Photo by Marissa Tiel
JAMMIN’ – Jenna ‘Jennacide’ Blanchette skates around the inside of the track wearing the jammer’s star on her helmet during the Yukon Roller Girls’ home bout last fall at the Whitehorse Curling Club against the Sea to Sky Sirens.
A revamped Yukon Roller Girls is looking forward to debuting their team at the first home bout of 2017.
A revamped Yukon Roller Girls is looking forward to debuting their team at the first home bout of 2017.
On June 3, the Roller Girls will host the Fairbanks Rollergirls for the Klondike Gold Krush at the Whitehorse Curling Club.
“It’s definitely not going to be anything high intensity,” said Yukon Roller Girls president Christy Huey. “Fairbanks is an amazing team but we’re going into it with a lot of rookie players, so it’s a learning experience.”
A number of skaters just passed their minimum skills test and five new faces will be competing at the home bout.
“It’s just going to be a great learning experience,” said Huey.
Last week as Whitehorse turned to summer, a dozen Roller Girls were inside the gymnasium at Elijah Smith Elementary School as soccer parents lined the field outside to watch their kids play.
Inside, 80s pop blasted from the speakers as the skaters shifted through a series of conditioning exercises off their skates.
With the bout coming up in just under two weeks, the skaters have a number of sessions during the week. At least one is a scrimmage, which usually takes place at the Canada Games Centre. The Roller Girls use the scrimmage to simulate games.
For Huey, June 3’s bout will be her first as a Roller Girl on home soil. She took part in a camp and tournament last weekend with six other Roller Girls in Terrace, B.C.
The Yukon Roller Girls began as a league in 2010 and almost fizzled out in 2013. They came back with a resurgence of interest last year and hosted their first home bout against the Sea to Sky Sirens in almost three-and-a-half years.
The rebuilding of the league is happening “slowly but surely” said Huey with minimum skills tests allowing newer skaters to join the roster ranks and fresh meat intakes introducing new skaters to the sport.
The team from Fairbanks will be their travel team, said Huey, who hopes the bout is evenly matched.
Doors open at 6 p.m. and the bout starts at 7 p.m.
Tickets are available in advance for $20 at Well-Read Books and Molotov and Bricks Tattoo.
The Yukon Roller Girls are also asking for volunteers and more information can be found at facebook.com/YukonRollerGirls.
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