Team Canada Junior Roller Derby team brings home bronze medal from worlds

By Lethbridge Herald on August 4, 2023.

Darren Stehr photo Myra Moore lines up a block against Team Denmark in the female division during the Junior Roller Derby Association’s World Cup in Valence, France last weekend.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

Three out of the seven Lethbridge Roller Derby Guild skaters that were on Team Canada won bronze at last weekend’s Junior Roller Derby Association World Cup in Valence, France in the female division.

The female team captured bronze after beating Team World 340-67.

Those three  players were  Mackenzie Heidinger ,Myra Moore and Abigail Reimer

“When “Cherri Blaster” (Martina Emard) explained that we had seven months to prepare, our athletes only had two practices together, where many of the countries in which we played against practiced, some of them on a monthly basis, some of them even more frequently,” said Team Canada coach  Caroline Reimer, who is also the LRDG coach

“So our athletes came together as a community and we called it one team on two tracks because we had 35 athletes playing on two teams instead of two rosters of 20 per side. So for us, it was a huge accomplishment to get as far as we did. We had athletes that were injured. We had to mitigate that with rosters, we had to move people around and the athletes gave us 110 per cent every time you asked. They never said no … They never said why can’t I. If we had them sit, every single one of them saw the outcome as working together. And I couldn’t be more proud of each and every one of them.”

Moore felt it was exciting, but also nerve-wracking at the same time.

“I think it was a very emotional rollercoaster the whole time,” said Moore.

“I think it was a great experience, and it was amazing to play and we met so many new people. We had made so many like lifelong friends.”

Moore agreed that the team got stronger as the World Cup went on.

“I think we grew more as a team and we played better together as we made it farther into the tournament,” said Moore.

“And I think it was much easier for us to bond that way and we kind of just came out and we all were close.”

Heidinger was making her first World Cup appearance.

“It’s interesting to see the development of different countries,” said Heidinger.

“The Sweden team, we did not expect them to be quite so powerful and come in so strong, I guess. We didn’t anticipate that. But it’s kind of cool seeing like how everybody plays too at the same time, that they’re all kind of different skills that they work on and different like ways of playing. But like they all come together as a team and it’s kind of cool to see the different ways that people play and how we can maybe incorporate it into our play at some point maybe.

 The Canada open division team placed fourth after a 194-342 loss to Australia.

“It was pretty awesome,” said Jesse Curran, an open division participant from LRDG.

“I had a bunch of friends at home who were cheering me on and the people at home really made the global thing 10 times better, because yeah the world is awesome, but like the people at home (were great). And then just playing derby at that high of level is something that I never thought I’d be able to do but I did it. It was pretty awesome.”

Curran was nervous ever since she found out she made the team.

“Because all the teams are like way bigger than I am,” said Curran.

“I was terrified but it was so much fun.”

“I just want to say that it was really fun getting thrown around like a potato sack all weekend,” said Curran.

This was Kyria Franklin’s first time at the event after making the last Team Canada team in 2020 but the event was cancelled due to COVID.

“It was a lot just to be able to like do something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time,” said Franklin.

“I think it’s like one of the … best things I’ve done out of my whole derby career. Well it is.”

Other Team Canada open division participants from Lethbridge included, Audrey May, Jasper Davis and  Abigail Reimer.