Advertisement Melissa Larivee has been a skater at High Roller Skating Rink in La Crosse since she was 8 or 9 years old. She has loved speed skating the most (at age 12 she placed seventh in a national competition) and jumped at the chance to skate for a roller derby league in the La Crosse area. In April 2008, Larivee, 27, decided to form her own league.
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Paige Strominski-Larivee, LeAndra Thomson and Storm Shannon, from left, are following in their moms’ footsteps by being among the first to sign up for the La Crosse Skating Sirens Derby Dolls league, a junior league for 9- to 17-year-olds.
Photo by Jo Anne Killeen |
Now, the founder of the La Crosse Skating Sirens is passing her skating passion down to her 8-year-old (soon to be 9) stepdaughter, Paige Strominski-Larivee. The 27-year-old mother of seven has decided to form and coach a junior skating league for young ladies called the La Crosse Skating Sirens Derby Dolls.
The Skating Sirens league is a member of the Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby Association and is one of two leagues in the La Crosse region. The Derby Dolls is part of the Junior Flat Track league, which has about 20 leagues nationwide and is open to girls 9 to 17.
The La Crosse Derby Dolls league is the only one of its kind in this area; the next nearest junior league is in Appleton.
LeAndra Thomson, already 9, is ready to roll. Thomson, a fourth-grader at Prairie View Elementary in Holmen, said she was at High Roller for her birthday party last year and she has been skating there since. She signed up for roller derby because it looks like fun. “It’s an all-girl sport and my Mom’s in it,” she said.
Storm Shannon, a 10th-grader at La Crosse Logan High School, said her mom is also skating for the Skating Sirens league. And her Uncle Tim is the head coach.
“I signed up because it’s different,” Shannon said. “I saw roller derby by watching the Skating Sirens. I love them.” Her favorite sport is soccer, so she hopes skating will keep her in shape for that.
While head coach Larivee pegged Thomson as a potential jammer and Shannon as a possible pivot, her stepdaughter Paige, well, she’s ready to be a blocker.
The youngster got mad when her stepmom described the league’s rule prohibiting the girls from actually knocking anyone down. They utilize what is called positional blocking, which consists of positioning the body in front of another team’s skater and not letting her get around, very similar to a pick or screen.
Paige didn’t take that news too well. “Why can’t I knock them on their butts?” she said with a mock pout, hands on her hips.
Registration for the new league has already begun and the rosters are filling up. Larivee is looking for about 30 girls to form three or four teams based on skill levels.
“I got the idea to form the league from the girls in our Kids Club,” Larivee said. “All I heard from them is we want to skate like that, too. These girls represent the future of women’s roller derby.”
The Kids Club is offered to all kids attending the women’s matches. Kids Club members are allowed to come out to the side of the track before the match begins. While the members of the Skating Sirens are introduced and skate around the track, they high-five all the kids in the Kids Club. Kids Club members get to sit in a reserved area of the stands as well.
The Skating Sirens Derby Dolls program is designed to build self confidence, positive attitudes, sportswomanship, responsibility and leadership in young girls interested in the sport of roller derby and who have ambition to learn, whether they have already been involved in athletics or are just finding their interest in athletics starting with roller derby.
Skaters must reach the age of 9 prior to the first practice day of the season, Jan. 4, and may finish the season or join the La Crosse Skating Sirens immediately upon turning 18.
The junior league will play matches in front of fans attending the women’s bouts. The La Crosse Center is the Skating Sirens’ home rink, and they have played in front of over 400 fans coming out for the bouts. The women play two matches per month and the girls will play matches during breaks between the women’s bouts.
Larivee noted she is also looking for volunteers to referee or help either league out in other ways.
