Two Guelph roller derby players are bringing home bronze after playing with Team Canada in the Junior Roller Derby World Cup in France.
Placing third in the female division was an “incredible” experience for Katie McLean and Tess Charlton, who go by Skatie McPain and Tornado, respectively.
“It’s such an honour to be able to take this title with me home and carry it with me for the rest of my life. And to be able to say I helped my teammates get there as well, I will never get over the high of that feeling,” said Charlton.
But just being on Team Canada and getting to go to the world cup was a dream come true in itself.
“It was an amazing opportunity to meet and learn from passionate players from around the world,” said McLean, who also played for the open division, coming in fourth. “I’m sure we’ll all be leaving with new drill ideas and skills to develop, as well as with some incredible new memories and friendships.”
“The experience I just had was like no other, and it’s honestly something that I will take with me for the rest of my life. Getting to another country and seeing all these people that enjoy the same sport as me was surreal, and it was probably the best and the most memorable experience of my life,” said Charlton.
They arrived in Valence on July 26. The next morning, heavy with jetlag, they dove into their last practice before the cup.
The team, made up of junior players from across the country, only had the chance to practice a few times overall, once in Toronto and again at a two-day bootcamp in Calgary.
The bulk of the work was done on their own, going over gruelling workouts and drills to prepare.
They did, however, practice on their own and with their home leagues beforehand, going over the same workouts and drills.
“It was a lot of work. But it was definitely worth it, and it showed when we played. All the hard work getting there beforehand, preparing to get there, all paid off, and it was worth every minute of training, every second of travelling,” Charlton said.
The competition was tough, with lots of heavy contact and high-level plays.
“There were definitely teams that gave us a challenge… people skate and learn things differently from across the world, which was insanely interesting to see. There were different plays different countries would do,” Charlton said.
But they were able to adapt and held their own.
“We came out placing highly among the best teams in the world, many of which weren’t nearly as affected by the pandemic as full contact teams in Canada,” McLean said. “Overall, this was an incredible opportunity to compete in my sport on a world stage, and I look forward to furthering my development in this sport with adult leagues next year.”
At 17 and 18, McLean and Charlton are aging out of the junior division this year, though both plan to continue coaching the junior leagues and further their skills by practicing with adult leagues.
McLean hopes someday she’ll be able to play at the national level again with the adult Team Canada, while Charlton has her eye on coaching the junior Team Canada in the future.
“To be on the other side and be able to guide a team to victory instead of being part of the team, would be another experience that I would love to have,” she said. “Keeping derby alive is very important to me. So coaching is what might be next for me.”
