Ready to roll at derby boot camp
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/11/2010 (5662 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Dawn Dolloff was an experienced hand at martial arts for 16 years, but that activity just didn’t get her competitive juices flowing.
So the 34-year-old joined the Wheat City Roller Derby League, which started in May.
"I was looking to change it up a bit and roller derby fit that need," Dolloff said at the Prairie Punisher Roller Derby Boot Camp on Saturday at the Keystone Centre.
Since finding the sport, Dolloff has been introduced to the rough and tumble women’s sport that has existed since 1885.
The weekend training session at the Keystone Centre brought 125 skaters from across Canada, including 15 from Brandon and Westman communities. They learned the basics about the sport. In a nutshell, each team has one skater, called a jammer who is tasked with getting by the opponents’ blockers. For each blocker passed, she earns a point for her team.
Sixty-minute bouts are broken up into two periods, which are subdivided into two-minute jams, where jammers try to score as many points before time expires, or they stop the jam themselves.
The blockers’ job is simple: Don’t let am opposing jammer get by them, while doing almost anything possible to get their jammer through the traffic jams. Many of the rules for the full-contact sport are the similar to hockey’s rules, but that doesn’t prevent crashes into concrete floors or skaters straying off course.
"This was up my alley," Dolloff said. "I enjoy the challenge."
Sheila Gonty, a Wheat City Roller Derby League spokesman and skater, said any woman can take part in the sport, but to compete, skaters must be able to complete 25 laps in five minutes, an average of 12 seconds per lap, in order to qualify as a skater. Other skills are also required to ensure a skater can take care of themselves on the concrete floors.
"We all fit our own stereotypes out there," Gonty said.
"We’re all mothers, real estate agents and when we’re here, we can be a little crazy, wear fishnet stockings and socks. Whatever we want."
The Prairie Punisher was jointly hosted by the Winnipeg Roller Derby League and the Wheat City Roller Derby League, as the Brandon club works towards qualifying enough skaters to compete by May 2011.
During summer months, roller derbies have taken place in curling clubs and anywhere else possible. Winter months are harder, as their standby practice locations are have ice installed.
The Keystone Centre has rented out space to the Wheat City Roller Derby League for some twice-weekly workouts during the winter months.