Dread Pirate Rollers.
Camera IconDread Pirate Rollers. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Dread Pirate Rollers looking for recruits

Gabrielle JefferyWeekend Kwinana Courier

ROLLER Derby is a space to escape and indulge your alter ego with players giving themselves names such as Slamantha and Sair Vicious.

The contact sport has been gaining popularity over the last few years and our own Kwinana Club, the Dread Pirate Rollers (DPR), are hoping to push that popularity even further.

Club Administrator Leigh Turland (Big Dog) said the club is hoping to have a permanent Mandurah location.

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“Interest is starting to pick up – we are known as the friendly league as we are a bit more relaxed yet we still play in the big games,” he said.

“We are hoping to launch into Mandurah for juniors and we are also looking for corporate sponsorship.

“We have upcoming games in Dongara, Albany, Margaret River and Perth.

“Our whole family is involved – we go up to Rollerways (O’Connor) often.”

Although most members are local to Kwinana and Rockingham they have attracted members from further afield.

“Two ladies are from Bunbury, one from Halls Head, one from Gosnells, two from Applecross and one from Caversham,” he said.

DPR have broken from the norm of all-female teams.

“We are a co-ed team and want to promote our club to more guys,” he said.

“We average 25 per group at any training session but the last three to four months we have had a surge in membership.”

Skaters go through three levels of training: Fresh Meat, Rookie and Bout Cleared.

Fresh Meat recruits Raven Clawson (Shannon Bright) and Celia Fate (Alison McCormick) hail from Applecross.

“It’s a really nice community,” Clawson said.

“It’s exercise that doesn’t feel like it because it’s fun.”

“Everyone is from a different background,” Fate said.

“You come away feeling like you have achieved something.”

DPR President Milligrub (Karen Hamersley) is the club’s longest serving member of more than five years.

“We do accept everyone from all walks of life and age groups,” she said.

“We get together and have fun – we are who we want to be – I usually answer to my derby name more than my real name.”

DPR train Mondays and Wednesdays at the Zone Youth Space in Kwinana

Mandatory safety equipment is supplied for try-out sessions however due to hygiene reasons skaters must provide their own mouthguards.

For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/DreadPirateRollers/