Several months of planning finally came to fruition for the Sea to Sky Sirens as the roller derby team took to the floor for the first time in the history of the franchise in February.
The team travelled to Nanaimo to take on the Harbour City Rollers and Sirens star Shannon "Mala Justed" Handley admitted the team needs to work out some kinks. However, she said, the road trip was a lot of fun for the athletes.
"We definitely had a little bit of deer-in-headlights syndrome in the first half," she said. "The Rollers have a lot more experience than us and while we definitely lost, it was a really good learning experience for us."
Her teammates, for the most part, agreed.
"It was awesome, although I fell on my ass a few times," said Genevieve Madrano. "We definitely got better as the game carried on."
"I thought for our first game we did pretty good," said Melissa "Tiny Sadist" Tull. "Hit of the game was definitely Genevieve."
The club has another game scheduled in April in Comox and also announced that it will host three games at Brennan Park this summer. The Sirens will be invade Brennan Park on June 18, July 2 and July 16 and the players are pumped to compete in front of their hometown crowd.
"It's going to be like Barbie meets Mad Max," said the team's official PA announcer "Filthy" Rich Tickner. "It's going to be a complete Rollerstravaganza in Squamish."
"We're really excited to play at Brennan Park," Madrano said. "We obviously want the whole community to come out and support us."
"It's going to be awesome," Tull said. "Hopefully we can pack the place."
Tickner will act as host of sorts, announcing scoring, introducing the lineups and keeping those in attendance entertained and informed.
Handley explained what the general format will be for the home games.
"We're hoping to start off with our team against a visiting team and then a special attraction game where we put together almost an all-star type game with some of the better players in the province," she said. "We play two, 30-minute periods per game and we're planning on having halftime entertainment like local bands during our intermissions."
She noted that ticket prices are still to be determined but expects them to range somewhere between $10 to $15.
The team also announced that it is still actively seeking players. An open practice/recruitment drive for interested players is planned on March 27 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Totem Hall.
"We're going to have pretty much a normal practice but we do ask that girls bring their own helmets," she said.
Handley said that there are monthly dues of $30 to $35. However, the dues will drop as more players sign up, she said.
For more information on the Sea to Sky Sirens, visit their website at www.squamishrollerderby.com. The team also has a Facebook page, which can be found by typing 麻豆社国产Roller Derby into the search bar. For general information on the team, email Handley at [email protected].
