Logo courtesy of Team Canada
How are preparations going for the World Cup? Preparations are going well! We have already had quite a few opportunities to play games and practice together, against great opponents so far - including Team England, Team France, Team USA, Windy City and Gotham. These "practice" games are really giving us the chance to get to know each other and learn how to skate together as a team. How often are you training? Canada is such a geographically huge country, that it is quite difficult logistically to have regular practices. So these sporadic games have been our chance to train together. It has been approximately one game every two or three months. In terms of the team - from which leagues have your players been drawn? Our skaters come from all across Canada, as well as some players from the United States. Leagues include: Montreal Roller Derby, Toronto Roller Derby, Terminal City (Vancouver),Rideau Valley (Ottawa), Red Deer Roller Derby Association, Calgary Roller Derby, Texas, Windy City, Philly, Detroit, and Atlanta. Fundraising and sponsorship? We have started a fundraising campaign (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/send-team-canada-to-the-roller-derby-world-cup), which we hope will help us get to Texas in December. In addition, we have lots of great merch to sell, which can be purchased from our Teamcanadarollerderby.com website. What's the mood of the team at the moment? We are all very excited to be playing for Team Canada! Speaking for myself, I am definitely extremely proud to be skating with a lot of the skaters that I have been playing against for years. It is nice to finally get to be on the same side and work towards a common goal. I think that when World Cup arrives we are going to enjoy the experience and have fun, but our attitudes will reflect the determination and focus that got us there.Team photo courtesy of Bob Ayers
Team Canada roster: Alyssa Kwasny a.k.a Georgia W. Tush Bala-Reina Chasing Amy Demanda Lashing Dusty Dyna Hurtcha Evada Peron Eve Hallows Greta Bobo Heavy Flo Jess “Bandit” Paternostro Karlene Harvey Kim Janna KonichiWOW Kriss Myass Lil’ Mama Luludemon MacKenzie Maya Mangleyou Mel-e-Juana Murphy Nasher the Smasher Nattie Long Legs Rainbow Fight Sarah Hipel Smack Daddy Soul Rekker Surgical Strike TAZ U.S.S. DentHerPrize Head Coach – Ewan Wotarmy – Montreal Roller Derby Assistant Coach – Mack the Mouth – Terminal City Rollergirls Manager – Flyin' Bryan Killman – Toronto Roller Derby