As Adelaide Roller Derby (ADRD) rolls out its 2017 season, this year’s competition is already heating up for an action-packed roster of bouts.
The season’s first bout was fought between The Salty Dolls and Mile Die Club, culminating in a smashing victory for the Dolls. League member of eight years and skater for Mile Die Club, Kate Donnelly (aka ‘Moe Skeeto’) says the bout played out a fierce-yet-friendly rivalry between the league’s two original teams.
“The Salty Dolls and the Mile Die Club are the two original teams that started at the very beginning,” Kate says. “There's always been a bit of a rivalry there but also a pretty big love of each other.”
Although it puts The Salty Dolls ahead of the pack early on, victory comes with a price in the skate-meets-face world of roller derby. “As a whole, the team that wins a lot is the one the other teams are going after, and The Salty Dolls have that on their head at the moment,” Kate warns good-heartedly.
The victory over Mile Die Club follows last year’s grand final, which saw The Salty Dolls take out the 2016 league championship also against Mile Die. The Salty Dolls success comes with a bittersweet taste for Kate, who first joined the league with The Salty Dolls before shifting allegiances to Mile Die Club two seasons ago.
“It's a problem for some people, but I think the games we play and especially the grand final we played last year and the game last week, it was by no means a whitewash. It's probably one of the hardest games I’ve played against The Salty Dolls,” Kate says.
Image © Stephen Muller“I’d been with my old team for a while and I wanted to get a new perspective and skate with different players,” she says of the switch-up. “We get the option [to swap teams] at the end of the year; if you feel like changing and there are spots available then you can. It's a nice way to keep everyone excited about it and you get to have new experiences.”
Outside this season’s bouts, 2017 is a special year for ADRD as they will also be marking their ten-year anniversary. As one of the oldest, biggest and most successful roller derby leagues in Australia, Kate says there was no choice but to celebrate with a big party.
“We're one of the oldest leagues in Australia and so we want to celebrate our tenth birthday. We're having a party at the end of the year to commemorate a good thing happening.”
At ten-years old, ADRD is considered a shining example of a thriving roller derby league and in many ways has helped drive increased popularity in the sport on a national level.
“Adelaide's always had a really good reputation of going to other leagues and training, from high level leagues down to those just starting,” Kate says.
“Our ethos of the league has very much been ‘community’ and it has never been restricted to Adelaide. That's what makes it fun.”
The Adelaide Roller Derby 2017 season runs until 5 August. The next ADRD bout takes place at Adelaide Showground 13 May.
