12 June 2, 2012 - ObserverXtra

THE OBSERVER | SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 2012
SPORTS
RolleR deRby / getting into the action
Rolling out a new challenge
With the popularity of roller derby,
couple launches a new league,
encouraging women to give it a try
COLIN DEWAR
More and more women
are participating in roller
derby, making it one of the
fastest-growing sports in
the world.
The sport combines a
unique mix of camaraderie,
creativity and physicality.
With leagues in nearly
every major city in Canada,
the game has re-emerged
with the emphasis shifted
from the theatrics to athleticism.
This spring a new league
in the region has emerged
with a twist: a zombie
theme.
Within the new league,
called the Walking Dead
Derby Girlz, fierce makeup
and fishnet stockings
are still a standard but
safety is the main concern
for league organizers
Cindy Brown, a.k.a.
Bonny Bruiseher, and her
husband Michael, a.k.a.
Chocolate Meltdown.
The couple has been
involved in roller derby
leagues across southwestern
Ontario for the last
three years, learning the
ropes before deciding to
take on the challenge of
creating their own.
“It all started one night
when my husband said to
me we’re getting fat just
sitting around: we’re not
roller skating enough. So I
went on the computer and
looked up roller skating
and came across Tri-City
Roller Girls and I thought
‘what is this?’ There was
a game that week so we
went and by the end of the
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Wednesday & Friday
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match I was hooked,” said
Brown who has been roller
skating for 30 years.
At the age of 44, Brown
decided to try out at a boot
camp and has been taking
part in the sport ever since.
She admits that boot camp
was not her cup of tea.
“Every minute was painful
for the three days a
week that we did it. I am
not an athlete and was
not used to that kind of
workout. I am allergic to
exercise,” laughs Brown. “I
wore full makeup throughout
boot camp and I told
them that I don’t sweat
and of course I didn’t want
to wear the helmet as that
wrecks your hair, but it was
an amazing time.”
Of the 60 women who
attended that boot camp
only 14 would survive to
play in the league; 80 per
cent of those girls had
never skated before, said
Brown.
“Some girls don’t have
any idea what this sport requires
of them, they think
they can just grab their
roller skates and show up.
It takes hours of practice
but it is worth every minute
of it when you are out
there with your team in a
game.”
Brown skated with the
Tri-City Rollers for a year
before moving to the new
Guelph Royal City Rollergirls,
where she showed
them how to skate derby
style. That led the couple
to teach skating at the
at the Elora Community
RolleR deRby | 14
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Cindy Brown, a.k.a., Bonny Bruiseher, is the organizer of the new Walking Dead Derby Girlz roller derby league in Waterloo Region. She’ll
be holding boot camps for girls in the region who are interested in learning more about roller derby and what the sport offers those who
play. [COLIN DEWAR/THE OBSERVER]
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SPORTS | 13
high School/aWaRdS
EDSS
celebrates
its athletes
as year
winds down
COLIN DEWAR
Students and faculty
of Elmira District Secondary
School blew the roof off
Lions Hall with thunderous
applause and cheers as the
top athletic awards were
handed out Wednesday
night at the school’s annual
athletic banquet.
The event had team
coaches praising their student
athletes as they presented
the most valuable
player awards as well as
the major athletic awards
which included outstanding
male and female
athlete awards for both
junior and senior students,
manager of the year, most
improved male and female
athlete and both the sportsmanship
and sportswoman
awards.
Top honours went to Ted
Sebben and Kaitlin Doering,
who took home the
outstanding senior athlete
awards.
Jessica Reichard, finishing
her fifth year at EDSS,
was awarded the first-ever
Commitment to Athletics
Long Service Award,
recognizing extraordinary
contribution to Lancer athletics
over five years. The
recipient of the award is a
student who throughout
their high school career
has been committed to the
success of sports at their
school and their teams.
Reichard, a four-sport
athlete who excelled in
aWaRdS | 15
ST. JACOBS