The sport of roller derby in the Energy City may see a new wave of athletes as the local organization has begun growing deeper roots with the city's young girls.
The Hillbilly Hurt senior team has been competing for the last four years and in February put a call out for young girls in Estevan to start training for the Junior Coaler Rollers squad, for girls under 18. Since that time, 35 girls have shown their interest and have been training twice each week with the Hurt, and that enthusiasm could help keep the sport alive across the South East Sask. Roller Derby Association.
Hillbilly Hurt coach Lorelei Lachambre is excited to see such interest in the younger generation and said while it's a team sport, roller derby prizes individual expression and empowerment that's infectious among the derby community.
"I think the big draw for girls is that it's very empowering to see women of all ages. For them to look at that and see that I could play roller derby for a long time," said Lachambre. "The other thing is that it's very empowering to look at this and go 'If I want to wear crazy tights, and crazy shirts and crazy shorts and be my own person and pick my own derby name and express myself how I want,' I think that's very empowering for girls. It's not a set jersey, put it on and here's your position.
"It really stresses individuality. Pick a name. Pick an outfit. Go crazy. Be your own person. I think that draws a lot of girls in who maybe aren't as talented at traditional sports. They look at that and think it's something they might try."
The 35 girls who have enrolled in the junior program are aged nine to 18, and Lachambre noted that for the younger ages, there are non-contact games available until they build up some confidence on the flat track. Usually, she said, it doesn't take long for the girls to want to engage in the body contact.
"We have girls who picked it because it's a contact sport," said Lachambre. "I know a couple of the girls, that was a selling point for them. It's nice for those girls to see there's something for them. It's not really looked upon as good, but in roller derby it's really encouraged."
In order to get ready for some planned games, the team held a boot camp at the Power Dodge Curling Rink on the weekend, with coaches from the Regina Junior Derby League on site to run the girls through some drills and exercises.
"Hopefully they'll teach them some new stuff and help us get ready for some games," said Lachambre.
Roller derby is governed by a set of benchmarks that each player must be able to meet in order to be allowed to play the sport. To play in any game players have to be able to stop and fall properly and meet a certain speed by completing a set number of laps per minute.
"What we've been focusing on since February is everybody's skill training to get them able to pass the benchmarks so we're able to field a full team," said Lachambre. They need 14 junior players cleared for safe play in order to field a team.
Junior teams have sprouted up among the Hurt's senior competitors, and in order to keep pace, they wanted to see if there were any local girls interested in getting their elbows scuffed in the fast-paced sport.
"A lot of the leagues in Saskatchewan had developed junior derby teams and kept asking 'When are you going to start a junior team. When can we play a junior and senior game against you guys.' There were a number of girls who approached the senior team to see if they could play on them," said Lachambre, noting the rules are pretty strict about not letting girls under 18 play in a senior league.
However, a senior team can pull players from a junior team 16 years of age or older, if they have parental permission.
The Hurt thought they'd put out a call to see if there was enough interest to organize a team, and they were pleasantly surprised with the turnout.
"It's going really well, and it has, by far, exceeded our expectations. We didn't know if we were going to have five kids show up. It has kind of taken off and the 35 girls we have now have been very dedicated."
In trying to attract young female athletes in Estevan, The Hurt went into schools around the city to give demonstrations and show them what the sport was like.
"They're very excited to learn. We have a group that is very serious and wanting to get in it, and we have a few kids who are coming out just to roller skate, but the majority are very interested in actually playing the sport.
"We've been trying to really have fun, throwing in a game here or there, like tag or flag football, a lot of those kinds of things so that the girls who aren't as competitive are still having fun."
Lachambre said roller derby is still very much a sport that requires competitive, and sports-minded women but added being on roller skates is fun.
"The one thing I've noticed with the juniors is they are a lot quicker to get up when they fall down, and it doesn't take them quite as long to pick up new skills and be a little more fearless to try things.," said Lachambre. "For the senior team, it takes us a lot longer to get up when we fall down. The kids don't have that fear so they jump in and go, which is nice."
They are setting up scrimmages with Moose Jaw and Rocanville with one match in Weyburn and the other in Carlyle. Lachambre said they have benchmark testing on Thursday and will see at that point if they have enough eligible players to enter into tournaments this summer.
