SLEMON PARK, P.E.I. — Twisted Sisters came out full contact, rough-and-tumble, with crowd-pleasing pushing and weaving as they hosted Lobster Clawber at The Plex in Slemon Park on Saturday evening.
Spectators were in for a great mix of roller derby entertainment as the tightly-knit Twisted Sisters, dressed in wacky costumes, paint and ceaseless aggression, rolled onto the arena and went to battle against Cape Breton’s Tar City Rollers.
“I went to an open house back in September and we started Fresh Meat at the end of that month with a learning skate program for 12-weeks. I hadn’t been on skates since I was about 10, but the they taught me how to skate and play the game,” shared Jill Ross, who goes by the Twisted Sister roller derby name “Tragedy Ann.”
Ross was a volunteer at the game selling tickets, with 50 per cent of the proceeds from ‘admission by donation’ going to family violence prevention.
“I really like the sportsmanship,” she added. “The teams play against each other but at the end of the game we always celebrate together. We give prizes to the best jammer and best blocker, and we get really amped up for the other team. There’s a strong comradery.”
Amber Kenny, a former Twisted Sister who now plays for Charlottetown’s Bootleg City roller derby team, came to show her support and volunteer at the game.
“I joined because I felt it was different to every other sport I had seen, there was no judgement,” said Kenny.
The game consists of two 30-minute periods, with three time-outs per team. Each team sends up to five skaters, four blockers, and one jammer. At the referee’s first whistle, the jam (a two-minute play) begins.
During the first 30-minutes of the game, a few tears were shed, bumps, bruises and one team member from Cape Breton left with concussion in an ambulance.
The game wrapped up with Tar City Rollers taking the win with 209 to 167 points shortly after 9 p.m.
“Overall, other than a couple of incidences, it was actually the best record that we’ve had against Cape Breton. The last two games they beat us about 150 and 125 points, so today this 45-point loss is actually a victory to us,” remarked Lindsay McKay, coach of Twisted Sisters.
“Every team plays differently, so every game is a new learning curve. You think you have something good and then the team may show that it’s not as strong as you think it is, so communication is key for our team. Other than that, everything else kind of falls into place.”
