Inverness City Roller Derby is rolling into new year with momentum
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Every sport has had to take recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic at their own pace, and Inverness City Roller Derby are only just skating back to full strength now.
Numbers fell dramatically when the pandemic hit, training could not continue with the ban on indoor team sports, and by the time things were able to resume even committee members had moved on from the club.
However, lots of hard work has gone into building the club back up, and in November a new intake completed their Learn to Skate course at the club.
New vice chair Sara Boussaikouk says the class of 2022 has exceeded all expectations, and has put City back on a firm footing.
“It’s been a steep learning curve for us, as well as all our new skaters, but the team is thriving and we couldn’t be happier,” she said.
“Everyone has been fantastic. People have come along for a mix of reasons – some have natural ability, some skated as kids and some have never picked up a pair of skates before, but everyone has this amazing determination and willingness to learn.
“We have skaters with no experience at all doing drills that took me months to learn, so they really are incredible.
“Quite a few folk have wanted to get into something new after Covid and have seen roller derby online, or fancied roller skating but not necessarily derby, then came along and fell in love.
“We have a mix of people who have grown up here and people who have just moved to Inverness, all who want to be more active and have good fun doing it.
“Derby is so fast paced and empowering, it provides a great outlet for pent up frustrations – in a safe way – and does wonders for self confidence.
“Everyone has fully engaged and embraced what we’re all about – having good, inclusive, active fun.”
Now the challenge will be to continue that growth, with Boussaikouk adding: “We’d love to get back to pre-pandemic levels, with games and had a full roster.
“Unfortunately most leagues have felt the pressure we have, and have dropped in membership or been forced to fold.
“We refuse to give up, and we’re working hard to get back to having a full team who are game-ready. It may take a little while, but with newbies like ours it might be sooner than we expected.
“Next year we’re holding a friendly scrim, inviting skaters from all over the country to Inverness. We can’t wait, and we’ll also be holding two new intakes.”
