On Sunday, Naomi “Scream Soda” Morrell was more concerned with how she’s going to pack everything “in a little French suitcase” than the Junior Roller Derby World Cup games that begin this week.
The 16-year-old Belmont Secondary student, who flies out Tuesday, is playing in Valance, France from Friday to Sunday as one of the team’s co-captains.
She’s taking the responsibility seriously.
“There’s a certain amount of freaking out I could have done if I wasn’t named captain,” she said. “But it’s going to be my job to manage my emotion and the emotion of other people to keep my team calm.”
It’s a strategic sport that requires dancing around and hard-hitting plays, both of which Naomi can do.
“I’m violent when it needs to be,” she said. “But I think most of the time, I like to avoid contact and zip around.”
Roller derby, a full-contact sport on rollerskates played on an indoor flat track, began in the 1930s in the U.S., and has experienced a revival in the past two decades, particularly among women and those in the LGBTQ community.
“Sports often has that problem of pressure and bullying and that kind of thing that people have a hard time dealing with because it’s toxic,” said Naomi, who has played in a number of other sports, including swimming, soccer and rugby.
Roller derby has since become her chosen sport and family, she said.
An avid player since the age of 11, she even stuck with practices during COVID-19, picking needles off parking lots to practice, since indoor spaces were closed.
Her hard work paid off when she was selected to be one of the 35 players representing Canada at the highest level in her age bracket.
Her family has been able to raise community donations totalling more than $7,000 to help cover almost all her training expenses and new equipment — such as the custom-made carbon fiber, magnesium-plated skates — for the championships.
That’s the only thing that’s making her lose sleep these days, gratitude toward everyone who has helped her, she said. “I just think about all of the things that people have given me without hesitation.”
Naomi said she will give her all in the championships, despite the slim odds of Team Canada coming up on top.
“We’ll realistically get silver,” Naomi said, adding that it’s hard to overcome Team USA, with that country’s large population and amount of talent. “But I’m gonna fight and play as if we’re getting gold.”
