This Saturday, the Solano County Fairgrounds will host the Carquinez Quad Roller Derby Squad and their fellow derby teams as they go head to head in this year’s “Tomato Jam.”

The event, hosted for the third year in a row by the Carquinez Squad, brings skaters from around the Bay Area and members of the Vallejo community together, says Carquinez CEO Meg Luce.

When she’s wearing her skates, she’s known as “Luce Cannon,” but Luce has been an athlete her whole life, alternating between various sports like skiing and rugby.

She first found a passion for derby in 2019, when the Carquinez Quad Roller Derby Squad first began. “I loved skating already and I was interested in it,” she says. “It seemed like a great opportunity.”

Six years later and now the league president, Luce is helping to plan the upcoming “Tomato Jam.” “It’s quickly become a very anticipated event,” she said. “I start getting questions about it in the summertime.

This year’s “Tomato Jam” will be separated into two sections, catering to different levels of skaters.

The first section is the survival tournament, where 10 teams of five skaters play each other one at a time, each match a “two-minute jam.” At the end of the tournament, the team with the most points wins.

Teams are coming from the Bay Area, Santa Rosa, Livermore, Humboldt and more.

The second part of the day is dedicated to the “Certified Fresh” beginners scrimmage, which Luce says is for skaters who are just starting out in derby, adding that it’s a unique opportunity for newcomers to experience the atmosphere.

“A lot of time, if you’re starting out, it takes a while before you’re playing in front of a crowd and having a crowd out there cheering you on makes a really big difference,” says Luce.

For those that are interested in joining roller derby, there’s no telling how long it may take to learn based on skating and experience level. “It really depends on the individual,” sys Luce.

Like Luce’s college sport rugby, and many other contact sports, it’s important to learn how to play with safety in mind, she says. “I think some of the physicality of the game is what draws people to it,” says Luce. “It is just fun. But with that, it’s never fun to get hurt or get someone else hurt.”

The “Tomato Jam” is a very friendly event, says Luce, adding: “The competition is real, but it’s very friendly and we try to make it very silly.”

The Carquinez Squad hopes members of the Vallejo community will come out for the jam, and set their ticket prices to reflect that.

“We introduced sliding scale ticket pricing,” she says. For those who order tickets ahead of time online, ticket fees range from $5 to $50, depending on what the purchaser is able and willing to spend. No matter what, children under 13 are free.

“We really want people to be at our events and we really don’t want the cost of things to be a barrier,” says Luce. But she also admits that derby is expensive, saying that any profit from the event goes to support the league.

“We want people to know about us and we recognize the economic realities of the community around us,” she said.

If you go …

WHAT: “Tomato Jam”

WHEN: Jan. 25, 11:30 a.m.- 6:15 p.m.

WHERE: Solano County Fairgrounds McCormack Hall, 900 Fairgrounds Dr., Vallejo.