West Kootenay Women’s Roller Derby League (WKWRDL) mania is back on the track, as the West Kootenay Kannibelles roll into a new season with their first foray south of the border.
The Kannibelles are heading to Spokane, Wash. to face the similarly dubbed Spokannibals at the Roller Valley Skate Center, Saturday.
Both the Kannabelles and Spokannibals are coming off excellent opening seasons and are hungry for more.
The Kannabelles crew is an all-star team made up of the best of the West Kootenay Women’s Roller Derby League. After only one season, the elite team is already rated ninth in the nation by Canadian Roller Derby Rankings and get set to embark on their second season of high-caliber competition.
The traveling team has six games scheduled for the new year with their first home game going Apr. 21 when the Raggedy Rollers from the Okanagan Shuswap visit the Rossland Arena.
The WKWRDL meanwhile gets set to roll in April with six teams and 22 games scheduled for this campaign. The first WKWRDL tilts hit the oval April 13 at the Rossland Arena, when Salmo’s Babes of Brutality take on Nelson’s Lumber Jackies and the Dam City Rollers of Nelson battle Rossland’s Gnarlies Angels. The Bad News Betties and Valley Vendettas from Slocan round out the teams.
The league is also hosting the Best of the West: Klash in the Kootenays, which is the annual western regional tournament in June in Nelson.
All-female, flat track, roller derby is the fastest growing sport in the world.
The West Kootenay Kannabelles hit the track in Spokane at 7 p.m.