After a home debut that exceeded their expectations, the St. Albert Heavenly Rollers (STAHR) are hoping for an even better performance the second time around.
The ladies from STAHR are gearing up for their second-ever home roller derby match, which is set for Saturday at Performance Arena against the Saskatoon Killa Bees.
“We’re even more [excited],” said team member Jillian Pearse, who goes by the nickname Cee Cee Sickness on the derby track. “We’ve gotten the nerves out a little bit, so we’re feeling a little better about this one.”
For their first home game — held June 18 against the Deathbridge Derby Dames out of Lethbridge — the team drew 383 fans to Performance Arena. Pearse is hoping for at least that many this Saturday.
“I’m hoping all the people who came last time had a good time and come back with friends,” she said.
While the team is seeing a good amount of success off the track, Pearse is hoping they’ll start to see more on the track, too. She said the team has been working hard in practice and hopes that will pay off when Saskatoon comes to town.
“We’ve been practicing really hard for this one. We’ve been practicing some new strategies,” she said.
The Heavenly Rollers lost to the Deathbridge Derby Dames 139-80 and also dropped two prior contests.
Plus, she added, STAHR should have a couple of players back from injury or other commitments in time for the showdown with the Killa Bees.
“Some of our girls couldn’t make it to the last one. They were out of town or whatnot,” she said. “I think we’ll have a really strong line-up.”
STAHR also held a recruitment event shortly after the June 18 game, which Pearse said was a big success.
“We had 15 interested people come out,” she said. “[Monday] is going to be the first day where we start our new skater program so hopefully a good number of them come out for it.”
The new skater program is designed to let new players get comfortable with roller derby and learn the skills they need to compete in a match.
“It can be pretty intimidating for people to come out, so it’s nice to start with a group of people because you’re not the outsiders. You have your own little group to move through things with,” Pearse said.
“It’s scary for people to start too because everyone’s horrible when they start. And it’s hard to remember that when you’re the only one who’s horrible. You just think it’s never going to come. So we like to have people start as a group so they can be horrible together,” she added with a laugh.
As for Saturday, Pearse said she’s not too sure exactly what to expect from the Killa Bees, which is the Saskatoon Roller Derby League’s B team.
“It’s going to be interesting,” she said. “Hopefully the drive over wears them out.”
“I hope, more than anything, that it’s just going to be a fun game to watch,” Pearse added. “We heard, even though we lost the last game, everybody told us it was awesome to watch, which is more than we can hope for.”
Doors open at Servus Place at 6 p.m., with the first jam scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door, with kids under 10 getting in free, and are available from any STAHR member, at Stella Blu Café (#50, 24 Perron St.) or online at www.brownpapertickets.com.
