WestCo Roller Derby team still waiting to hit the rink after 2-year hiatus

Sarah Welch said there was going to be a wonderful group of women from Erie meeting them Saturday at the Mt. Pleasant Sportzone.

And Welch couldn’t wait to hit them. Unfortunately, she’ll have to.

The 43-year-old Youngwood resident is the captain and team president for WestCo Roller Derby, whose members were set host their first game of the 2022-23 season after a two-year hiatus before it was unexpectedly canceled late in the week.

“This should be our 10th anniversary,” said player-coach and team treasurer Karen Struble Myers, 44, of Unity. “We haven’t played a public game since September 2019.”

Officials at the Mt. Pleasant Sportzone could not be reached for comment as to why the game was canceled. A post on the Westco Roller Derby Facebook page said the group was not given a reason for the cancellation.

Myers has always loved sports.

“For me, roller derby is a chance to continue challenging myself and competing long past the age when most people are doing that,” she said.

Basic roller derby play involves short periods called “jams,” in which each team lines up five skaters, four of whom are blockers and one designated as the “jammer.” Each team’s jammer begins behind both teams’ blockers and must pick their way to the front, scoring a point for each opposing blocker they lap. Blockers compete for superior position and try to prevent the opposing team’s jammer from getting past, while helping their own jammer make it through.

It is a full-contact sport, although there are rules about how and where contact can be made.

Welch has been a member of the team since 2013, when she saw a poster advertising it at a Latrobe skating rink.

“I didn’t have any athletic background or experience,” Welch said. “Plus, I’d just gotten divorced and was looking to make some new friends.”

Welch discovered a supportive community and is excited to be getting back on her skates.

“It will be great to see old friends and new faces in the sport,” she said. “The biggest challenge is going to be getting people to come back, because so many people found other interests during the pandemic. I started playing just about every sport: soccer, bowling, mini-golf and a bunch of others.”

WestCo team members range in age from 20 to over 40, and they host periodic recruitment events and skill camps throughout the season.

For more, see Facebook.com/Westcoderby.