Last year's hit Hollywood move Whip It brought roller derby and girl power back into the limelight. Now in the midst of the sport's revival across North America, local derby veteran Shannon Handley hopes to bring the frenzy to Squamish.
"I am addicted to the sport and from what I can see, Squamish has a lot of tough girls who might want to get into the sport," she said. "It's a good outlet for tough girls."
Handley and six other women practiced sporadically last summer, after losing a few members in September, the team decided to go on hiatus for the winter.
This summer promises to have a lot more faces turning up at practice, with 15 women already expressing interest, which led Handley to hope that a Squamish league could emerge pitting locals against each other in a local venue.
The current members took to the streets on their roller skates on Canada Day, handing out buttons and information to perspective derby girls and spectators.
Roller derby is no girly-girly sport -it's more comparable to hockey or rugby than figure skating. The female-only activity has been described as punk rock meets sweaty mosh pit. If someone gets an elbow in the eye, it's been a success.
The sport involves five players from each team skating in tight packs around a circular track against each other. Two of these players - the jammers - race to get ahead of the pack and skate laps to score points.
Sounds simple enough except that each team is jostling one another, trying to help their own jammer while blocking the other's progress.
In the body-checking intensity, skaters occasionally go flying. And they do it all while decked out in fishnets and personal touches like sparkly shorts or short skirts.
"It's an exhilarating fast-paced game that requires a lot of strategy," said Handley.
Handley moved here almost two years ago from Toronto, where she put her roller skates on for the first time. She played there for two years and her team won the Toronto League Championship only weeks before she moved to B.C.
Aside from her commitment to starting up a roller derby league in Squamish, she's also helping the Abbotsford league, which has three teams, get up and running.
Leagues are popping up across the province, and Handley said once the Squamish girls get going, there'll be plenty of chances to compete.
"There's tons of competition - a league in Vancouver of three teams, there's a league in Abbotsford which has three teams, there's a league starting up on the sunshine coast and there's one in Kelowna," she said, "they're everywhere right now.
"It's really huge sport in B.C. and it's growing very fast."
She said she's feeling optimistic about the roller derby interest in Squamish.
Handley said the most recent Squamish group has varying experience levels. There are some who have skating experience, others who have been on roller skates all their life or played ringette or hockey, but no one has derby experience yet.
Her "right hand man," Megan Daly, has been involved since the very beginning and is refereeing for the roller derby girls in Vancouver.
"It's great experience," said Handley. "She's gotten a lot of experience that way with the game and her skating skills as well."
She's hoping to get more organized in the fall and find an indoor venue for practices, but right now the girls are trying to decide on a team name.
They've narrowed down the options to; Sea to Sky Sirens, Squamish Track Choppers, Diamond Derby Dolls, Howe Sound Harlots or Wind City Wenches.
"The summer is the summer and I know people want to go camping and get away, so we're taking it casual and trying to meet whenever we can," she said. "Everybody is invited to come check it out."
They are hoping for some public input to help maker the decision and are asking any interested Squamish residents to vote on their Squamish Women's Roller Derby Facebook page.
Anyone interested in joining or trying it out should contact Shannon Handley at [email protected] or on the Facebook page.
