A blast from the past is making a comeback in a big way to Powell River in the form of the new women’s POW! Town Roller Derby league.
A roller derby, popular in the 1970s, is a contact sport played on old school four-wheeled roller skates that has two teams of skaters facing off on an oval track in a fast-paced, rough-and-tough showdown. After many years of obscurity roller derbies have been regaining popularity since the mid-2000s and particularly since the 2009 film Whip It. Leagues are now hosted in communities in more than 20 countries around the world.
The idea behind starting a league in Powell River came from local resident John Dean after he talked to many women about the idea. Dean, who has been involved with various forms of skating since young, had previously started a league while going to university in Leeds, England and wanted to start one in Powell River.
“It’s a fun and exciting way for girls to get out and try something new and get a bit of exercise in at the same time,” said Dean. “They get to let off some steam.”
With no seed money and limited ideas on how to start the idea rolling, Dean and co-conspirator CaroleAnn Leishman went to Powell River Recreation Complex to see what could be arranged. The complex came on board and Leishman set about organizing the league and pulling a board of directors together. Dean made a Facebook group announcing the league and within 24 hours 80 women signed up as members and at the time of writing that number was up to 110.
So far a few practices have been held in parking lots and at the complex to work through some drills and let everyone currently involved develop a taste for the sport. Many of the women haven’t put on roller skates in years, but Leishman said that for the most part it has been coming back pretty quickly to them.
One of the quintessential elements of a roller derby is creating alter egos that the players compete as. Leishman goes by the name Blonde Slambition and others are known as Squeals on Wheels, Guns 4 Hire and Calamity Pain. A healthy dose of irony and fun is at the core of the roller derby, said Leishman, adding that “you’re portraying a tough female alter ego but you wear fishnets and booty shorts.”
“We all want to get out there and bomb around and body check each other and just have fun,” said Leishman. “It’s just different. It’s not like a ‘women’s bonding group’ or something; we’re all there cursing and swearing and skating around and sweating.”
The Women’s Roller Derby “Fresh Meat” Boot Camp, running on Tuesdays and Thursdays for two weeks starting on June 21, will give women a chance to join the league and receive basic instruction on how to participate. Only 40 spots are open for the program, which will teach skating, hitting, rules and everything else needed to play rough. Anyone interested in taking part needs to have a mouth guard, elbow pads, wrist guards, knee pads, a helmet and quad skates with toe stops for full participation. Those with rollerblades can join but will not be able to take part in all drills.
“When you start looking at the strategies there’s more to it than just a bunch of chicks in fishnets skating around, hitting each other,” said Leishman. “Just the thought of bombing around skating as fast as I can go and maneuvering around, that’s, for me, everything.”
Boot camp costs $50 for the four sessions and will be run by Dean with assistance from Leishman. There is no commitment to join the league after boot camp but for those who are interested organizers have plans to form teams and host matches as early as August. Matches versus out-of-town teams are in the plans for beyond this year. For more information or to register for the boot camp interested readers can call 604.485.2891.
