said. "I think we are just starting to get our name out there. We eventually hope to have 600 people every game."

Bouts are few and far between, with teams traveling hours just to compete. Bake sales, bar fundraisers and membership dues are scraped together to pay for rink fees, uniforms and other necessities. It's slow going, but not enough to get these tough women down.

"We're getting word out about it," Totoro said. "We've got a couple more events coming up just to get out there and let people know we exist."

To e-mail Courtney McCann at The Press:

CMcCann@pressofac.com

Some Roller Derby Links

The Jersey Shore Roller Girls - www.jerseyshorerollergirls.net

The South Jersey Derby Girls - www.sjderbygirls.com

Old School Derby Association - www.oldschoolderbyassociation.com

Women's Flat Track Derby Association - www.wftda.com