Wow, where to start? Am new to this whole blogging thing, but I have been looking forward to it for some time now. I really feel as though I have a lot to share and am excited to do so. Over the next few blogs I will walk whoever is interested through how I got where I am today with my love of life and a passion for rollerskating, and I’ll share with you why I am so committed to both even though neither is easy.

What everyone has been talking about, speculating upon and running the rumour mill rampant is that along with some dear friends, I have embarked on a journey where I have no idea where or how it will end, if ever. There is now a westend roller derby league in Toronto, the third of the city. Regulation quad roller skates, not inline…ugh!!

Rollergettes is the league that runs a recreational type thing on a regular basis for a group of skaters known as the Westend Waywards. The rec portion happens every Sunday, and we share the time and space with every skater in the roller derby community, including our sister league GTA Rollergirls. We also have skaters visiting from ToRD and other cities.

The Waywards that pass their WFTDA skills test and wish for a greater commitment level to the sport are then part of the bouting team “Rollergettes”. Essentially the WWs are our farm team, and we may or may not use subs from our sister league if we needed them due to a low roster if our opponents agree that this is acceptable. We would only source subs from our sister league as we run shared practices and there would be an element of cohesiveness and safety there that you can’t get from someone you’ve never skated with.

Rollergettes is based on five keywords:

fun + fitness + community + charity + women, “we have the right to roll”!

Rollergettes originates from the Suffragettes movement for the right to vote for women.

In that vein of fun and fitness we not only play roller derby but enjoy rollerdancing/jam-skating/break-skating. In that vibe, we’ll be like the Harlem Globetrotters where we don’t care about winning but having fun and providing entertainment for the fans of the sport.

We are also partnering with Aradia Fitness, a sensual fitness studio that offers lapdancing workshops, pole dancing lessons among a lot of other amazing ways to get in touch with your physical side while still being feminine.

As we are a new team looking for other new teams around the same calibre i.e. first playing season – so that everyone gets some experience on a comfortable level.

We already have four games booked at George Bell Arena, 215 Ryding Avenue (St. Clair/Runnymede) as well as a Skate-A-Thon for the Canadian Cancer Society. You can find all of our dates on our shared Google Calendar.

Our membership is $65 for 12 sessions, a punch card kinda thing. We have a total of 36 practices between now and the end of October, so it works out to $5 per session, and if someone commits to the entire season they only need to pay for three sessional memberships.

I hope that covers the majority of what you were looking to find out. We have lots of volunteer positions available, so if you would please spread the word it would do wonders for our westend community. Refs, merch peeps, talent for halftime and stuff like that.

We have a session tomorrow – Sunday February 7 from 3-5pm at Parkdale Rec (75 Lansdowne, just north of Queen St. W) following that we’ll be meeting at my apartment close by to discuss team business, the ruleset and watch a shitload of derby footage. You are more than welcome to participate.

Goldie