Tessa Hatzenbuhler is a parole officer by day and a "movie star" by night. In between, she skates and practices with the Rushmore Rollerz.

Hatzenbuhler's roller derby name is "Disorderly Diva" and when she and her roller derby teammates play "dress up" for various fundraising events, she wears formal dresses and boas, pretending to be a movie star.

"It's just fun to see everybody in their persona and just how we interact with each other," Hatzenbuhler said. "It's fun, it's like a little girl playing dress up."

The Rushmore Rollerz will have their first exhibition bout today from noon to 2 p.m. in the parking lot at the Black Hills Harley-Davidson Store off Deadwood Avenue at Interstate 90.

Vicki "Pinkee" Urban, founder of Rushmore Rollerz, said at this first bout, league skaters will teach the crowd what roller derby is about and what they are doing.

"It's kind of educational, but we're going to actually have a bout happen, so the crowd can watch it," she said.

The Rushmore Rollerz have been practicing hard, three nights a week for the past few months. During a practice this week for their exhibition bout, gym bags and belongings were scattered across the blacktop as the women donned roller skates, knee pads, wrist guards, helmets and mouth guards. Some even wore butt pads.

Mid-practice, the coach granted a two-minute break, and everyone guzzled water or sports drinks. Some stretched out flat on the asphalt, breathing hard.

Urban started the roller derby league in Rapid City after talking with her sister-in-law, who is part of the Sioux Falls Roller Dollz. Urban said about 40 women, ages 19 to 54, are in the Rushmore Rollerz.

Urban, who is a dog groomer, said the players have diverse backgrounds, from teachers to stay-at-home moms, retail workers to photographers.

"This is an awesome group of women who under normal circumstances never would have come together," Urban said.

After watching the series "Roller Girls" on cable TV's A&E channel, Hatzenbuhler thought it would be fun to get a roller derby team in Rapid City. So when she heard about the first informational meeting for the Rushmore Rollerz, she decided to check it out.

"The friendships and the personas are the best part," Hatzenbuhler said.

Terri "Hazmat" Shoup, an operations manager at Jamison International, said being part of the Rushmore Rollerz is a good stress reliever.

"It's just dealing with people all the time, sometimes you just want to get away and this is kind of nice," Shoup said. "It's a good little workout. You get the game, you get the sport and you get to knock people over in the process."

Jessica "Absolute Attitude" Convey doesn't wait until practice to wear her roller skates.

Convey said she wears her skates as much as possible, which means she puts them on about 10 a.m. and takes them off at about 4 p.m., wearing them at Absolute Fitness, where she is a trainer.

"You should be able to do everything in your skates," Convey said.

The only exercise machine Convey has not tried with her skates on is the treadmill, and she says she's not going to. But she rides the elliptical machine, conducts circuit training and works in skates with her clients, who are "complete fans."

"It's good…it's totally different, that's for sure, a lot of different muscles (are worked)," Convey said. "The more I can do, the better I get, just get comfortable."

Not only do the Rushmore Rollerz practice and have fun doing something they enjoy, but they also give back to the community. Urban said the money they take in, after paying for expenses, will go to charity. The Rushmore Rollerz had their debutante ball May 30 at the Eagles Club. Urban said everyone dressed up in their persona outfits and they had a great turnout, allowing them to give $600 to the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit at Rapid City Regional Hospital.

"We had a blast," Urban said. "We are doing something we like, then turning around and giving back to the community for enjoying what we like."

If you go

What: Rushmore Rollerz Exhibition Bout

When: Noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 21

Where: Black Hills Harley-Davidson Store parking lot

Candy "Can't Dance" Alexander wanted to get involved with the Rushmore Rollerz because it's another sport that promotes women and women's strengths.

Alexander said she has played a lot of sports and finds roller derby is harder than most.

"I have a lot more apprehension because the ground is a lot farther away the older you get," she said.

But Alexander said it's more fun than one would think, without a lot of injuries.

"I think that any woman that is willing to be involved in it, that has the aspiration to go out and try anything, can handle it, because it's not that bad," Alexander said.

Roller Derby is a full-contact sport between two teams playing on quad-wheel roller skates.

The teams each send five players onto the track - three blockers (defense), one pivot (last line of defense) and one jammer (scorer).

Urban said a bout usually consists of two 30-minute periods or three 20-minute periods.

Terri "Hazmat" Shoup's favorite part of roller derby is being the jammer.

"I like weaving through the pack, grabbing points and knocking people down in the process," she said.

She said the jammer starts from behind and the goal is to get through the "pack" of women, and for every person that the jammer passes, she gets a point during a two-minute "jam session."

When Shoup first got involved with the Rushmore Rollerz, she didn't realize the sport behind it.

"I figured it was just a free-for-all, where you get a bunch of them out there, just trying to be ahead, I wasn't real sure what the sport was," Shoup said. "Once you start reading the rules, see the strategy involved and you see points being made, it's a lot of fun. It's a game."

Adam Christianson, who is the head referee, went to the first roller derby meeting with a few of his friends. The Rushmore Rollerz is a women's league, but men and women coach, referee and keep score.

Even though Christianson has never been a referee, he's always been comfortable on wheels and thought it would be fun to be a part of the roller derby. He got the rules online and began reading - all 21 pages.

"I got to reading this and I'm like, 'This is an awesome … game,' and the amount of strategy that's involved is insane," he said.

Christianson sees the roller derby as something positive for the whole community.

"I feel awesome about it, it's been one of the best things I've ever gotten involved with around here," he said.