0:06  
On a Wednesday night in March, the air is cold and the sun is almost set. 20 women trickle into a cluster of warehouses in North Toronto. They meet in one particular gray building into the bunker inside the warehouse, tape outlines a track and a clusterathlete stretch and chatter as they wait for practice to start. As skates are laced up, and helmets are adjusted, the 20 women that had traveled all the way to Downsview are transformed into hard hitting focused athletes ready for a fight. But for many of the women here, being a team member on the Death Track Dolls, means more than just playing a contact sport.

0:46  
Hi, I'm Arly. My derby name is Argyll and this is my first year on a home team. And last year I played on the farm team. Roller derby is so much more you know like gender inclusive and body positive. Everyone here is looking to smash the patriarchy and fight for feminist freedom and I love all that so I fit in real well here.

1:12  
The women begin their warm up first off the track and then on. Flying around the mark out areas on their wheels. 

1:21  
My derby name is Wheeta-bitch. Well, most people just call me weedy. I'm generally a blocker, sometimes a pivot, and I'm cool Captain this year for the death track doll. It's just really great to see women on the track doing badass things. You see women look like different tattoos, different haircuts. And also it's an exciting sport where women are aggressive, you know, and everyone's like, oh, so like you hit and I'm like, yeah, actually, we do.

1:22  
My very first game, I was called up from the farm team to play against the Death Track Dolls. And it was either Wheetabitch or Batman, because they both hit me hard. And I don't know which one of them it was, but one of them broke my ribs and it was phenomenal. And I was so scared of the Dolls ever since I'm so glad I am on our team.

2:10  
It's a feminist sport, now there are men's roller derby leagues. But I remember hearing a while ago, you know, like I watched the men but it's just not the same as a woman who play sports who you know, played basketball and didn't get as much play time because I was a girl. And who still even at this age playing racquetball have come up against sexism. It's really great to be in a sport where it's for women, it's run by women, and that's really celebrated.

2:34  
My Derby name is Jigowatts and I'm one of the blockers on the Death Track Dolls. I fell in love with the sport from the first time that I ever watched it because it was just so empowering. Like, hey, look at these bad ass chicks whoo can do this stuff. It's crazy.

2:55  
I came to my first game when I was about six months pregnant. I needed some feminism because I was feeling really pregnant and I was hooked immediately. I knew it was something that I wanted to do, but I wasn't quite ready yet. And then a couple years later, one of my friends wanted to see what it was about and invited me to come to the the fresh meats info session. And I said ah  I don't know, and said, you know, you have to cut this Okay, fine. And then I was suddenly in a room full of my best friends that I never knew I had or needed. 

3:27  
It doesn't matter what background you come from, what you look like, what your body type is. It's all assets that can be used towards this game. I come from a ballet background, and the balance and stability comes in handy and it's something that I acknowledge that I can pass on to my team.

3:45  
As both teams line up on the start line, their whistle blows and they're off. The crowd cheers as their favorite jammer fights her way through the pack, and glides around the track as she scores for points for her team.

3:57  
The thing that I love about this sport is there's not one ideal body type. Everything has its own advantages, like all of our body shapes, and all of our sizes can be celebrated and can be used as assets on the track. For me, it's really also brought about a lot of confidence and body image. I remember growing up and being like, Oh, these jeans don't fit, my thighs are too big. Whereas now I don't even bother trying to buy jeans anymore. And my thighs and like yeah, my thighs are really big, but they're awesome. And they can move these other people on the track. And so you know, I never thought that I would be wearing booty shorts in front of a crowd and now I'm pretty comfortable in it.

4:37  
I threw out my scale. I stopped caring about the how much I weighed, which is really great. It was really freeing. It was a really freeing moment for me.

4:49  
I've always struggled with my weights and being on the Death Track Dolls. I've actually lost 50 pounds in the last year. It's crazy the amount of work that you have to put in and it also Just made me realize how unique I am and so powerful as a woman, like I can do anything.

5:11  
And one of the really great things is that it's a really fast growing sport. So actually, the majority of places across Canada actually now do have some form of roller derby league.

5:23  
I'm a grad student so next year, I could end up moving anywhere, wherever I get hired. And that fear of having to make new friends is gone because I know wherever I go, there's gonna be, you know, roller derby there. It's just it's given me a lot of confidence. Not feeling like I'm a freak all the time because I know there's 100 other people like me out there. I feel like I have a community and like not just here in Toronto, but like a global community. 

5:49  
Cheers echo around the warehouse as the game comes to a close. Yeah, oops, take one more lap to high five their fans lining the track. Winning the game is just an added bonus for the Death Track Dolls. Being part of Toronto roller derby means being a powerful woman on wheels.