There were tons of thrills and spills in the first sanctioned roller derby match on the Sunshine Coast last Saturday night in Sechelt.
Played before a packed, enthusiastic crowd of more than 500 people, the Sunshine Coast Roller Girls played host to the Tournament City Derby Dolls from Kamloops in an entertaining affair.
Dubbed Sechelter-Skelter, the Grudge Match Massacre, the Derby Dolls showed their experience building a 71-37 half-time lead and hanging on for a 120-92 win.
Sunshine Coast came out looking a bit nervous in the first half, and it took the first 10 or 15 minutes of the 30-minute half for the Roller Girls to find their legs.
But by the second half, the nerves had worn off and, bolstered by a boisterous and cheering crowd, the Roller Girls put together several high scoring jams to cut the Derby Dolls lead to a mere 20 points, 108-88 with six minutes to go.
But the Derby Dolls put together some quality scoring jams of their own with the clock running down to put the game away.
Each period in a roller derby match consists of "jams" that can last up to two minutes. The sprinting skater with a star on her helmet is the jammer. Each team has one jammer - the only skater who can score points by passing blockers on the opposing team. If jammers are not in bounds or make illegal contact with the opposing skaters, they do not score points.
SC Roller Girls league president Dorothy (Labiatch) Raymond said, despite the loss, she was thrilled with how the event went.
"It was a great night. We did the best we could and gave it all we had," Raymond said. "We know what we need to work on and what we're really good at, and we're always looking for improvement. It takes about a half a game sometimes to learn what the team is all about and then you readjust what you are doing to accommodate."
Raymond said the crowd was amazing all night, but especially in the second half when the Roller Girls began to mount a comeback.
"They keep you going. It's such a great feeling to have so many people rooting for us," she said. "The crowd was more than we could have asked for."
Raymond said the team, family, friends and tons of volunteers poured more than six weeks worth of work into putting on the event. She said they are over the moon by the success of the event.
"The preparation starts with tons of phone calls to secure refs and we had to hire a coach because we don't have one. As soon as we got the refs and our coaches lined up, then we went to work on everything else," she said. "I can't wait to do more - it will get easier every time."
Raymond said they are looking for a few more players to form a second Coast team as they are currently just over their skater count on the current Roller Girls team.
"Hopefully we can have another team so we can do more with two teams and not have to always bring teams over here," she said.
