You know me as Lindsay Casey, but let me introduce you to my former alter ego, Cookie Toss #44, Captain of Chicks Ahoy Roller Derby.
Ever heard of the TXRD? They’re a badass group of chicks from Texas, and they were the inspiration behind one of my biggest achievements to date. About eight years ago, a bunch of us sat down with some beers and hatched a plan for roller derby domination. None of us knew how to skate, but we didn’t care. We were going to the the Toronto Terrors and we were going to kick ass.
A couple weeks later, armed with some mail order roller skates, we had negotiated practice space at an old roller rink in Mississauga. We found some coaches and figured it out. Within a few months we went from a bunch of beer swilling punk rockers to lean, mean, violent skating machines. Well, we kept swilling beer, but hey, roller skating burns a TON of calories!
We had no other team to play with and weren’t ready for a travel team, so we held tryouts. The response was amazing and we soon had 6 teams running in Toronto! I was chosen co-Captain of one of the fledgling teams. We named ourselves Chicks Ahoy! Bitches That Don’t Crumble and set out to be the best team in the city.
We were the party team, the underdogs, the fun ones. We were the fun ones that everyone thought were slackers, but we practiced as hard as we partied and kicked everyones asses. We lost the championship the first year the league held a proper season but came back swinging to take it the next year. Chicks Ahoy! have duelled the Gore Gore Rollergirls for the coveted boot every year since.
The Toronto Roller Derby League is now the largest flat track roller derby league in North America. I shattered my right knee in a motorcycle accident a few years ago so I no longer skate, but I’m proud of the impact my four years in the sport, from founding member to team captain to PR committee to alumni, had on both the league and myself. Just goes to show that if you build it, they will come.
Want something in your community? Don’t see it? Build it yourself. It feels awesome.
