After my last shoot involving roller sports, you’d think I would have been a little less stoked about the idea of shooting roller derby at close range in a school gym. But when I saw a post on Facebook mentioning the Belleville Roller Derby, I knew I had to get out and experience it.

When I looked into it a bit further, I found that the team isn’t playing matches yet, but I decided to contact them anyway. As it turns out, each player needs to be certified before playing and they are working hard to get the team ready with regular practices. They seemed happy enough to have me come to a practice though, so that was good enough for me!

I had an amazing time, and ended up staying for the entire practice. Plus I got to climb a rickety ladder that seemed to appear out of nowhere (I’m going to guess it was about 80 feet tall) and lived to tell the tale. Here are a few of my favourite shots, but there are way more on my Facebook Page. And don’t forget to check out the Belleville Roller Derby page to keep on top of all the latest news and show your support!