Angelique Camp stands tall dressed in black short-shorts, a tank top and helmet as she talks to a teammate outside the roller derby changing room. Her confident smile is highlighted by her black lipstick, and her face is adorned by hot pink war paint.

Camp was preparing for battle as a member of the Vaudeville Vixens roller derby team. Her team was competing against the Reservoir Dogs at the Coliseum at the Alliant Energy Center on Feb. 3.

As a Madison College marketing student, Camp is the president of the college’s Programs and Activities Council and she is in her last semester of college.

She says she loves that fellow skaters are scientists, doctors and a lot of different people doing a lot of different things.
Determination is a big key to her success as both a student and roller derby competitor.

Camp wrote the word determination “millions” of times on her notebooks as a kid

“I had all the books from the 1994 Olympics and determination was the words that Dominque Dawes wrote on her notebooks, too,” said camp. “I was a super fan.” 

Camp participated in four different sports throughout elementary through high school-gymnastics, basketball, volleyball and cheerleading. There was a period of limited physical fitness until roller derby found her in her late ‘20s.
Camps began competing with Vaudeville Vixens while simultaneously attending Madison College. On the skating rink, Camp is referred to as “Black Velvet,” which is a song that Camp and her roommate heard playing on the radio one night.

“It just fit,” Camp said smiling. “I love the feeling of velvet and anything that glitters.”

As PAC president and a roller derby competitor, Camp has learned the value of teamwork. It is clear to Camp that she is only one part of the equation, “it takes the whole team’s effort to win.”

Though painting a picture of glamour and guts, Camp will be the first to tell you that the derby life is more than fun and local notoriety. Every game is marked by some serious bruising. She explained nonchalantly, “I also broke wrist a while ago in a game.” But it didn’t stop her.

In addition to her spot on the local Vaudeville Vixens, Camp is a member of an all-star team that competes at an international level. On that team, she is sponsored by Mota Skates, a skate manufacturer in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Sustaining her position on the team as a jammer means long hours of practice and training. She works on conditioning with long distance swimming at Truax, cross-fit training and team practice five days a week at Fast Forward.

It took her years of practice to earn her position on the competitive Vaudeville Vixens. Now, she feels a sense of accomplishment every time she goes onto the rink.