UNMC Off the Clock – Jocelyn Jones rolls with the punches

When UNMC research technologist Jocelyn Jones doesn’t have her eyes glued to a microscope, she might be withstanding punches and pushes or doling out some punishment of her own as a member of the Omaha Roller Girls roller derby team.

Jones — who works in the department of cellular and integrative physiology — became interested in the sport in 2006 after she watched the A&E series “Roller Girls.”

She thought the high-energy sport would be a great way to get some exercise, so she began to seek out roller derby leagues.

“I didn’t know about the Omaha Roller Girls until last April,” Jones said. “I found a magnet with their schedule on it and went to the next match. It immediately sucked me in.”

Roller Derby is a contact sport played on roller skates in a traditional oval rink.

UNMC’s Jocelyn (Joci) Jones, right, plays roller derby with the Omaha Roller Girls. Her roller derby nickname is “Bella Cose.”

Points are scored when a player bypasses an opposing team’s defensive players, who are spread around the track.

Defensive players will do everything they can to prevent the offensive player, called a “jammer,” from passing and scoring.

And, as many people know, the sport is a bit rough, even with regulations set by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association.

“There are penalties for elbowing, and punching is not allowed, but that doesn’t mean the sport isn’t violent,” Jones said. “It’s a bit like rugby on skates.”

In honor of the fierce competitiveness of the sport, roller derby players go by pseudonyms when they compete. Most names refer to pop culture (Spin Shady or Punchy Bruiser). Jones goes by “Bella Cose,” a play on the word “bellicose,” which means “in a state of war or belligerent.”

“I am normally a very passive, antiwar type of person,” Jones said. “It has the Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde aspect. Thinking of myself as Bella Cose actually helps me get in the fighting spirit to withstand big hits from the other team.”