During regular business hours, the members of the Rated PG RollerGirls are mothers, nurses, engineers, hairdressers and more.
But when they congregate at the Prince George Roll-A-Dome they turn into a group of warriors. As they strap on roller skates, helmets and pads and slip into brightly coloured socks, shorts or skirts, the members of the popular roller derby team are transformed.
"I find a lot of people find it intimidating [to join]," said Alison MacLeod, a member of the RollerGirls' board.
That intimidation isn't intentional, merely a byproduct of the confidence the derby girls need to roll into an oval to face another team.
And with derby names such as Malice, Lockdown, Sistah Viberosis, Scout Flinch and Cruely Sue, the team members aren't pulling any punches.
But the RollerGirls aren't just relying on aggressive names and flashy outfits to get a skate up on on their competition. A handful of players recently made the trek south to Las Vegas to RollerCon, where derby girls from across the globe met up to learn, share and socialize.
Some of those skills picked up in Vegas were shared at the league's weekly Fresh Meat -skaters who haven't reached the minimum required skills to play in games - practice Thursday evening.
"The level of skill and fitness the women [met in Las Vegas] is amazing," said Jen Herkes, also known as Loki. "They give it hard for an hour and are still able to get the punch of speed and pull forward."
At RollerCon, the Prince George team learned the game has sped up considerably and team need to work together if they're going to keep up. "Everything is being done by a pack," Herkes told her squad.
During the hour-long training session, Herkes put the group of nearly two-dozen skaters through their paces, with an emphasis on skating technique and communication skills.
"I learned some good, basic strategies we can easily put to use to give us an edge. If we can follow these strategies through, we can easily be some serious competition," Herkes told the Citizen.
At this point, the RollerGirls are already doing fairly well in the standings, holding on to the 12th spot out of 22 in their recreational league in the Canadian Roller Derby Ranking.
Those interested in joining the local squad as they prepare to squash the competition are invited to strap on a pair of skates and give it a go.
Kim Woodruff joined up two months ago after being introduced to the game by friends and had nothing but praise for her new family.
"Oh my goodness, it's such a great experience," said the medical assistant. "There's such a wide range of different personalities, it's fun and a great workout."
But she admitted it was difficult to get going. "In the beginning, it was so hard. I hadn't really skated much," Woodruff said.
But with a group of women who all had to start somewhere, Woodruff and the other Fresh Meat have found a support system willing to take the time to help them learn.
Even the coach, Whitney Warren - also known as Uncle Daddy - is still on the learning curve, having only been "herding" the team for the past four months. In that times, Warren said he's learned a lot about the game and is no longer squeamish about seeing the the girls eat some floor.
"They're tough and learn how to fall so they don't hurt themselves," he said. "You get desensitized."
Anyone willing to give the game a shot can bring a helmet and mouth guard to the Roll-A-Dome on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. and the RollerGirls will help them get set up with rental skates and pads. Drop-in practices cost $5. For more information, visit ratedpgrollergirls.com.
