Garnet Grit Betties lace up skates for new, expanded season

Wrangell's Garnet Grit Betties roller derby team kicked off their new season Saturday, wheeling circles around the high school basketball court together for a preseason weekend bootcamp.

The Betties had their first real season last year, skating in two bouts. Starting this month and lasting through May, this season will be the first where they have had a full, regulation roster of 14 skaters.

"We've done some serious recruiting," said Shawna Buness, the team's head coach. Membership is open to women 18 years and older, down from last year's starting age of 21. Their ages and walks of life may vary, but the teammates are united by an interest to learn a new sport.

"99 percent of this team started with no skating experience," she explained. But the players have been putting a lot of effort into practicing, and she feels confident they will do well this year.

"It's paid off," Buness said.

Once in her skates, Buness goes by "BabyCakes" – in the interests of fun and privacy, teammates opt for nicknames as colorful as their eclectic outfits, with monickers like "Barbie Bruiser" and "AssassinKate."

For the weekend's bootcamp, the Wrangell, Petersburg and Ketchikan teams pitched in to bring up an instructor, "Shocker Khan." An avid roller derbier and owner of the 2N1 Skate Shoppe in Wasilla, she was hired to bring home the basics of roller derby.

"In theory, it's a constantly-moving game," she told the skaters during Saturday's instruction. Partaking in

various control drills and

exercises they were shown different techniques crucial to play, such as hitting, stopping,

blocking, partnered maneuvers and how to properly transition.

Though the Betties are a full-contact women's roller derby team, men can also participate. The head referee, John Waddington, has been participating in the league since January.

"It's lots of fun," he said. Wrangell does not have many competitive sports for adults to participate in, and he said the sport is good exercise.

Though he has some

experience as a referee with wrestling, roller derby is completely new to him.

"It started out kind of shaky, because I didn't have my own gear," he said.

He's now equipped with skates and a derby name, once on the floor he goes by "Johnny Ego."

Waddington explained that there are usually seven referees during a bout, with two jam refs, three outside refs, and a front and rear inside pack ref. The rear inside is also usually the head ref.

In addition to the referees, a number of non-skating officials assist by keeping score and counting penalties.

The Garnet Grit Betties have two bouts scheduled so far this season. For their first they will be going to play the Sitka Sound Slayers in Sitka on Oct. 18.

To cover travel expenses and rent venues, the team has some local sponsors, but they also collect dues and do a lot of fundraising throughout the year.

One of their biggest fundraisers was their booth

during the July 4 festivities, where they raised about $1,000. The team will also be

holding a rummage sale at the American Legion Hall on

Sept. 20.