“Guys supporting chicks. In the world of roller derby, we like to break the codes. This women’s contact sport, from the United States, is a mixture of racing on roller skates and ice hockey, to put it simply. Its notoriety was built on the festive spirit and the permanent spectacle. In Lille, the team called Baronnes Von Schlass has even had, for six years, a group of cheerleaders who follow them at each meeting.
A film crew followed, for a season, these men who decided to reverse roles and deconstruct stereotypes to change mentalities. Result, a documentary series (4 x 30 minutes) called pom pom boysavailable from this Tuesday on 6Play, M6’s replay program.
“A bunch of freaks”
The name of this extraordinary group? The Scrimmage people. Each episode is an opportunity to follow the journey of each member. They are computer scientists, educators or even web analysts and have, for some, never played sports. That doesn’t stop them from having fun. “A thunderbolt with a band of frappadingues”, summarizes one of them. “Even if, at the beginning, we do it for fun, it is political to be a guy and to wear tights and shorts”, claims another.
Their challenge is to open up to less familiar sports and audiences, even performing on the lawn of a Biarritz Olympique rugby match. “These subjects feed current debates, the experience of the Scrimmage People offers answers that go in the direction of history, towards greater inclusion and better respect for everyone”, estimates Pierre Chassagnieux, author and director of this mini -series.
“The interest is to bring the questioning and to bring all the benevolence that they have in them. […] And I would break the teeth of those who do not want to understand, ”ironically, smiling, Ambre, the team manager. It is far, the time of majorettes.