By Brennan Storr
Get your skates, Revelstoke – Women’s Roller Derby is coming to town.
After experiencing a revival in the 2000s that saw teams spring up across the world, including more than 20 here in B.C., the colourful contact sport is coming to Revelstoke, courtesy of local couple Mike Curran & Stephanie Ells.
Ells, a Vancouver native, was a new recruit, or “raw meat,” in that city’s Terminal City Rollergirls league. She had graduated to “fresh meat,” qualifying for the league draft — called “Derby Christmas” — before her course load at BCIT, budding relationship with Curran and the prospect of a job in Banff drew her away.
“I stepped back,” Ells says, “with the deal that if I came here there would be derby.”
And derby there shall be. A “Revelstoke Women’s Roller Derby” Facebook page accumulated 100 “likes” in just over a week and, says Ells, “…instantly generated…huge interest.”
She was pleasantly surprised when an advertised meeting at to discuss the potential team brought out 23 attendees. “I expected to sit there by myself with my skates looking sad,” she says. “It was amazing!”
Practices began at the roller hockey court in Columbia Park before moving into the old R.S.S. gymnasium and will continue November 4 at Mt. Begbie School. Though the team is taking shape, with an expected start date of summer 2012, there is still groundwork to be laid.
“You need to apply to the government to become an incorporated non-profit society,” says Ells, who adds that they’re still waiting to hear back.
“The whole process has gone so fast,” she says. “…we’re waiting for the government to catch up with us.”
For more information on Revelstoke Women’s Roller Derby visit www.revelstokerollerderby.com/.
Brennan Storr is a former Revelstoke resident and active blogger. You find his blog at www.largelythetruth.com.
