Double G’s down but still up

Geraldton’s roller derby team has finished the WA tournament on the bottom of the ladder, but that won’t stop the girls from celebrating their achievements.

Last weekend a handful of skaters from Geraldton’s Sin City Rollers teamed up with Kalgoorlie’s Gold City Rollers for the final round of Boom State Clash in Perth.

Competing for the first time as the Double G’s on Saturday, the girls lost spectacularly to Albany Roller Derby League’s Great Southern Breakers, 400 to 47.

But on Sunday the team hit the track hungry for a win, losing to the Dread Pirate Rollers by a much smaller margin of 61 points.

Despite ending the year without winning a game, Double G’s captain Sarah Bell said the Geraldton team had improved significantly since the start of the competition.

“Every time we play we improve a lot of skills,” she said.

“Up in Geraldton it’s a challenge as we don’t get to play with referees.

“Getting to play proper games is a huge learning curve for us but it’s really beneficial.”

As several skaters from the Sin City Rollers were unable to compete in the final due to injuries and other commitments, five girls from Kalgoorlie joined the team.

Coach Roxanne “RV Rocket” Grant said the combined team did remarkably well.

“They played with girls they have never played with before,” she said.

“Taking that into consideration we did pretty good!

“It would have been nice to get a win … but I’m really happy with how they played.”

While in Perth the Geraldton skaters took part in a series of workshops run by Perth Roller Derby.

The girls were also re-united with former Sin City Rollers skater Marcus “Fig Jammer” Fenton in a mixed gender game on Saturday.

Fenton will play for New Zealand at the 2020 Men’s Roller Derby Wold Cup in Missouri, US, in July.

Later this month the Sin City Rollers will start a 10-week skate fitness program at Spalding Park Tennis Club.

Skate Star starts on October 13 and will run every Sunday from 9-11am.

No skating experience is required. For more contact rollerderbygeraldton@gmail.com.