NICKEL CITY ROLLER DERBY

2nd NCRD fundraiser status: SUCCESS!

Great night of derby girls, pool sharkin, and TOTAL JUKEBOK DOMINATION!

Thanks so much to everyone that came out and bought tickets to this fundraiser and special shout out to all the rad companies and individuals that donated items to our silent auction:

CUTTING LOOSE SALON + SPA - huge basket of hair products

PRICKED TATTOOS - tattoo + piercing gift certificates and merch

GIOVANNI PRESENZA - gorgeous artwork (he he, which I took home... yeeoink!)

SUPERIOR  AUTO - Krown body maintenance protection

RYTHM 'N' CUES - cue + case set and THE VENUE!

Hey girls,

Wanup Community Hall on Hwy 537, 7:30-9:30pm.  Bring comfy clothes, shoes to run in, yoga mat, and water.

Head south on Hwy 69.

Take Wanup Wahnapitae exit.

Left to head north towards Wanup.

First street on the left, its on the corner, beige and brown building.

THIS IS A CLOSED PRACTICE, NCRD ROLLER GIRLS ONLY.

This is a taste of what happened last night. More photos in the LOOKIE HERE section.

http://gallery.me.com/milly_snow#100067

Homage to some of the best rookies Ive had the privilege to skate with. I started with ToRD and these girls before heading to the great white north.

These are my girls, no matter how far away from them I might be now. Miss them tons and cant wait for them to visit so NCRD can TAKE THEM OUT!

I lurve them cause they ROCK!

(girls from left to right)

Elizabeth Robins, Laura Houle (Devil Zone #666),  Krista Patterson, Elle Valentine, Chantal Corriveau, Holly Dolly, Chantal Blanchette.

Visit to Sault Ste Marie, total sucess!  I had the opportunity to join a practice with the Sault Roller Girls who were kind enough to break me real nice-like and add to the snowboarding trauma I endured the day before. Gr8 sk8! (stolen from Laura Houle herself)!

 The Sault YMCA lets them skate on the rubberized running/walking track. Its no contact, but the sticky surface grips with the soft wheels and forces you to skate HARD! Perfect off season surface. When the ice melts, they train at the curling club with lots of room and lots of contact. (hehe!)  They also add plenty of conditioning into the practise which makes for  leaner, meaner, derby machines.

Really nice mix of girls with varying skill levels. Some have been skating for a couple of years and some just starting out. Great group with trememdous amounts of hospitality, drive, and muscle. Really cant wait to show them the same when we get our own facilities here in Sudbury!

So, it's -30C... its windy, its cold, there's snow and ice everywhere. Best thing to do on a nigh like this? PHOTO SHOOT!  Becky Taylor and I endured that frigid eve in derby attire. Short skirts, striped socks, no sleeves AW YEAH! Hair, makeup, and photography done by the VERY talented Amy Kingsbury. This is what happened:

 By: Laurel Myers - Sudbury Northern Life

Adam Daviau and Becky Taylor are working to make Sudbury a part of the “newest old school sport around” with the launch of the Nickel City Roller Derby.

With more than 400 leagues already in existence around the world, the couple is laying the groundwork for Sudbury to join the ranks with its own flat track roller derby.

A flat track roller derby is a fast-paced full body contact team sport that requires speed, strategy, and athleticism, according to the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (www.wftda.com).

Taylor’s interest in being part of a roller derby was piqued after watching a documentary about the sport a few years ago. In August, she finally put the wheels into motion to bring the sport to Sudbury, with the help of Daviau.

“I got a contact from the Sault Roller Derby team. She said if I wanted to try to organize (a team in Sudbury), they would give us the tools to do it.

“We have other teams, like (one in) North Bay, who are willing to come to Sudbury to show us the ropes,” she added. “They’re willing to do whatever it takes to get us up and running so they can kick our butts.”

For Daviau, being part of bringing such a unique sport to the city was appealing.

An avid hockey player, Daviau said an injury put him out of commission for the upcoming season, and the roller derby was another avenue to stay involved in sports.

“Sports are my life,” he said. “And this is something Becky has wanted to do for years.”

Roller derby is unique in that it is one of the only full-contact sports for women, Daviau said. He explained it went through a period where the hits were fake and prompted, but has evolved to full-out “real body contact.” However, there is still a show aspect to it.

“The girls all do up their makeup, and every team will have a certain theme. The team will also have a fake storyline, like dead cheerleaders coming back to avenge their deaths.

“Every girl will have a story to her,” he continued. “It’s like an alter ego, and a way for the girls to express themselves.”

“You pick personas,” Taylor explained. “I’ve noticed when I’ve talked to people, it’s usually women who have had a hard life or had something happen to them, like a bad break-up.”

She said she is one of those women.

“I had a nasty break-up, and this is a positive way to take out my frustrations and my anger and turn it into something good.”

Elle Valentine has been part of a rookie team with the Toronto Roller Derby for the past few months. She recently returned to Sudbury and said she is anxious for the league to get started here.

She described roller derby as fast and hard, but “really fun.”

“Your whole body aches. You have to put everything into it, all your emotion and all your heart,” she said. “It becomes part of your life.”

Unlike other sports, in which teams generally become rivals, roller derby leagues work with each other to improve, Daviau explained.

“In roller derby, you have a tournament and all the girls hang out and help each other. They’ll give and take advice from each other.”

“The derby girls become your family,” Valentine added. “You can turn to them for anything. Even though they’re going to take you out and bruise you and beat you, they’ll still help you up and say sorry after.”

Daviau and Taylor set up a Facebook group for the Nickel City Roller Derby in mid-October and have already garnered the interest of more than 150 people.

With the interest in tact, the couple said all they need is to acquire a venue where the girls can practice and compete on a steady basis. “We’re in talks with the school boards and the city about getting places to skate,” Taylor said. “They just wanted approval from other roller derby leagues that it won’t wreck the floors. (But) they were interested right from the start. The requirements to compete are fairly extensive and you have to work on it,” Daviau said. “It’s not something where the girls are going to be able to skate two or three times and start going into a bout.”

“It’s fast, and it’s hard and there’s a lot of people very close together,” Valentine said. “If you can’t meet those requirements, you’re a danger to yourself and to everybody else on the track.”

The league is open to women 18 years and older “who want a fun and exciting way to exercise and to show the men in their lives just how tough we women truly are,” the Facebook group states.

Daviau and Taylor are aiming to have the league up and running by January. They will be holding an information night Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. For more information, e-mail nickelcityrollerderby@bell.net.

For more information on roller derby, visit www.wftda.com.

For the full story online (which got us a full page spread in the sports section) go here: http://www.northernlife.ca/news/sports/2009/nov/roller-derby191109.aspx

By: Laurel Myers - Sudbury Northern Life