Rolling Deep
For Caroline Cardenas, being a woman in a male-dominated scene isn’t new territory—it’s muscle memory. She’s navigated those spaces for years, and this time she finds herself surrounded by allies. “It’s surprising that there are actually a bunch of females in this space,” she told Honeysuckle’s Shirley Ju. “It’s flourishing with a lot of badass women.”
It’s rare to see a woman holding down the role of organizer with the “big dogs.” Yet here she is, stacking her event lineup with heavy hitters and giving the crowd something different to vibe with.
Skates, Seshes, and Synergy
The secret? Cardenas has been skating parallel lives for 20 years: two decades in roller derby and two decades immersed in the industry and Angel City Derby. Eventually, the two worlds just had to collide.
“For me, it’s always coincided,” she said. “But I finally thought, okay, you know what—let’s start blending the worlds together. That’s what’s going to make these events special for everybody.”
The result is High Roller Sesh: an event that doesn’t just showcase culture but embodies it.
Derby Bloodlines
When asked about her derby background, Cardenas says. “I want to say, no comment,” she laughed. The truth? She cut her teeth in a renegade league—no referees, no limits, just pure chaos. “There was a lot of kicking skates out from people. It was rough. The violence people typically associate with derby—that was us.”
But High Roller Sesh isn’t just about the past—it’s about bringing the best into the spotlight now. “These girls here, they’re nationally recognized. They’re on ESPN. They’re badass women. I wanted people to experience them.”
The Bigger Picture
Like the sport itself, the sesh is more than spectacle—it’s community. Cardenas’s vision is simple but electric: “I’d love to see this take off more, just so people can continue to have a good time. Everyone’s having a good vibe so far, and it’s about expanding and seeing where it goes.”
The Spin Forward
High Roller Sesh is a reminder that culture is best when it’s hybrid—when the worlds we love crash into each other and roll forward together. For Caroline Cardenas, the path is laid with skates, grit, and women who refuse to play by the old rules.
