The gym at Northern College in Timmins was filled with the sound of the whirl of roller skates Monday night at the first Timmins Gold Miners’ Daughters roller derby open house.
The Gold Miners’ Daughters are Timmins’ entry in the Northern Ontario Roller Derby (NORD) League.
And they are looking for “fresh meat” – new team members or rookies to help them compete against teams from Cochrane, Kirkland Lake, Temiskaming, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay.
This will the Gold Miners Daughters sixth season and for them it is a year of transition.
They are looking for new players to replace Misery Business and Firewalker, two long time members of the squad who have moved south.
“Our goal is to rebuild the Gold Miners Daughters,” said Geo-Hazard. “We are looking to recruit seven women for our team.”
The team is hosting open houses at the Northern College gym for women interested in playing Roller Derby. The next one will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday March 7.
The GMD’s first full scrimmage will be on Saturday, February 13 at 5 p.m.
“Come out and give it a try,” Geo-Hazard said encouraging possible recruits to attend.
Roller skates, helmets and pads will be provided or bring your own.
Experience is not necessary and men are welcome to come out and participate as well.
“No need to have experience,” Geo-Hazard said. “We will explain the game and answer any questions.”
“This is an opportunity to show people what roller derby is all about and to grow interest in the sport,” she added.
Geo-Hazard who goes by the name of Dawn-Ann Metsaranta in real life is a geologist who joined the Gold Mines Daughters when she came to Timmins.
“It was a way to meet people and to stay in shape,” she said. “I love the sport because of the team spirit, the closeness of the players – much like a hockey team.”
Roller Derby is a sport that is evolving.
“It’s a contact sport with speed and hits,” Metsaranta said, “but also plenty of strategy being added.”
Another returning player at the open house was Kill-a-Watt who arrived at the gym with her daughter Micro-Watts.
“I like it as a contact sport,” said Christine Watts who adopted the Kill-a-Watts name for roller derby. “It’s a great way to burn of energy and aggression.”
Of the four people who showed up to the open house skate, one was a male.
“I never roller skated before,” said Jeremy Boyer, “But, I have played ice hockey”.
Boyer said he attended the open house skate to support his girlfriend who also attended.
“My goal tonight is not to fall,” he said of his first attempt at roller skating.
For the upcoming 2016 season the Gold Miners’ Daughters will play four games.
Their first game will be on April 30 against the Cochrane Derby Gurlz in Cochrane.
On June the 4, the Gold Miners’ Daughters will host the Doom in June against the Sudbury Smelter Skelter at the Mount Joy Arena.
Then on August 6 they will travel to Sudbury for a derby against the Sudbury Sudbetties.
A NORD playoff tournament is scheduled for July 22-23 but a venue has not been selected.
In addition, there are tryouts to make the NORD regional competitive team called the NORDstarz.
The NORDstarz skaters play a more competitive level of roller derby and play outside of Northern Ontario.
Another regional all-star team called the NEOfights competes each year in Toronto’s Fresh and Furious Tournament which will be held on July 9.
This year a regional men’s team called the NORDpoles will be getting under way and competing across the province in men’s roller derby.
For more information on the Timmins Gold Miners’ Daughters and Northern Ontario Roller Derby.
Visit http://nord-timmins.com/
You can also go to their Facebook page
