A diverse crowd packed Lincoln’s Pershing Center Saturday night as young women wearing tight T-shirts, short skirts, helmets and roller skates flew and wrestled their way around a flat roller derby track.

At least a couple of thousand fans showed up for the first public event for Lincoln’s No Coast Derby Girls.

The scrimmage, between Gang Green and the Mary Kay Mafia, was everything a roller derby aficionado would expect — elbow-throwing violent and fan-screaming rowdy. As the announcers explained, it was “hard-core girl-on-girl action.”

William Butts, a 20-year-old fan from Omaha, explained the event’s allure.

“I think people are naturally attracted to violence, and men are naturally attracted to women,” he said. “When you put that all on roller skates, it’s gotta be a winning combination.”

The fans ranged in age from toddlers to 60-year-olds and in attire from baggy jeans to suits.

Many of the adults sipped $5 beers. Some appeared to have been primed before they arrived.

On the floor, the action was fast and furious.

A quick breakdown of the rules: The one-hour match is broken into “jams,” which last up to two minutes. In each jam, both teams have a designated “jammer.” The jammers attempt to gain points by lapping opposing players. Those who aren’t jamming are blocking, clearing a path for their team’s jammer while blocking the opposing team’s jammer.

The players push and hip check, often sending one or more women sprawling.

“You gotta admit, it looks like fun,” said Jeff Kimble, a 30-year-old Lincoln fan. “Beer, rock ‘n’ roll, violence, women.

“I remember watching this when I was 10 years old on TNT.”

Cheryl Boles remembers skating, not watching.

In the 1970s, she competed in regional and national roller-skating competitions — races and freestyle.

“Just re-living my childhood,” she said. “It was just in my blood. It’s therapeutic.”

She thought briefly about volunteering for the team Saturday night. “I feel young at heart,” she said, “but I don’t think they want a 50-year-old.”

She attended with her husband, Mike.

Said Patty Sindel, a friend of Boles’: “We drug our husbands along to carry the beer.”

The match began at 7:30 p.m. The lights dimmed and a spotlight shone on the competitors as they were announced: “Attila the Hunni,” “Systawrecktomy,” “Double Bubble,” and “Karma Monoxide.” Mary Kay Mafia wore pink, Gang Green, green.

Many of the women, who organized as a team last fall, sported tattoos, face paint and purposely-ripped shirts. They hope to begin competing against teams from other cities by August.

Saturday night, all it took was a scrimmage to revive the mayhem of roller derby in Lincoln.

Reach Josh Swartzlander at 473-7120 or jswartzlander@journalstar.com.