Broadway Betties ready to roll

The Broadway Betties are the newest sports team in the city of Yorkton.

The women's roller derby team is starting practices in the city, and while experience on skates is limited, enthusiasm is high for the new sports venture.

Kristy Helbren, one of the organizers, said the sport has long attracted her interest.

"I wanted to get one (a team) going for a while," she said, adding things started to come together when she hooked up with like-minded Kelly Krotenko.

Krotenko said she sees the sport as a way to highlight women in sport.

"It's the camaraderie, the empowerment of the group," she said.

In Helbren's case she said roller skaters have always been intriguing.

"I've gone to lots of tattoo conventions and was always watching the roller derby girls," she said, adding interest in initiating a local team grew out of that.

The Betties held their first real practice Tuesday, and while some gals were still waiting to even buy skates and gear, seven skaters made tentative loops around the floor.

"We're all green here," said Krotenko, who said they have about a dozen women who have shown more than a passing interest in joining the team.

"It depends who sticks it out," added Helbren, noting the first step is getting on skates.

Roller derby is played with five skaters on the floor at a time, so 10 makes for a solid line-up. A game can be played in a facility such as a curling rink, or hockey arena on the cement when the ice is out.

For those interested, players require roller skates, helmet, mouth guard, and knee and elbow pads and wrist guards, all available through EOL Skates in Regina.

So far, the Betties haven't done a lot of recruitment, creating a Facebook page which has attracted the core group to get things rolling.

The ladies said they don't want to grow too big, too fast, in terms of numbers.

"We don't want too large a team with all of us being so green," said Krotenko.

Working with the green team will be coach Juston Sowa, driving in from Wadena.

"I heard they were starting a league. I saw the Facebook group and we started talking," he said.

Sowa has been involved with the sport for about two years, refereeing with the Pile 'O Bones Derby Club in Regina until moving to Wadena.

The plan at present simply calls for once a week practice where the girls will focus on the basics, stopping, how to fall safely, making turns, and other skills which will be required to be certified in order to actually participate in the sport.

"It's just the basics," said Sowa, adding there are established "minimum standards or benchmarks," skaters must meet. The standards have been set by the Women's Flat Track Derby Association, although they can vary slightly from league to league.

Sowa said what the Betties need now is time and hard work devoted to the sport.

"Practice and practice and practice and practice. You need to have time to put into the sport," he said, adding one group practice a week will not be enough. The girls will need to be on their skates a lot to become good at the sport.

"Right now we have what we need," said Helbren.

That includes having support from a team in nearby Rocanville.

"The team has offered us to go skate with them," said Helbren.

That there is a team in Rocanville, along with Saskatoon, Regina, Humboldt and other cities in the province speaks to the growing popularity of roller derby.

"You just see it spreading everywhere," said Helbren.

As the team develops, the Betties will be looking to the community for some additional help.

"But we'll be looking for sponsorships for sure," said Krotenko.