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She bought the skate plates separate from the shoes, and pieced together her ideal pair of skates - including the wheels, bearings and cushions.
Another local roller derby player runs a side-business doing skate maintenance and cleaning, and when Ms Mullinger needs help she takes her skates over there.
Skates can get filthy, apparently, so cleaning is required fairly regularly: “You’re on floors that may not have been swept and the worst thing for our skates is hair. It gets all wound up in the axels and gets into everything,” said Ms Mullinger.
Her preferred pair of skates have a leather shoe, and the wear and tear on them during a game can be “quite huge”.
“My shoes always go first. I haven’t had to change the cushions yet, but I’ve had to change the bearings a couple of times,” she said.
Ms Mullinger’s skates are set-up with two different types of wheels - this comes down to personal preference and how much stability a player desires.
“You can get wheels that stick harder to the floor, and you can get ones that slip - it all gets very in-depth on how you set-up your shoes and skates,” she said.
“I have a stickier wheel on the left hand side of my shoe, so when I’m going around the track - we go around anti-clockwise - I have more grip. The wheel on the other side is more slippery, for speed.
“I still have the original pair of speed skates that my parents bought for me when I was skating at Newcastle Skatel growing up.
“I also have a pair of skates that were made by the bloke that owned the Windsor Skatel - they were given to me by a very lovely old couple who are regulars at the pharmacy. So I fixed them up and they’re quite serviceable now. I’m a bit of a collector of skates.”
Some like it tough
Agility, strength and speed are all desirable traits when you’re playing roller derby. Some competitors focus on being strong, and others focus on agility, “but there’s no point in being fast and not strong, because you’ll get knocked over and lose a lot of energy,” according to Ms Mullinger.
The roller derby track is set out in a ring shape, and the game is played over two 30-minute halves. Four skaters from each team line-up at the starting point - these skaters are called blockers - while a jammer from each team lines up behind.
The jammers are your scoring skaters, and when the whistle goes, they fight to get through the pack of blockers. The idea is to lap the other team members and score points. There are multiple ‘jams’ during the course of the game, each lasting a maximum of two minutes - meaning it’s high intensity, and fast.
“There’s lots of pushing and shoving, but there are a few things that are not allowed. There’s no hitting to the head, no elbows, no forearms, and no hitting to the middle of the back. And you can’t take out people’s legs,” Ms Mullinger explained.
“We’re allowed to use shoulders - that’s a big one - and hips. Those are your main ways of barging through. You can also use your height, and you can go up and down - if you get low enough, you can destabilise somebody to move out of your way. You also get help from your teammates. It’s all very argy bargy.”
Jammers, like Ms Mullinger, have a special cover over their helmets so the referees don’t lose track of them.
“But because you’ve put that on your helmet, everyone from the opposition is trying to knock you over,” she said.
Everyone’s welcome
The local league has one team of eight members, all women. They’ve had male players in the past, and members ranging in age from 16 right through to 50. Everyone is welcome.
The sport is known around the traps as being ‘all inclusive’: “It doesn’t matter what shape, size, gender, persuasion, whatever, you’re accepted. There’s always somewhere for you in roller derby - even if you don’t want to be on skates!” she said.
The local team’s name is Camokazies, and their uniforms are variations on an army theme. Skates, though, are purely personal choice.
HARD is holding a meet and greet day for new members on Thursday, December 8. Visit the league’s Facebook page for more details.