ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The local men's roller derby team is wrapping up their third season.

A sport commonly associated with women’s leagues, some may be surprised to learn Rochester even has a men’s team — as of just a couple years ago.

“A lot of people don’t even know men’s roller derby exists," said player Mike Ellis. "Some people will say, ‘Oh man, I’ve seen women play but I didn’t know men played,’ which was kind of my situation when I started.”

They’re called the Flour City Fear, based on the city's old nickname when flour mills lined the Genesee River.

“It was a huge interest of ours to pay a little respect to the city we all love,” said president Chris Schramm.

And they compete all over the country.

“We meet a lot of really amazing people along the way, so even when we go into another city and play another team, we beat each other up for an hour, hour-and-a-half, but at the end everybody’s friends and we get along really well,” Schramm said.

Not just with men though. In their league, any gender can play.

“We have built this team on the idea that everybody deserves a place to skate, and everybody should be able to play roller derby if that’s what they want,” Schramm said.

It’s a pretty physical sport.

“When you hit people in the teeth on a regular basis, and they hit you in the teeth too, you develop a deep respect for each other,” Ellis said.

You may wonder why they volunteer to do it all out-of-pocket.

“Because we love it," Schramm said. "Simply put, I think we have all found a home in roller derby and we keep doing it because it’s what we do and for the most part, I think it’s our favorite thing.”

Their season is winding down with a current 2-8 record.

“Nobody’s making a paycheck off this, so as long as we make some great memories and have a lot of fun doing it, it’s all worth it to me,” Schramm said.

But already they’re thinking ahead to next year.

“People will be reflecting on whether they met those goals or not and what they need to do," Ellis said. "I know personally I’ll be lifting a lot more weights during the off-season to prepare for next season.”

And they’re hoping for some new fans and teammates along the way.

“You’re not going to find a group of people who have more fun than we do and whether you want to come watch or join and put the skates on, no matter what, it’s going to be worth it,” Schramm said.