The local roller derby girls hosted a tournament in Castlegar on Saturday night, where despite their best efforts they got pummeled by the competition.
The Dam City Rollers hosted the Lilac City Roller Girls from Spokane and the Avalanche City Roller Girls from Fernie in Jammer Wars: Attack of the Stars. The three-way tournament took place in the Selkirk College gym and consisted of three bouts.
The Dams took on Lilac City in the first bout, but from the get go they had trouble getting their jammer — the player wearing a star on her head who scores points for the team by breaking through the blockers on the opposing team — passed the Lilac blockers. Things seemed to be turning around toward the end of the first period though, when the Dams managed to tie things up briefly.
The first period ended 120-85 for Lilac City, but the Dams still had plenty of room to make a comeback. Unfortunately the Dams drew a number of penalties, many of them falling on the team’s jammer, leaving them unable to score for the duration of the penalty. It didn’t help that Lilac jammer No. 934 Willow kept slipping through the pack (the largest group of blockers from both teams skating within proximity) to pile up points for her team. The final score was 251-122 for Lilac City.
Things went a little better for the Dams in their second bout against the Avalanche as they stepped up their defense, but ultimately the Avalanche defeated the Dams 266-156.
Overall though, the Dams were happy with how things went.
“It came together more in the second game than in the first, but we did really well overall,” said Irish Whipskey, No. 713 for the Dams. “Those two teams are actually really tough. ACRG (Avalanche City Roller Girls), that was their all-star team, so it went well.”
The Avalanche went on to win the tournament, defeating Lilac City 208-112 in the third bout, and claiming a cooler full of beer provided by Nelson Brewing Company.
The night was a fun time for roller girls and spectators alike. There were many families in the crowd and young dancers from Turning Pointe Dance Studio provided entertainment between the first and second bout. The Dams were also grateful to the Castlegar Broomball Association for providing security for the event.
The Dams are always looking for more skaters, referees and non-skating officials. Those who are interested can contact them at 250-304-8333 or damcityrollers@hotmail.ca. Fresh meat begins training in September.