A new sport is set to roll across the island in the new year.
Malta’s first roller derby league is gearing up to make its debut in the coming days.
Traditionally consisting of all-female teams, the sport is sometimes described as rugby on roller skates. The derby is played on an oblong rink in which two teams attempt to score points by skating counter-clockwise and out-lapping each other.
A team consists of a ‘jammer’ and four ‘blockers’. It is the jammer’s job to race around the rink while blockers are tasked with keeping off the opposing team’s jammer and assisting their own, effectively playing both offence and defence.
Many players are often known only by pseudonyms.
The Honey Island Rollers came around at the beginning of summer, after the partial lockdown left a number of skaters longing for company and exercise.
Founding member Ġiġġifogu brought together the first 13 members of the league. Led by three experienced skaters who have played in leagues across Europe, the team completed its first ‘fresh meat’ training – a sort of boot camp for new recruits – over the summer.
“The group came together after a number of us were tired of sitting around bored in lockdown,” Smacks,...
