Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Southern Cross Stadium, Canberra —Saturday night in Roller Derby at Canberra, Australia’s Southern Cross Stadium, the Black and Blue Belles defeated the Surly Griffins in a 243–136 blow out.
In honour of Star Wars Day, the skaters were introduced wearing Jedi-style hooded cloaks and carrying light sabres. Princess Leia hairstyles were also popular amongst the crowd.
The sport has become very popular, and the bout was sold out. Nine new skaters have joined the four Canberra teams this year, and another fifteen are in training for their debut next year.
The bout got off to a fast start with a power jam enabling Short Stop to run up thirty points. This helped the Black and Blue Belles skate to a lead of almost 100 points by half time. Instead of playing Short Stop as jammer, she became a pivot. An aggressive defence allowed the Black and Blue Belles to add points to their score line. The final result was a 107 point victory.
This was the two teams’ first bout of the year. It was the second bout on the Canberra Roller Derby League calendar. The Brindabelters met the Red Bellied Black Hearts on March 23 in a close contest. It was also their first bout played under the new rules. The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association changed the rules earlier in the year.
Half time entertainment was a exhibition of pole dancing. The dancers were joined on the poles by Short Stop, who is also in the running for Miss Pole this year, joined in, still wearing skates. In February, she was voted Australia’s greatest female athlete in an online poll, after an extensive eight month long social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter.
A trivia night in April raised funds for a Roller Derby Tournament to be held in Canberra on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend on June 8–9.