I saw my first Roller Derby bout in 2018. Like most people new to the sport, I had a lot of misconceptions. I was expecting WWE-style characters and stories. Instead, I was witness to a highly strategic, physically challenging and super competitive sport.
If you’ve never seen Roller Derby, you can imagine it’s like “full-contact chess.” That’s how Royal City Roller Derby (RCRD) president, Blood Thirsty Kirstie (BTK) had it first explained to her by a former league member. Like BTK, many skaters go by derby names to adopt an alternative on-track persona. More skaters are also just using their own names, too.
In 2010, BTK and others founded RCRD in Guelph, and over the past decade, the league has grown from the original 15 to 20 skaters to include two travel teams, two home teams, one team for rookies and a junior program for skaters aged 9 to 17.
Roller Derby also offers a model for how we can create progressive sport policies. The league intentionally builds accessible, safe and inclusive communities for women athletes — including transgender women, intersex women and those who identify as nonbinary and gender expansive.
“If you’re looking for a space where you can be safe and welcomed, encouraged to challenge yourself in an athletic environment — derby is for you,” says Ziggy Scardust, vice-president of Royal City Roller Derby.
For young people, the Guelph chapter of the Tri-City Junior Roller Derby (TCJRD) is such a space.
“For parents of children who want their kids to participate in an inclusive space — inclusive of different body types and activity levels — derby is one of the only spaces where trans and nonbinary youth have a sport where they can play,” says BTK.
Sports can be cost prohibitive for many families, which is why RCRD’s adult league and TCJRD’s junior program have established a loaner gear program to keep the sport accessible. Kids and adults with no skating experience can try out derby to see if they like it without having to invest in gear beforehand.
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Like many sports organizations around the city, RCRD has been unable to play or practice since last spring. During the downtime, RCRD leadership and members have been focused on how to be more accessible to more people.
“Members of the board of directors have committed their downtime to look inwards and look where the pitfalls are, where aren’t we serving the community as well as we could,” says Ziggy Scardust. This includes revising and reviewing league policies to update and reflect the values of the membership.
During the pandemic, RCRD lost their practice space. As things open up, they will require a place to do this good work. The ideal space has a smooth floor, and is large enough to accommodate the roller derby track, but almost any size will do. Let’s support an athletic community in our city actively creating inclusive spaces. Get in touch with a suitable space at info@royalcityrollerderby.com.
Melissa Horne, PhD, is a diversity, equity and inclusion advocate and the director of client experience at Dialectic, heading the Diversity and Inclusion Learning Snippets Platform aimed at moving the needle on real behavioural change in the workplace. Melissa was born and raised in Guelph, and is committed to highlighting change-makers in her community.
