Scarlet Fever finds way home to Shilo

Roller derby finally returns to Shilo tonight as Brandon-based Scarlet Fever hosts FM Roller Derby.

This will be just the third game in Shilo since 2019 for the local club, which originally came together in 2010 and skated at the base for years, last hosting a game there in 2023. They were entirely on the road in 2024 and played Swift Current’s Redneck Betties in Virden in 2025.

“It always feels like home when we skate there,” Dolloff said on Friday afternoon. “We haven’t been back yet. We’re skating in Oak Lake for free right now at the curling rink. We’re doing setup tonight at (CFB Shilo’s) L-25 (building) and as soon as I walk in the door, I’ll have a mixture of sadness and happiness at the same time, because we can’t really afford to skate there all the time. It’s sad in that regard but I’m very happy to be there playing the game.

“… Hopefully we have a really good turnout.”

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10. Kids under the age of 10 are free.

Scarlet Fever visited Swift Current in the spring, Grand Forks in July and Fargo in August. Tonight’s action was originally planned to be a triple header, but Grand Forks is facing a numbers crunch and was unable to attend, so it will be Brandon up against a good team from Fargo-Moorhead that beat them handily last time.

“We’ve had a busy season so far this year,” Dolloff said. “It’s been all away games. This is our first home game.”

Ideally they would have 15 women, which is three lines of five, but the team is down to nine skaters from a dozen three years ago. That’s well below the gravy days a decade ago when two senior teams skated out of the city.

Dolloff attended the inaugural meeting in 2010, which was organized by a Saskatchewan club that donated roller skates and offered guidance as the sport got off the ground in Brandon.

The sport took root, and a group of serious and competitive athletes named themselves Gang Green. By 2016, they were enjoying a lot of success. There was also an active B team, Scarlet Fever, with a combined group of about two dozens athletes.

As the numbers began to fall, the Gang Green moniker was mothballed and they competed under Scarlet Fever instead until COVID hit, which didn’t help.

The club had a casual recruitment session a couple of weeks ago and had a lot of interest, so they are planning to run a program for newcomers in the near future.

“We’ll see what kind of interest we have,” Dolloff said. “There’s mighty few of us who are carrying on.”

While the numbers now aren’t ideal, Brandon remains one of the hotspots for the sport. Dolloff said there has been some good news for roller derby involving Manitoba’s capital city.

“Winnipeg is beginning to restart and has some people playing there who are people I don’t even know anymore,” Dolloff said. “We have a Winnipeg skater who is an amazing jammer who is going to be skating with us (tonight) so that’s great.

“It’s basically Winnipeg, us, Regina is not real operational right now and we have a few Regina skaters coming to skate with us too. These people come and skate with other teams because they don’t have much going on where they are.

“Saskatoon is doing pretty well. Coincidentally, Saskatoon and Winnipeg are coming to play us in November. We’re going to have a triple on Nov. 21, which is next and last one of this year.”

With the additions from Winnipeg and Saskatchewan, Scarlet Fever will suit up 15 skaters.

“I can’t remember how many we had when we went to Fargo but we were definitely playing a little short there,” Dolloff said. “They have a pretty deep roster of skaters there.”

She said they’ve had a month and a half to work on some of the things the loss exposed.

“Hopefully it pays off,” Dolloff said. “

For more information, the team can be reached on Facebook by searching Wheat City Roller Derby League.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com