West Kootenay’s roller girls held a special derby event during the last day of Golden City Days to raise money for a young boy fighting cancer.
Members of the Rossland Trail Roller Girls (RTRG) and the Castlegar Dam City Rollers, Hex of the Nelson Killjoys and Friskin’ U Down came together to raise money for Dax, the son of RTRG skater Lady Darkette, who was recently diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Dax’s family has had to move to Vancouver while he’s being treated at BC Children’s Hospital and proceeds from the derby will help the family pay for expenses.
“It’s to support the family because they’re in Vancouver right now going to Children’s to get him feeling better, and so basically they still have to pay all of their bills back home and then live outside as well, in Vancouver,” said Valerie Rossi, a.k.a. Lois Slain of the RTRG. “So we just want to give them some funds to support them during this time.”
Dax had surgery on Tuesday, Sept. 6 and doctors were able to remove 98 per cent of his tumor without damaging any of the nerves or arteries it had wrapped around. Dax was discharged to Ronald McDonald House on Saturday, where he continues to recuperate and his family awaits the results of his tumor biopsy to find out what the next steps in his treatment will be.
Over a hundred people came out to the Rossland Arena to support Dax and his family at Sunday night’s derby.
“It was fantastic to get all of our wonderful players together, have the community come out and support such a great cause, and really it was just a lot of fun,” said Lois Slain.
All of the roller girls who attended were split onto two teams — Black and White — and sported special Derby for Dax jerseys during the event.
Once each player had their new jersey, it was time to jam. The White team held the advantage from the get-go, dominating the Black team 97-79 by the end of the first period, but it was still anybody’s bout. Unfortunately, the Black team wasn’t able to recover during the second half, with their jammers taking a few too many penalties, and the White team claimed victory with a final score of 200-168.
But with so many people coming out to support Dax and his family, neither team really lost.
Those who didn’t attend the derby, or who’d like to do more, can donate to Dax and his family through their Go Fund Me page at gofundme.com/2dzc2ru4.
Any women interested in learning more about roller derby and strapping on a pair of skates can check out the teams’ fresh meat nights.
“We’re looking for any women over the age of 19 and you just have to come out, preferably bring a mouth guard of course, but we supply all of the other gear, and we get you geared up, talk to you about the game, and you can give it a whirl,” said Lois Slain.
“There’s a spot on the team for pretty much any person of any skill level or body type or anything,” said Christin Davis, a.k.a Roll N Loki. “There’s a position for everyone.”
The RTRG is holding its Fresh Meat Meet and Greet tonight, 7-9 p.m. at the Cominco Arena Gym, and the Dam City Rollers are also holding their first fresh meat meet tonight at Robson Hall, 6:30-9:30 p.m.