Get ready for merby: men's roller derby hits Sudbury

Men are getting in on the action of what's traditionally been an all-female sport.

Men's roller derby, or merby, is coming to Sudbury this weekend, but Robert Shlemkevich, the coach of the NORD Poles, said he has no intention of trying to take over the sport.

Shlemkevich said the idea to form a men's team "just kind of evolved" from a group of male referees in the women's league who decided they wanted to play the game.

Shlemkevich, who goes by the derby moniker Celtic Raider, said MRDA, the men's roller derby association, allowed them to form a team, but they couldn't draw enough interest from players in Sudbury, forcing themto recruit players from across northern Ontario.

The rules of roller derby

So what are roller derby rules?

"Basically you have five players," Shlemkevich said. "Four blockers, whose objective is to help their team score, and the jammer."

The objective is to stop the other team's jammer from scoring, while clearing a path for your own.

"Most of the action happens in this group of eight people," he said. "The way you score points is your jammer skates around...first they get through everybody once, then for every lap they do after that, for every person they pass they score one point."

Shlemkevich said there's a few similarities with another popular sport on skates.

"When you see someone who's coming in to give you a check, much like a hockey player, you either tense up, or juke out of the way, or hit back."

"Some people think it's a little more aggressive [than women's roller derby,]" he said. "It's rough. There's some pretty big hits."

But it's not all about the contact, he said.

"The ideas isn't to hit everybody, it's to get your jammer through. Hitting is the best way to do that."

"Contact is a part of the sport. But you teach people how to hit legally and safely."

Shlemkevich saidthe sport is gaining in popularity. The MRDAcurrently has 72 teams across North America.

As for the NORD Poles, Shlemkevich hopes that one day they can attract enough players from Sudbury, which would give them the means to practice and develop a game plan for when they match up against out-of-town teams.

Until that day, he expects his team of northerners to match up well against other competitors, including this week's visitors from the Toronto.

"It could be a good challenge," he said. "We're not looking to get destroyed, but we're looking for a competitive team."

The NORDPoles will go up again Toronto Outrage on Saturday at 7:00 p.m at the Carmichael Arena in Sudbury. The event is hosted by Nickel City Roller Derby.

Before the game, there is an open skate from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. for anyone who wants to strap on some skates and try out the sport.

Tickets for the open skate and the game are $10. Children 9 and under are free (2 children per adult.)