Skater name: Motorhead Molly
Number: 204
Team(s): Vicious Dishes, Tri-City Thunder, and Team Canada Roller Derby!
Time with TCRG: 4 years
Motto: Just do it!
Position(s): Jammer
How did you get involved with roller derby?
A friend of mine started the league. She asked me if I wanted to go rollerskating sometime, I said sure thinking that we would just go out for some recreational skating with other girls. Turned out she wanted to get a little more serious than that!
What are some of your greatest derby accomplishments?
At the very beginning learning how to do cross overs was a HUGE accomplishment for me!! When our league became WFTDA certified, I felt that going to tournaments (i.e. Brewhaha and ECDX) and doing well was a great accomplishment. It takes physical and mental strength to perform well during tournaments! Another accomplishment occurred this year when Anita Martini and Jill Standing convinced me to go with them to Team Canada tryouts the day after a tournament and on only 4 hours of sleep! Getting through tryouts was an accomplishment in itself, however, making the team was and is really exciting!!
What’s your favourite thing about this sport?
My absolute favorite thing about this sport is that game outcomes can change in an instant!! It is as if this sport is always in a constant state of flux, it is ever-changing and you never know what will happen next. The bouts themselves are a crazy rush and nothing is ever completely easy! Another awesome thing about roller derby is the community it creates, you become a part of a huge family.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Even when you are burnt out and need a break, to continually you push yourself to become a better/stronger skater. Moreover, not to become discouraged when I am experiencing burn out and feeling constant pressure to expand my skill sets and perfect them. That has been my greatest challenge this season, which I am sure will continue in every season!
How has roller derby impacted your life?
I believe any derby girl will say that roller derby has changed their whole lifestyle. I am in the best shape of my life (so far!), I have gained new and invaluable friends while deepening previous friendships, and I am more confident in myself. At the same time, derby can be hard; it takes up almost all of my free time outside of school, which takes time away from family and friends. However, the support I feel from my family and friends outside of derby is tremendous. Now, this new venture in being a part of the inaugural Team Canada Roller Derby for the World Cup in Toronto this December will bring and is bringing me so many positive and new experiences. It is already impacting my life and I cannot wait to play with these girls and meet derby girls from around the world. It is going to be a pretty amazing experience!
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Skater name: Konky
Number: 2000
Team(s): Venus Fly Tramps
Time with TCRG: since February 2008
Motto: Don’t think. Just skate.
Position(s): Jammer, outside blocker, and sometimes pivot
How did you get involved with roller derby?
Some girls I hardly knew asked me to come try it out with them.
I didn’t know anything about roller derby, but I had nothing better to do that day.
What are some of your greatest derby accomplishments?
Learning how to hockey stop, and then becoming really awesome at it!
It took me a really long time to get it right.
What’s your favourite thing about this sport?
The freedom I feel when I put on my skates.
I forget all my worries and just skate.
I also feel like I can do anything in my skates, like jump down 5 stairs
(which I have not done successfully) or jump over 5 people (which I have!)
What has been your biggest challenge?
Peer Pressure!
Some of my league mates want me to devote even more of my life to derby
I JUST SAY NO!
How has roller derby impacted your life?
It has made me a much more confident person.
I can really be myself with these people. Derby is like my therapy.
I work in retail, and I can’t stand customers! In derby I don’t have to be polite, or gentle,
and if someone pisses me off, I can hit them as hard as I like.
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Skater name: Greta Garbage
Number: 952
Team(s): Vicious Dishes and Tri-City Thunder
Time with TCRG: since 2008
Motto: Hail Skatan
Position(s): Blocker/Pivot
How did you get involved with roller derby?
I learned about the reinvention of derby on some show years ago,
and I was so stoked on it for about a week.
Then forgot about it till 2008, when I moved to Kitchener,
and met
some derby girls through my boyfriend.
I got my hands on some old gear from various kindly
people, and the rest is disgusting, weird, beautiful history.
What are some of your greatest roller derby accomplishments?
hmm. I once made a guy barf at an after party with a pair of granny panties I painted all brown.
That was nifty.
It was cool to be on the Quad City Chaos poster too, but that’s not really my accomplishment…
Yeah, I’d say the granny panty thing, for sure.
What’s your favourite thing about this sport?
My crew. Definitely.
The hits are good too, but you can get hit anywhere. This I know.
What has been your biggest challenge?
I want to do other things too, but I often end up at derby/derby related event/derbligations (I invented a new word!).
It’s the commitment. These girls eat, sleep, and breathe derby.
It’s kind of amazing.
How has roller derby impacted your life?
It’s made me wear less clothes in more situations, which is fine, I guess.
It’s given me an outlet for a stupid amount of aggression,
and ultimately saved my mental health (Although that may be up for debate, har har).
It’s given me something to work hard at, and share with those I love.
It’s given me countless free shots at the bar.
Derby’s been good to me.
I don’t know what else to say. Hail Skatan.
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Skater name: Esther Bangs
Number: 43
Team(s): Total Knock Outs
Time with TCRG: 4 months
Motto: State of mind is everything.
Position(s): Yet to be determined, but I think I’m gonna be a kick-ass blocker.
How did you get involved with roller derby?
I decided very young that my life would be an extraordinary adventure.
And I’ve been pretty good at fulfilling that intent for most of my life.
But somehow I find myself living an episode of The Office for the past couple of years now
(not without frequent tantrums, I must admit). So understandably, when I went to a bout for the first time
last summer everything in me was screaming at me to go for it!
I couldn’t resist.
What are some of your greatest roller derby accomplishments?
Being chosen as the featured skater, for sure!
Only recently joining the league and being recruited to a team,
it’s an amazing feeling having my teammates see me as a valuable contributor.
It reinforces my belief that I can actually do this!
What’s your favourite thing about this sport?
So many things…
but choosing just one, it would have to be that it all happens on roller skates! Of course!
What has been your biggest challenge?
Learning how to recover properly from the physical strain of practicing three times a week.
In the beginning, I was just utterly exhausted all the time.
I was so exhausted it was affecting the rest of my life.
I had zero energy for anything outside of practice and my emotions were super heightened.
I didn’t know how important that hour after a workout is for replenishing your body.
Something as simple as eating a protein bar and a banana makes all the difference.
How has roller derby impacted your life?
I’m a very ‘thinky’ person and derby brings me out of my head in a way I’ve never experienced before.
Derby is too immediate to allow for contemplation.
You’ve gotta be in the moment, every moment.
Until afterward, then you can think and think and think about it.
I’ve realized that’s probably a big reason people love playing sports.
It gives them a break from their thoughts and that’s revitalizing.
