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For many people, roller derby brings to mind women with bizarre nicknames in fishnet stockings pushing and shoving their way around a track, all while wearing roller skates. But it’s much more than that, according to a group of Warrnambool enthusiasts. “It’s not all about fishnets and crazy nicknames. It’s about empowering women and getting them involved in an alternative sport that can have benefits for their physical and mental health,” Warrnambool Dirty Angels Roller Derby president Erin Pietsch said. “The nicknames and costumes are just a small part of it.” Pietsch, also known as ‘Slam Dusty’, said the sport involved two teams of five roller-skating around a flat track in the same direction. “The objective is to lap the opposition and to stop them lapping you,” she said. “To do that, you block them. “It’s a full body contact sport. You can use your hips, shoulders and backside, but you can’t use elbows.” Pietsch said competing wasn’t as easy as just putting on some skates and taking to the track. “Everyone starts as fresh meat,” she said. “It works on a star grading system and you have to train for between 12 and 18 months to become starred. “It’s a very athletic and physically demanding sport. We train for a couple of hours several times a week — not just on skates, but we do a lot of aerobic and cardio work off-skates as well.” Pietsch said she put a call out on Facebook when she moved to Warrnambool to see if there was any local interest in roller derby. “Within days there were 80 people on the Facebook page,” she said. “From there we established a core group of people who have been in regular training for the past few months.” Roller derby is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, with more than 1250 amateur leagues worldwide. About half of those are in the US. The sport has been popular there since the 1940s. Now it is in contention to be included in the 2020 summer Olympic Games. While the sport is predominantly for women, men are still welcome and mixed teams do exist. Many men are also involved in coaching and refereeing. There are roller derby leagues in Ballarat, Geelong and Horsham and Pietsch said the Warrnambool Dirty Angels’ aim was to become affiliated with a league in the next couple of months. “Our aim is to become affiliated with another league to compete alongside them or to become our own affiliated league so we can challenge other teams to bouts,” she said. She said the team was also looking for a permanent indoor home. “We can’t continue using where we are at the moment, so we are on the lookout for somewhere else,” she said. “Ideally it would have polished concrete or timber floors with toilet and changing facilities, but we’re happy to skate anywhere. “Once we have an appropriate home, we will be able to have a public recruitment call for more people to come and join us.” jwoolley@fairfaxmedia.com.au

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