Club strives to roll on

IT’S been a year and a half since the Dragon City Roller Derby’s representative team, the Chiko Rollers, have played in a statewide competition, but club members are determined to continue the sport they love.

With each COVID-19 lockdown coinciding with their planned games, Dragon City has instead redirected their efforts to take advantage of eased restrictions where possible and just roll with it.

“We’ve tried really hard over the past year and a half to make the most of whatever we can do at the time,” recruitment coordinator Bec Fisher said.

“At some stages that’s meant we’ve managed to get back to full training but at other times there’s nothing going on.

“In those times we really try and encourage our members to continue skating outdoors where they can, when you’re allowed to exercise only with one other person to put a shout out if you’re going for a skate and see if anyone in your five-kilometre bubble can come with you.

“We interact a lot online with each other and really just try and check in and make sure that when restrictions ease, we’ve still got club members to come back to training.

“The latest lifting of restrictions means that we can skate outdoors in groups of up to 10, so it’s been really great to see our members taking advantage of that.”

Ms Fisher said roller skating has become increasingly popular during the pandemic, with more people choosing to lace up their boots for some physical exercise and fun.

“It’s actually been really lovely that it is a sport that you can, even in the deepest of the lockdowns, go outside and roller skate,” she said.

“You can do it on your own if you have to, even though it’s not quite as fun, and it’s been a really good way to continue to be active.

“It’s been really great to see how many people have picked up roller skating over the last two years, there’s been a huge amount of interest which is great for us. Hopefully interest in roller skating converts to interest in roller derby.”

Around 40 people actively participate in the club, which has been around for over a decade, and Ms Fisher said the unique sport was inclusive of all.

“We want to make everyone know that they’re welcome to come and skate with us,” she said. “You don’t have to have a sporting history, you don’t have to have a particular body shape.

“I really think that roller derby is for everybody.”