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Yukon Roller Girls experience first loss in Red Deer

The Yukon Roller Girls are sounding rather upbeat despite suffering their first-ever defeat in Red Deer, Alta., on Saturday.
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The Yukon Roller Girls are sounding rather upbeat despite suffering their first-ever defeat in Red Deer, Alta., on Saturday.

“We’re really proud of the points spread because this is an amazing team we played against,” said Yukon Roller Girls president Ashley Fisher. “We really held our own and made them work for all 300 of their points.

“They are probably the top team we’re likely to play in the foreseeable future.”

The Yukon roller derby troupe lost 307-146 to the Belladonnas, the Red Deer Roller Derby Association’s top travel team.

The Belladonnas is Canada’s third ranked team with two national team members on board.

Not only did the loss take away the pressure of maintaining an undefeated record, it was a great learning experience for the Yukon Roller Girls, said Fisher.

“We learned what we basically need to work on,” said Fisher. “We learned some new plays that we’re going to take home and try to master before our next bout.

“We got some compliments on things we do well. Our communication in this bout was infinitely better than our previous bouts.

“We were able to hold on to the inside line when the (Belladonnas) were coming and give it to our own jammers. We did not do that in Juneau.”

Looking at the Belladonnas’ 4-1 season last year puts Saturday’s score in perspective. The Belladonnas’ four wins in 2011 came in bouts that ended in scores of 227-67, 202-62, 245-65 and 200-58. Their only loss of the season was a tight 145-138 defeat to the Oil City Derby Girls All-Stars from Edmonton.

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“It was fabulous. It was probably one of the best games we’ve played,” said Yukon pivot/blocker Lindsay Agar. “We were smart on the attack, were able to communicate, pulled off some of the plays we’ve been practising and we learned a lot from some of the girls who came and helped us.”

Saturday’s bout was the Yukon crew’s fourth sanctioned bout and their second of the season with five more to go.

They began the year with a narrow 164-161 win over the Juneau Roller Girls in Juneau on Feb. 18.

The Yukon Roller Girls will be back in action in their first at-home bout of the season on April 28 in Whitehorse. In what will be the first encounter between the two teams, Yukon will be facing the Terminal City Roller Girls’ rookie team from Vancouver.

Unlike their only previous sanctioned bout in Whitehorse, which filled the Takhini Broomball Arena to capacity, the April 28 bout will take place at the Whitehorse Curling Club.

“The capacity for this one will be much bigger than at the broomball rink and it will feature such amenities as running water and toilets,” said Fisher.

The Yukon derby squad will then pack-up their gear and head to Alaska to take on the Fairbanks Gold Diggers on May 19. Yukon’s junior team will also make the trip to compete against the Gold Diggers’ junior team in their first sanctioned bout.

The Yukon Roller Girls will then have a chance to extract revenge on the Red Deer association, hosting their B travel team, the Nightshades, on June 23.

More information, including how to get tickets to the April 28 bout, can be found at www.yukonrollergirls.ca.

Contact Tom Patrick at

tomp@yukon-news.com