Victoria roller derby star heading to France with Team Canada
Roller derby may not be an Olympic sport, but it has a world championship – and one Victoria junior skater is going to compete in it this year.
Naomi Morrell, also known as "Scream Soda," is the captain of Victoria's junior roller derby team, the Rotten Apples.
In November, Morrell travelled to Red Deer, Alta., to try out for Canada's national junior roller derby team.
Scream Soda faced off against 50 of the best skaters in Canada.
"I was terrified," she said.
But she made the team.
"Her father and I are very proud of her, but not surprised," said her mom, Cindy MacDougall.
Morrell's roller derby dreams had a storybook start about five years ago.
"I got this comic for Christmas. It was called 'Roller Girl,'" said Morrell. "It's about this little girl who joins roller derby."
Morrell would go on to trade her paperback for a pair of skates, and Scream Soda was born.
"I saw these women and non-binary people just demolishing each other on skates," she said.
Roller derby is a bit like rugby, where players score points by dodging players and making it into their defended zones.
Scream Soda is one part battering ram, one part ballerina, and her teammates love her.
The Rotten Apples junior roller derby team is shown. (CTV News)"She's a bundle of joy," said one of her Rotten Apples teammates.
"She got me this necklace," said another, noting that Morrell is the type of team captain that remembers your birthday.
Now that Scream Soda has made the national team, she'll be heading to France in July to join Canada at the Junior Roller Derby World Cup.
She's on the hook for travel costs though, so her friends and family are pitching in with bottle drives and other fundraisers.
A GoFundMe was set up for Morrell and had raised more than $3,400 of its $5,000 goal by Thursday.
Morrell is the only Vancouver Island player to make the national team, and is just one of three players from B.C., according to the online fundraiser.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
What Canadians think of the latest Liberal budget
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
Teacher shortages see some Ontario high school students awarded perfect grades on midterm exams
Students at a high school in York Region have been awarded perfect marks on their midterm exams in three subjects – not because of their academic performances however, but because they had no teacher.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
Her fiance has been in prison for 49 years. She's trying to free him before it's too late
Christine Roess is a retired consultant. Ezra Bozeman has spent the last 49 years in prison, serving a life sentence for a murder he says he didn’t commit. Against the odds, the two fell in love.