Durham derby empowers women through sports

By Sadia Badhon/The Oshawa Express

Two teams from the Durham Region Roller Derby (DRRD) league were in Guelph to tackle their opponents for their first full-game of the season.

DRRD’s Atom Smashers faced off against Guelph’s Violet Uprising on May 9 at a travel game.

The Atom Smashers lead in the first half, winning by 30 points. But the Violet Uprising turned up the heat in the beginning of the second half coming back to take the lead. However, the Atom Smashers prevailed winning 178-166.

“It was a very tight game,” said Kathie Beattie, blocker for Atom Smashers, better known as her derby name Yogi Dare-Ya.

However, DRRD’s Motor City Madames took a hit, losing to Guelph’s Killer Queens 287-69.

DRRD was formed in 2009. Currently there are three active teams in the league – the Atom Smashers, the DRRD’s Farmers, and the Motor City Madames. There is also another team that is not playing this year – the Durham Derby Devils.

The league plays between six to 10 games in the regular season. Generally, three or four at home and the rest are away games.

Teams have already played in two tournaments this season – one in March in Mount Forest and the other in Montreal in April.

For the one-day tournament in March called The Winter Wipeout, the Atom Smashers brought home the trophy.

The beehive mentality is what contributes to the team’s success, Beattie says.

“Our team plays very well together. We’re a team full of superstars instead of there being one or two superstars and we’re very cohesive,” she says.

However, when they played in the Beast of the East tournament in Montreal, they struggled.

But just being able to go and play at that level is a great experience, Beattie says.

“Playing in the two tournaments we played in was a great warm-up for us to get ready for the season,” she added.

A “rink rat” as a kid, Beattie stepped into the rink as much as possible, but it wasn’t until her friend dared her to try roller derby again at age 40 when she strapped on the skates and joined DRRD. Now, about three and half years later, she’s still going strong.

“In society, a lot of times women are pitted against each other right – what roller derby does is, yeah, we play against each other, but we’re also there to support each other and lift each other up and help each other through things in life,” she says.

She’s a certified yoga instructor, which is where the ‘Yogi’ in Yogi Dare-Ya is derived from. And the ‘Dare-Ya’ is a funky and fun way to say, “I dare ya to hit me,” Beattie explains.

Most people in the derby crowd know her as Yogi rather than her first name.

“It’s like this alter ego. It’s like we change into this other superhero when we’re playing roller derby,” she adds.

Besides being a mighty force on the team, she also referees and helps train newer members.

“Roller derby is very competitive, but it’s also empowering and we love each other. It’s hard on the track and, you know, we’re very competitive on the track but off the track it’s a very empowering thing for women to do,” she says.

This dynamic isn’t just within the DRRD league; it also applies to the other teams they compete against.

“The most amazing thing about roller derby is what it does for the players and for the team and how you can take a woman who’s been in an abusive environment or had a tough upbringing and she has some place to be where she could be herself and she’s surrounded by powerful women that will help her,” she says.

The teams practice at Coachlite Roller Gardens in Oshawa where they have the space four days a week. Each team practices once a week from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

DRRD also has an 11-week program for women wanting to learn roller derby. The Fresh Meat roller derby training camp takes non-skaters and turns them into a derby girl. The program run two times a year.

On May 30, two DRRD teams will play the home opener. The Motor City Madames will face off against the Lindsay Roller Derby League and the Atom Smashers will play against the Hamilton Bombers Roller Derby at the Ajax Community Centre.

For more information on the league, visit www.drrd.ca.