Victoria teen hopes to captain Canadian roller derby team to victory in international match

Thirty-five young Canadian athletes are rolling off to France this week for the Junior Roller Derby World Cup.

Victoria-based Naomi Morrell, the co-captain of the female team, says she's certain Team Canada will be coming home with a medal.

"Obviously, I'm going for gold. That's what I'm going to be there to do. I'm going to work as if we're getting first place. But being most realistic, I think that we're headed right for silver, and I'm pretty happy with that," Morrell told CBC's On the Island.

"If the U.S. beats us out like that, go ahead. But you know we'll give them quite the fight."

Morrell has gone by the roller derby nickname "Scream Soda" since she was 11 years old — a name she found in a book about the sport.

She said while she's nervous about the world championships, earning the title of co-captain has actually soothed her nerves. She feels that it's her personal responsibility to stay calm for the rest of the team.

The teenager, who'll celebrate her 17th birthday shortly after the competition wraps up, has several other things to keep in mind as team co-captain.

"It's quite a pretty little title, but most of it is very inconvenient in roller derby. When a team commits something that causes trouble with gameplay — say they delay the game somehow, or they're not prepared — the captain has to sit for a penalty," she said.

"A lot of the time, something will happen on the track that's not particularly a single player's fault but just sort of the fault of the team as a whole. And that's where the captain would take the fall for that."

Team members have been practising separately in their own hometowns since January and have gotten together for two team practices in Toronto and Calgary. 

Team manager Jennifer Zammit said while adult roller derby teams have been around for a long time, junior roller derby for teenagers up til age 18 is relatively new in Canada, appearing on the scene about 12 years ago.

Zammit said whether the team ends up winning or not, they're extremely excited to head to France — calling it a "bucket list" trip. 

This is the first international championship for the team. Some players had qualified for the 2020 World Cup, to be held in Regina, Saskatchewan, but the COVID pandemic forced the cancellation of that championship. 

Morrell will leave for Valence, France, early on Tuesday in preparation for her first game on Friday local time. The championship finals will be played Sunday.

There are eight teams participating in the world cup: Canada, Australia, the United States, New Zealand, Sweden, France, Great Britain, and Denmark. 

"These skaters on Team Canada Junior Roller Derby are just as athletic as any hockey-playing [or] soccer-playing Canadian teenager," Zammit said.

"And Canadians — not just in Victoria or in the Lower Mainland, but really, across Canada — should open up their hearts and their facilities to junior roller derby, where all kids have an opportunity to be active and have fun."