Gold Miners' Daughters Strike the motherload with the help of Rotary Club
ROLLER DERBY: Timmins skaters win 2 Fresh 2 Furious Tournament
By The Daily Press
Posted 22 minutes ago
TORONTO — The Gold Miners' Daughters hit the mother lode at the 2 Fresh 2 Furious Tournament on Saturday.
Despite having only two previous bouts under their belt, the Gold Miners' Daughters were the last skaters standing at the conclusion of the flat track roller derby event at Ted Reeve Arena.
"We were the underdogs of the tournament," said Gold Miners' Daughters captain Amy Heffernan, who uses the track name Ames to Mame. "People were in absolute shock that this was our first tournament ever, they kept asking our coach, Jeff Latham (known on the track as Nick L. Bagg) 'What are you feeding these girls?'"
In the championship game of 2 Fresh 2 Furious, the Gold Miners' Daughters skated over Toronto's D-VAS 67-24 in a hard-hitting affair.
Despite the rather one-sided final score, the D-VAS did not surrender the trophy without a fight.
"I just remember being on the line at the beginning of the bout and, after the whistle blew, two of their blockers hit and packed Ames up," said Rachel Matthews, who skates under the name Night Train Jane. "That was when the heat was on for me. We showed them we know how to hit too!"
Nadia Riopel, known trackside as Nasty Nads, showed D-VAS the Gold Miners' Daughters have strong jamming abilities, as well, taking lead jammer status during the first jam.
Assistant captain Lisa Tremblay, known as Kill'er Princess, followed up with some awesome jamming moves of her own. Both Timmins skaters impressed the crowd with their manoeuvres and speed — and made some new fans!
The tournament featured 16 teams, with the Gold Miners' Daughters advancing after posting a record of five wins and one loss in round-robin play. The lone loss for the Gold Miners' Daughters, 38-30, came against Durham Region.
Timmins fans interested in watching the championship game from 2 Fresh 2 Furious can do so by visiting YouTube and looking up GTAR derby.
The trip to Toronto for the tournament was made possible by the support the Timmins roller derby girls received during the recent Rotary Ribfest, noted Gold Miners' Daughters president Yanick Tremblay.
That success, combined with Saturday's tournament victory, has given the Gold Miners' Daughters a lot of momentum.
However, the group still faces a few challenges.
"We came back with a golden trophy, but we are still struggling to find ourselves a permanent place to skate," Yanick Tremblay said. "With a growing membership of 23 women, we are anxious to keep skating."
The daughters have been without a regular skating venue since the spring and are in need of a permanent home.
"What we did this weekend was incredible," Latham said. "We were nothing short of amazing, but without a practice space, it will be very hard for us to maintain that status."
In addition to a new home, the Gold Miners' Daughters are also seeking more sponsors.