Van Diemen Rollers
League:
Roller Derby
State / Area:
TAS / Regional
Funding Requested
$1500
Voting has now finished.
Recipients will be announced on 6th June 2016.
About Van Diemen Rollers
We are a roller derby league in the north and north-west of Tasmania. We are unique in that we train in two separate locations but are one united team. VDR was established in 2009, initially just in Launceston. In 2010 we grew to include members in the north-west coast. We now have over 50 members! We train up to 3 times a week and have members travelling up to 3 hours to get there! Our league is run 100% by volunteers, as this is still a relatively new sport there is no governing body in Tasmania, or Australia to help with organisation.
Value to the Community
Our team has brought together an amazingly varied group of people to play a sport that celebrates diversity, athleticism and an amazing sense of community. Roller derby is sport dominated by women, though men are also encouraged to play! This has enabled so many women to join our league and participate in a sport that celebrates us for who we are and does not discriminate against age, size, shape or background. Many women who join have never played a sport before, but roller derby and Van Diemen Rollers have provided them with the opportunity to do so in a fun and exciting environment. This is incredibly empowering for everyone involved as many people find themselves being active and participating in a strong community group, for some it's for the very first time.
Why the funds are needed
We need funds to help our representative team to purchase uniform jerseys and starter gear for new skaters to loan. There is a lot of cost involved in playing this sport as members need to purchase all of their own gear, pay for registration, insurance and monthly fee's to cover venue hire for training sessions, as well as all the costs involved in travel. It is a large financial burden that we would like help to alleviate to make the sport easier to participate in. If we can offer gear to loan to new skaters it will make this sport more accessible to the wider community who cannot afford the initial start up cost.
Links
facebook.com/vandiemenrollers
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