Joburg welcomes back roller derby
A new generation of athletes will compete on the track after the Golden City Rollers launched two new teams, Chrome Chaos and Mercury Mayhem.
Golden City Rollers (GCR) was pleased to announce the return of Home Season and that two new roller derby teams of GCRs top athletes will feature.
Over the past few years, many activities were cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Golden City Rollers, a premier roller derby team from Joburg, was one of the pandemic’s many victims.
After the Home Season was suspended for several years, new skaters were trained.
Roller derby is a sport with the quickest growth globally. It is a full-contact, action-packed sport played on quad roller skates.
Since the National Derby Festival was established in 2016, the GCR won each edition, making them the sport’s undisputed national champions in South Africa.
Additionally, GCR defeated teams from Cairo, Dubai, Cape Town, and Durban in the first Pan-African roller derby tournament, A Frican Good Time, with a score of 285-37 in March 2020.
The league (previously the C-Max Roller Derby) was the first of its kind founded on the African continent in 2010 and the first African member league of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), the sport’s international governing body.
When GCR took part in the Road to Mictln competition in Mexico last November, it made history as the first South African roller derby league to play in a foreign land.
Chairperson of the GCR and WFTDA, Dianne Silva, said the Home Season is a chance for Johannesburg to showcase the abilities of its athletes. Despite Joburg being their home and namesake, their league’s primary objective is to compete and rank internationally.
Furthermore, Silva said that the return of roller derby to the GCR community fills them with pride and excitement.
“We cannot wait to showcase our athleticism, hard work, dedication, and of course, monster hits to our home crowd. Back in our heyday, our home games would pull crowds of over 2 000 roller derby fans. We are thrilled to bring back that level of energy, intensity, and excitement,” said Silva.
The first two games will take place at Unio Portuguesa, 64 Eastwood Street, Turffontein, on May 6 and 20, while the third and final game will be on June 24.
Tickets are available via Quicket.
For more information, sponsorship and fundraising opportunities, email info@goldencityrollers.com
