Equipment: I wear the world’s smallest Bont boot (size 2, what!?) with Avenger plates (I think I really only had like 2 options for a plate that would fit my boot, but I love these). I shouldn’t say this, but I’ve been wearing the same safety gear since day 1, 5 years ago, with the exception of my knee pads which are 187 Derby Pro pads. I think my elbow pads are 187 and I have no idea about the wrist guards, but they are antique. My mouth guard is blue and from Sisu, in the thinner version because I have a tiny tiny mouth.

Story behind your derby name and number: When I started derby 5 years ago, your name had to be 100% unique to everyone else in the planet playing derby. There was a database that you had to check your name against, and it couldn’t even be CLOSE to someone else’s name. As you might imagine, most cool names were taken. It took WEEKS to find something that worked, and Manda Commanda it was. Manda is basically my name, and Commanda is because my mouth likes to talk, and it rhymes etc etc. 60IN is my height. 5 feet of wonder. ( I *might* actually be 59.5 inches, but let’s not talk about that).

Position: Both but prefer blocking

Height: 5 feet, sorta kinda

Love: The community. The sport itself actually terrifies me, but you usually feel good after. The community though, really becomes your family and you meet some incredible incredible people. Cream of the crop as they say.

Love less: Sweat that doesn’t belong to you, being all over you. Nerves before a bout.

Derby mantra: “You can get a drink after you survive this.” or, “You can do anything for 2 minutes.“

Derby theme song: Something from Teenage Bottlerockets, The Has Beens or anything fast or hard.

Derby hero: All the other shorties out there who sacrifice their lives throwing their tiny little bodies in front of jammers twice their size.