Name: Tiny Tank

Number: 74

Age: Late 40s

Hometown: Richmond Hill, Ontario

What’s the story behind your derby name/derby number? When I came home and told my husband I wanted to play roller derby, his response was “That’s awesome, you’re built like a tank!” Being very short (4’11’) I added the “tiny” part to it. I didn’t really think too much about my number at the time, our first bout was coming up, and I needed a unique number, so I defaulted to the year of my birth.

When did you join Roller Derby/Renegade Derby Dames? Why? I joined Fresh Meat with the GTA Rollergirls in 2011, after a Weight Watchers at Work meeting. One of the women in the group said she was going to join roller derby as part of her fitness plan, and I piped up, I want to come too! After completing fresh meat together, we quickly became “derby wives” and great friends. I joined the Renegade Derby Dames in January 2016, after the family decided to move to Springwater, Ontario.

What’s the best thing about roller derby? Just one thing is hard to pin down. There is the athleticism, and the feeling like you have joined a great sisterhood. Perhaps the greatest thing is being able to legally hit people.

Why do you keep playing? It really is so much fun!

What is your derby goal/dream? To hopefully keep constantly improving.

Favourite derby moment? After 5 seasons, with 4 different teams, there are a lot of them. There was my first road trip to Ottawa for a scrimmage against Team Canada players and “big dudes” (what do you mean boys play roller derby?), or that time I was blocking by myself on the track while our jammer fed the opposing team’s jammer to me (and my jammer got lead), or meeting derby players from around the world at Rollercon (I’ll be attending my 4th Rollercon this year). It’s really hard to pick just one. Most of my favourite memories have actually occurred off the track on roads trips. These are the times where great friendships and great memories are made.