Mark D'Amato
New York Enforcers Coach and Captain
Born: New Haven, Connecticut
Raised: Los Angeles
6' 215 lbs.
Birthday: August 24, 1955
He's "The Most Dangerous Man on Skates."
Mark D'Amato is only happy when he's beating people up.
He's drawn blood from almost all athletes who have dared
skate against him. He's responsible for more broken bones
in the history of Roller Derby. His motto is simply, "Win at all costs."
In return, Mark has broken a tailbone and a collarbone during his skating career.
He makes his own rules and refuses to wear those sissy in-line skates.
Mark has been a derby skater since he was 15. From 1972-1986 he skated on
teams that include "The New York Bombers," "The Texas Outlaws" and
"The
Northern Hawks."
He used to have a pet tarantula named Precious. Precious escaped and is still
running loose to this day. Mark also has four tribal tattoos of Southeast Asian
design.
Watch for his signature move, "The Screamer," where he throws his legs up to his
opponent's chest and takes them down, like a head-on collision. Mark hates going
over the rail and will avoid it at all costs.
Fred Eichhorn
"Fearless Fred"
New York Enforcers #16
5'10" 170 lbs.
Birthday: October 15, 1968
"Whatever it takes!"
Fred's skating philosophy follows that of his teammates: He is here to play a game, and he plays to win.
When Fred breaks to the front of the pack in a jam, you can be sure that some fast action is on the way! His speed skating experience makes him one of the fastest Jammers out there. "I've been skating for about 22 years. I started speed skating when I was about eight years old, and I've continued speed skating until I decided to join RollerJam."
Fred spent time in the Air Force, working on a bomb delivery system that controls missiles to hit their destination. Fred is like a missile himself when zoning in on opponents. He doesn't like the "pretty boys" on the other teams and plans to take them out first.
Fred has a pet Doberman who "eats Quakes for breakfast."
Tony Santiago
New York Enforcers #18
5'9" 170lbs.
Birthday: March 28, 1982
Tony's quite the whiz kid.
The 17-year-old is not only the youngest skater in the World Skating League, he's also among the fastest.
Tony can thank his grandmother for introducing him and his siblings to the sport. "I was just learning how to walk when my grandmother put skates on me." Tony has a 14-year-old brother and 9-year-old sister who are also fantastic skaters.
He got into football when he was nine. About a year or two later, Tony broke his arm pretty seriously when playing with friends, leaving his arm in a cast for a very long time. Doctors told him not to do any physical activities. "I couldn't play football, but I could skate. I went around skating, against what they said. I would get into trouble all the time. Every time my father would see me, he'd yell, 'Take those things off!'"
Not long after that, Tony found out that a hockey league was signing up players, so he went down to watch. "I thought 'Dang that looks like fun, I want to try it!' My first year, I was really good. I made the captain of the team. I was 12 and playing in a 14 and under division. My team didn't do so well. And then the next year, the next season, we played again. My team, we did awesome. We got like 2nd place. We were rated top in skill. After that, we played a tournament -- my very first tournament -- and we got 1st place in it."
Tony also plays in tournaments for paintball. "I love it. It's so fun. I've got my own gun. I decked it out. It's all chrome. It's semi-automatic and has double triggers on it."
He probably would have liked to use the family's pet parrot as a target. "It hated everybody. It just liked my mom. You'd put him on the ground, and it would attack your feet. I almost stepped on him one time on my skates. My mom was all flipping out because the darn bird's like $2,000, and I'm skating all around it."
Besides being fast on the track, Tony has some special moves to watch out for. "I like to make the Blocker look real bad. I go high in the turn and let them stay low in the groove, and I pull out of the groove. The groove is like a little line that we follow on the track, it keeps you from working hard. And the way the track is banked, instead of staying low on a turn so it's shorter to go around, to make them look bad I'll go all the way high, and when they come up to get me (to block me) I'm gone. I'm already past them. They can't catch me. I'll do that to them, or I'll do a fancy side-step when they come to block me."
Tony says that his hockey experience has helped him with RollerJam. "It keeps my stance different than speed skaters, and you can be more agile. You can take hits more -- just everything."
Tony likes to tease his opponents because they can't keep up with him on the track. Just watch for his big grin as he leaves them in his dust!
Dan Gavagni
"Dirty Dan"
New York Enforcers #15
5'11" 205 lbs.
Birthday March 1, 1953
"They're all open prey to me. I'm not choosy!"
Dan is at home on skates. "Basically I've always worked at skating rinks. I've always been the floor bouncer or the door bouncer, the guy who always controlled what's going on." One dirty look from Dan is enough to set any troublemaker straight!
Skating is a talent his entire family shares. His oldest daughter won three national championships and 60 medals in art skating by age nine. She is 14 now. His youngest daughter began competing at age two. She is nine years old now and took home three gold medals on ice before she turned six. And his son speed-skated on ice at age four. He is now seven and has been into racing motorcycles for two years. Dan's two youngest children are black belts in karate, and his oldest is only one belt away from earning her black belt.
Dan started building motorcycles when he was 13 years old. He continues that hobby today, along with building cars. He's into barefoot water-skiing and belonged to the Burn One Ski Club. His family owns a menagerie of pets...three horses, three dogs, six cats and an iguana. That doesn't count the neighbor's goat that just delivered two babies in their yard!
In RollerJam, he earned eight stitches in his head. "I got into a confrontation and hit the floor a little hard," he says. But Dan doesn't mind. "I just like to play the game. The rougher the better."
There is something Dan doesn't like. "All these little pretty boy attitudes," he says. "They can act as pretty as they want, but the track's a big oval and they still got to come around to the back of it. They're gonna run into me sooner or later."
Watch for Dan's favorite move against his opponents. "I've got a pretty good knee block that will stop you in your place. I've got enough size to take you off your feet!" He says the New York Enforcers are a force to be reckoned with. "Do you see any team bigger than us? We can skate, we have good skaters, we have big players, the only way they are going to win is to cut corners."
Andy Wallis
New York Enforcers #13
5'10" 165lbs.
Birthday: October, 28, 1965
"Keep you head up and your eyes open!"
Andy is the second-youngest member of the WSL, but that doesn't mean he lacks experience. He grew up playing ice and roller hockey, and has been to Nationals and international tournaments in Holland. Some of his RollerJam competitors are very familiar to him. Christian Salvia, P.J. Rosi, Eric Slopey, Tony Santiago and Bryan Krebs ... "they've all been on my team at one time or another," Andy says.
Why did he make the switch to RollerJam? "It just seemed like a lot of fun!" Andy wasn't allowed to skate when RollerJam started because he was only 16. But now that he's 17, you can't keep him off the track!
"I like the hits, the contact and the speed," Andy says. Does he consider himself to be a speed skater? "I like to think of myself as being pretty fast but I'm not a speed skater at all."
Andy loves to play against the big guys on the track. "It just adds to the challenge! I just like to get out there and give good solid shots! Your instincts just take over and you don't even think about it."
Andy says the fans are an important part of the game. "I love the fans watching! I love hearing them cheer and when you do a good play it really gets you pumped up!" His message to the fans: "Whatever you want to do, if you just set your heart at it and keep working everything will work out."
Tim Washington
New York Enforcers #17
6'3" 270 lbs.
Birthday: January 18, 1970
Tim claims that he has put more people on Social Security than the government. He's a boxer turned Blocker, and has trouble remembering if he's in the ring or on the track. Not that it matters to him!
He's a giant mass of brutal strength, and doesn't bother naming his signature moves. "I don't care what you call it. I'm just knocking you down."
American Gladiators fans will remember Tim as Gladiator "Titan." He's now competing against some former Gladiator contenders on RollerJam. One of those contenders is Illinois Riot's Brian Gamble. Tim broke both of Brian's hands during the jousting event.
Prior to becoming a Gladiator, Tim was recovering from a hit-and-run accident, which had him out of commission for a year. His doctors released him on a Friday, and two days later he tried out for and became a Gladiator, which Tim says is a major accomplishment for him.
Tim is known for several other accomplishments as well. He played football, basketball and ran track in high school. He holds seven school records that hadn't been broken for about 30 years until Tim came along. Those records are still standing today. He also holds a state record in the 400 meters.
So far Tim hasn't met anyone who can beat him in arm-wrestling. He won the Ucon Jack arm-wrestling contest, beating out an Olympic wrestler, top pro bodybuilder Eddie Robinson, NFL football players and professional wrestler Sergeant Slaughter. Tim's victory was shown on ESPN several times.
His love for boxing must be in his blood. His cousin is boxing champ Marvin Haggler, who Tim describes as "just a regular guy."
The acting bug bit him not long ago, and if you turn on Nickelodeon's Cousin Skeeter, you may see him portraying a bouncer. "I like to have fun, I like laughing, I don't like things that serious."
Family is very important to him. He has an older brother and sister, and a twin sister. "She thinks I'm nuts. They call me the unpredictable person in my family, I'm always doing something that's totally off the wall or just different."
His two daughters, ages 2 and 9, are a joy to him. His oldest daughter is also into in-line skating. Even though he's a family man, all paternal instincts go out the door when he hits the RollerJam track, saying that the impact of the game is "the best part!" His football skills come in handy during the games. He can easily pick off his enemies before they even know what happened. He has a warning for his competitors: "Don't take it personal if I knock you down, or step on you, land on you. Don't take it personal, I'm just doing my job," he grins devilishly. "And good luck!"
Watch for Tim's signature move the "KINGKONG" Where he picks his opponent up and drops him on his back!!"
