As a kid in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Teri Shimizu spent time with her friends on the weekends at the local roller rink.

“I did roller figure-skating, dance, freestyle and played roller hockey. When I moved to Hawaii in the late ’70s, roller skating was still very popular,” she said. “I skated as often as I could and even worked in the pro shop.”

Shimizu competed in ladies singles, couples dance and ladies figure skating and made it all the way to the USA Roller Sports Figure National Championships in Lincoln, Neb., in 1981.

By the early 1990s most of the skating rinks on Oahu had closed, and Shimizu did not lace up her skates again for a long time.

Then in 2010 she saw an announcement for a roller derby event. “I went to watch and immediately thought, ‘I can do that!’ So I did,” she said.

Shimizu is more commonly known in the roller derby world as the “Windward Widow,” a name she adopted to describe herself. “If you don’t choose a name quickly, one will be chosen for you. Mine is pretty tame compared to lots of them,” she said.

Shimizu began training for the sport about a year before her 50th birthday.

That was about five years after her husband died from complications related to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The couple had two children: a son Alexander, 27, who is in the Navy and stationed on the USS Oklahoma City out of Guam, and a daughter Madison, 25, who works for a human resources company in Indianapolis.

When she’s not on the rink, Shimizu has taught career and technical education classes at Farrington High School for 15 years.

One of the first things that you learn is how to fall safely, because “everybody falls,” said Shimizu, now 55. “We wear big knee pads so when we get hit you can fall to your knees.” Skaters also wear wrist and elbow protection, a mouth guard and a helmet.

“(Roller derby) wasn’t as easy as it looked. I trained as ‘fresh meat’ for a year, and just before I turned 50 years old, I skated in my first bout. I soon found it was easier on the old-ish body to referee.” Even after being a referee for six years, she said, “our feet get all tangled and sometimes I get wiped out.”

To participate as a skater, Shimizu needed to do 27 laps around the rink in five minutes. As a referee she’s required to do 10 laps in two minutes.

“Everyone has a certain level of athleticism, but you can be good even if you’re not an athlete.”

“It’s the best exercise for me because I don’t like to run. And it isn’t high-impact,” she said. It’s empowering for women and a good outlet for stress, she said.

Along with the health benefits, Shimizu appreciates the longtime friendships that she’s made through the sport and how much she’s learned from others. “I love watching the elite skaters. They are so strategic and talented on their feet. We all have a party afterwards,” she said.

For more information on events, visit pacificrollerderby.com.