Roller derby event a family affair

By Chris King

Once a week on Friday nights, the Belleville Roller Derby team gathers at school gymnasiums to practice. Warm-ups, suicide drills and push-ups are part of any regular practice. However, these athletes have to stop every now and then to solve a dispute.

It happens when one of their kids fall and injure themselves, or lose their favourite toy.

The mothers are the athletes and the fathers and partners are coaching while the kids are chasing each other or playing video games on portable devices.

Roller derby has developed an image of women on wheels, skimpily dressed, bashing each other’s skulls in. This image comes from the origins of the sport ,which was an entertainment industry. Decades later, roller derby has transformed into a competitive sport with teams and leagues. They retain the image with bright costumes and customized skates, but the game has changed.