I loved roller skating as a kid, and after a lifetime of martial arts I found it fun to bash into things. Combine that with a culture that’s supportive and silly and diverse? Yes please.
The tradition in roller derby is for players to make up a name that involves a violent pun, and after much brainstorming I came up with Kim Slambell, in honour of Canada’s first and still only female Prime Minister. My jersey number was 126: the number of years between Confederation and Kim Campbell’s brief rule.
(Another option could have been the fraction of days since Confederation that Canada has had a female Prime Minister – currently 132 / 57380 – but that would be difficult for both jerseys and announcers.)
One day, in my former professional capacity, I found myself in the same room as former Prime Minister Kim Campbell. She was giving a speech about something; I was sitting in the audience trying to work up the courage to approach her afterwards to ask for permission to pay derby homage.
Eventually the room cleared enough and I approached. I was flustered and it is likely she was at least at first confused. But once my request became clear she said yes, on condition that I was suitably aggressive.
Sadly, I was not. I had good stamina and speed but I had trouble getting the hang of dynamic teamwork, plus I learned I was at risk of serious and permanent medical consequences if I got jarred too hard.
So Kim Slambell’s derby career was short-lived too.
Kim Slambell
For a while I did roller derby.
I loved roller skating as a kid, and after a lifetime of martial arts I found it fun to bash into things. Combine that with a culture that’s supportive and silly and diverse? Yes please.
The tradition in roller derby is for players to make up a name that involves a violent pun, and after much brainstorming I came up with Kim Slambell, in honour of Canada’s first and still only female Prime Minister. My jersey number was 126: the number of years between Confederation and Kim Campbell’s brief rule.
(Another option could have been the fraction of days since Confederation that Canada has had a female Prime Minister – currently 132 / 57380 – but that would be difficult for both jerseys and announcers.)
One day, in my former professional capacity, I found myself in the same room as former Prime Minister Kim Campbell. She was giving a speech about something; I was sitting in the audience trying to work up the courage to approach her afterwards to ask for permission to pay derby homage.
Eventually the room cleared enough and I approached. I was flustered and it is likely she was at least at first confused. But once my request became clear she said yes, on condition that I was suitably aggressive.
Sadly, I was not. I had good stamina and speed but I had trouble getting the hang of dynamic teamwork, plus I learned I was at risk of serious and permanent medical consequences if I got jarred too hard.
So Kim Slambell’s derby career was short-lived too.