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
Chants of 'shame on you' greet guests arriving for the annual White House correspondents' dinner
An election-year roast of U.S. President Joe Biden before journalists, celebrities and politicians at the annual White House correspondents' dinner Saturday.
What is a 'halal mortgage'? Does it make housing more accessible?
The 2024 federal budget announced on April 16 included plans to introduce “halal mortgages” as a way to increase access to home ownership.
Here's where Canadians are living abroad: report
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
Deadly six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 sparked by road rage incident
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Harvey Weinstein hospitalized after return to New York from upstate prison
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer said Saturday that the onetime movie mogul has been hospitalized for a battery of tests after his return to New York City following an appeals court ruling nullifying his 2020 rape conviction.
'We are declaring our readiness': No decision made yet as Poland declares it's ready to host nuclear weapons
Polish President Andrzej Duda says while no decision has been made around whether Poland will host nuclear weapons as part of an expansion of the NATO alliance’s nuclear sharing program, his country is willing and prepared to do so.
Central Alberta queer groups react to request from Red Deer-South to reinstate Jennifer Johnson to UCP caucus
A number of LGBQT+2s groups in Central Alberta are pushing back against a request from the Red Deer South UCP constituency to reinstate MLA Jennifer Johnson into the UCP caucus.