All roller derby athletes love to skate, but not all roller skaters love roller derby.
Enter the Midnight Sun Misfits.
Whitehorse’s Jordi Mikeli-Jones has begun the process of starting a roller skating club called the Midnight Sun Misfits for anyone who wants to strap on some skates and have some fun.
“What I’ve been hearing on the street is that people are really interested in roller skating,” said Mikeli-Jones. “People of all ages and demographics can join up. We’ll structure it in some way, but leave it open-ended so it can be recreational.”
It will be a club for roller skating, not roller derby, but the two aren’t mutually exclusive.
“Maybe it can be a stepping stone for people to get into derby,” said Mikeli-Jones. “Certainly we’re still big supporters of the Yukon Roller Girls.
“We’re for the misfits who aren’t so much ready for roller derby but still want to be badass on roller skates.”
Of course, it goes both ways: Mikeli-Jones would love to see Yukon Roller Girls joining to get more skating time, she said.
In fact, Mikeli-Jones was one of the founding members of the Yukon Roller Girls, a Whitehorse-based roller derby organization that has developed a loyal following over the past three years. Mikeli-Jones left the team following a back injury in January 2011.
“I haven’t been involved with the organization for quite some time,” said Mikeli-Jones. “It was originally due to some substantial injuries that I received in the course of playing derby. And then I had a baby.”
Mikeli-Jones hopes to recruit enough people to book a regular weekly time at the Canada Games Centre by the end of the month.
At this point, she’s not exactly sure what weekly sessions will consist of, but she doesn’t want to start setting down rules either.
Mikeli-Jones wants the club to grow organically. Will there be drills and skills development? Will it be just fun skates and games? She’ll let the skaters figure that out.
“Right now, we’re just rallying the troops and we’ve seen quite a bit of interest already,” said Mikeli-Jones. “I’d surmise that in the next three weeks we’ll be up and running.
“I’ve even had some men say they’d like to get some roller skates. We’re going to be inclusive in that regard.
“Some people started with roller derby about three years ago but weren’t able to meet some of the trials, because there are some very rigid guidelines you have to meet to be on the team. So we wanted to take that ... punk rock spirit of derby and incorporate the lust for roller skating and have a fun and free beer-drinking league - unless if they’re under-age, in which case it’s just a roller skating league.”
To learn more, contact Mikeli-Jones at 456-7555 or look for the Midnight Sun Misfits on Facebook.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com