Terminal City Girls on a Roll

The Terminal City Rollergirls, Vancouver's first female roller derby league, were holding a bout between the Riot Girls and the Bad Reps and judging from the long lineup to get in, they had a cult following.

Played on a flat track, two teams place five players aside consisting of:

A Jammer, who lines up 20 feet behind the other players and is the only one who can score--Jammers' helmets are adorned with a star.

A Pivot, who wears a striped helmet and is the last line of defense against an advancing Jammer.

Three Blockers who essentially lead block for the Jammer while hindering the opposition.

Once the Jammer laps the pack once, points are awarded for every enemy player passed and the opposition can prevent the Jammer from passing by hip or shoulder checking--no chop blocking or hitting from behind is allowed.

The league says that it is a new style of roller derby with "a fresh vibe, played with a whole new mentality".

Media Coordinator Andrea Fraser, aka Andi Struction #10 from the Faster Pussy Cats team, elaborated on the philosophy.

"As people remember, if they watched the old style of roller derby, it was choreographed, theatrical and more along the lines of WWE," she explained.

"The way we play is basically the same rules and game play but totally unrehearsed and everything is real."

Voted Vancouver's Best Kept Secret by the Georgia Straight in 2007, attendance has been steadily rising all season long.

"It's really starting to get popular. Every time we have a game, we have more and more fans, our first game we had about 600, our second game we had 700, the last game we had 1100 and we're hoping for 1,500 this time," said "Andi Struction".

"It's growing slowly but surely."

Those wanting to join can go to the league website.