Nicole Williams (born 1983), known as Bonnie Thunders, is a

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leaguesA Roller Derby league is synonymous with an individual club or team in other team sports, as ...

skater. Widely considered to be the greatest player of modern roller derby, Bonnie Thunders has been referred to by multiple writers as "the

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

of roller derby".

Early life

Williams grew up in

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which lie ...

, where she was a four-year varsity soccer player at

Rome Free Academy Rome Free Academy (commonly abbreviated as RFA) is a four-year public high school in Rome, New York, United States. It is a part of the Rome City School District. As it is the sole comprehensive high school in its school district, it serves as ...

, before studying conservation biology with the

State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

, linked to

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

. She was a leading member of the college's

synchronized skating Synchronized skating, often called synchro, is an ice skating sport where between 8 and 20 skaters perform together as a team. They move as a flowing unit at high speed over the ice, while performing elements and footwork. This complex sport orig ...

squad, the Syracuse Orange Experience, and also spent time playing soccer competitively.

Roller derby

After moving to New York City, Williams found roller derby and traded in her ice skates for roller skates. In 2006, Williams successfully tried out for the

Gotham Girls Roller Derby Gotham Roller Derby is a flat track roller derby league based in New York City, New York. Founded in late 2003, Gotham is the first flat track roller derby league in the metropolitan New York area and a founding member league of the sport's gover ...

, and was placed on their Bronx Gridlock team. Taking the name "Bonnie Thunders", in her first season, she was named the league's Rookie of the Year. She soon became part of Gotham's travel team (All Stars), and skated for them when they won the 2008

WFTDA Championships The International Women's Flat Track Derby Association Championships ("WFTDA Championships" or "Champs" for short) are the leading competition for roller derby leagues. The Championships are organized by the Women's Flat Track Derby Associatio ...

, at which she won the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

award. Although she worked for several years at a conservation charity, in 2010 she opened Five Stride Skate Shop, a roller skate shop in Brooklyn, NY. By 2009, Bonnie Thunders was the captain of the Gotham Girls All Stars, and was also a member of the

Women's Flat Track Derby Association The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is the international governing body for the sport of women's flat track roller derby. It sets the international standards for rankings, rules, and competition in the sport, and provides guidance and ...

's Tournaments Committee. She currently holds the position of WFTDA Competition Manager. In 2012, Bonnie elected to retire from the Bronx Gridlock team in order to focus on playing with the All Stars. Thunders won Gotham's Best Jammer award jointly in 2007 and in her own right in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. She also won the ''

Derby News Network Derby News Network (DNN), based in Baltimore, was an internet broadcast network, founded in 2007, which featured the women's skating sport of roller derby. DNN used the internet to collect remote streaming video Video on demand (VOD) is a media ...

'' readers' Most Valuable Jammer award in 2010 and again in 2011. She is double jointed, which she believes helps her maneuver while jamming. At the end of 2016, Thunders moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, and in January 2017 it was announced that she was officially joining the

Rose City Rollers The Rose City Rollers is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Portland, Oregon, operating as a 501(c)3 Nonprofit organization, non-profit organization, and is a founding member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). Est ...

all-star team, the Wheels of Justice.

International play

Bonnie Thunders has represented the United States in international play, having been selected for the

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

roster for the

Roller Derby World Cup The Roller Derby World Cup is an international women's roller derby tournament formerly organized by ''Blood & Thunder magazine'', and currently organized by the Roller Derby World Cup Committee. Teams of amateur skaters from around the world c ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

,Justice Feelgood Marshall,
Team USA Announces 28-Skater Roster
, ''

'', 7 August 2011

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Awards

* Gotham Girls Rookie of the Year 2007 * Gotham Girls Best Jammer 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 * Bronx Gridlock MVP 2008, 2010 * Gotham Girls All Stars MVP 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 * Gotham Girls League MVP 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 * WFTDA East Region Playoff MVP 2008 *

MVP 2008 * WFTDA Division 1 Playoff (Asheville) MVP 2013 In December 2016 at Gotham's end-of-year awards night, Bonnie Thunders' jersey was

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

by the league.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thunders, Bonnie 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Rome, New York Roller derby skaters State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry alumni American roller skaters