Some girl-dominated athletic activities are questionably defined as a sport (ahem, cheerleading). Milwaukee's all female, one-year-old roller derby team, the Brew City Bruisers, leave no room for ambiguity in their athletic execution. As College of Communication graduate student Holly DeShaw, also known as the Bruisers' Holly DeClaw!, explained, "We want to kick some a–. Kick a– and be nice about it so we can be a winning team that Milwaukee can support."

The being "nice" part comes from the part of roller derby's recent revival that focuses on non-profit events. Tonight at Mad Planet, 533 E. Center St., the Bruisers are having a fundraiser so that the almost 80 girls on the four inner-city teams can have uniforms for their bouts against each other. The rollergirls have found that their fishnets and other punked-out gear that most players wear don't make the group cohesive enough. They plan to donate the remaining funds to the Wisconsin Community Services Inc., a nonprofit organization that helps people released from jail integrate back into society.

The event includes an ever present edge of competition, as there will be a karaoke competition, with success measured by a clap-o-meter. The event exemplifies how the Bruisers are trying to bring together different parts of the city. MC Christreater, award-winning bartender of Cactus Club, is the event's emcee.

The Bruisers are also holding a blood drive in April, which will be a competition between the four Milwaukee teams. The charity event is not completely selfless: "You never know when you're going to need blood if you're a Bruiser," DeShaw said.

Their good deeds don't go unnoticed.

"The level of dedication that people on the team contribute is really what has made the derby shine," DeShaw said. "We haven't even bouted yet, but everyone already knows who we are."

On the track, the girls practice for their flat-track competition at Incredi-roll in West Allis, but are looking for somewhere more permanent to house the 3,000 people that often turn up to other roller derby bouts around the nation.

"We're not going to bout in a roller skating rink," DeShaw said. For now, the rink works for their two- to three-hour practices four days per week, which DeShaw equated to having a part-time job.

For people not familiar with the sport, five players from each team are on the track at a time. The teams either consist of four blockers and a jammer or three blockers and two jammers. Points are scored for each opposing player the jammer passes within 60 seconds or until the jammer defensively calls off the "jam." Body blocking is allowed, elbowing is allowed in some leagues and tripping or punching is never allowed.

In the past, there was more of a theatrical element to derby in addition to the stage names. Now, Deshaw said, "when you're on the rink it's all real. We don't have time (to stage bouts)."

The team assembled in a very grassroots fashion through myspace.com. Once the momentum began, recruiting girls was easy. The Bruisers do not have any more open spots.

"Milwaukee's a tough city," DeShaw said. "We have a waiting list too — other cities do not have that. The girls in Wisconsin are tough."

Madison also has a thriving female roller derby team called the Mad Rollin' Dolls. The Bruisers are grateful to have other national flat-track leagues from which to model their team structure.

"Most of the teams formulated two to three years ago didn't have an outline on how to do it," DeShaw said. "We're doing it at the right time," she added, as they can move ahead quicker by scouting the other teams' structures.

The teammates' other lives and locations are varied. Most are from Bayview, Riverwest, the East Side neighborhoods and downtown, but they are trying to branch out to other communities in and around Milwaukee.

"The girls that come out in derby are very strong individuals," Deshaw said. "Some are business owners; I play pool leagues. The best thing about going to practice is having 75 to 80 girls who are all positive people who play positive roles in your life."

As the sport is "kind of like football but on roller skates," according to DeShaw.

Cheerleading isn't completely absent from the events. The Bruisers also have a solid support group of beerleaders. Use your imagination.