The new season of Toronto Roller Derby kicked off with thrills and spills as the defending champs continued their winning ways.
The fifth season of Toronto Roller Derby (ToRD) pulled in a large crowd on a weekend when public transit service to ToRD's venue in Downsview Park was disrupted due to subway "track maintenance".
The champion Gore-Gore Rollergirls faced the Death Track Dolls in the first game of the year. The Gores were without one of its star jammers, Lunchbox, who retired following her team's 2010 championship victory.
However, filling the large void left by Lunchbox was Brim Stone, who helped get the Gores off to an early lead. While the Dolls came out fast and furious, the Gores managed to build up a quick 16-1 lead on the strength of Brim Stone and fellow jammers Dust Bunny and Bambi.
The leopard-print wearing Gores rallied to a 50-5 margin before the Dolls regrouped and started to put points on the board.
Jammers Land Shark and Betty Bomber of the Dolls caught fire near the end of the first half, blazing their way around the flat track to narrow the Gores lead to 57-26.
But the Gores came out flying in the second half, grabbing a 73-26 lead before the Dolls managed to tally another point.
Emotions ran high with some hard hitting from the Dolls – Jubilee ran over Bambi but it didn't slow down the star jammer for the Gores as her team's lead widened.
While the team in white managed to put 16 more points on the board by game's end, totaling 43, the defending champs ended with 107.
Meanwhile, also in attendance was Toronto's Ward 9 Councillor Maria Augimeri, a vocal supporter of the 101 Parc Downsview Park bus, which was slated for cancellation along with other routes to save money in the transit commission's budget.
ToRD players, volunteers and fans rely on the 101 to get to The Hangar at Downsview Park, where games and practices take place.
While Coun. Augimeri posed for a photo with the skaters and blew the first whistle to start the action, she also vowed to keep fighting alongside the league. "I love working with real women with real heart," she said prior to the game. "Half the battle isn't good enough. We're going to make sure we win bigger battles from now on."
Several skaters with the league had attended public meetings on the bus issue and managed to win a reprieve; the original proposal was to cut the 101 route entirely from September to May – weekend service has now been retained during those months.
A double-header at The Hangar Feb. 26 includes ToRD's travel team CN Power against the Killamazoo Derby Darlins, and ToRD's D-VAS against Nickel City Roller Derby.
