Vegas skates final lap for Redneck Betties

Saturday’s Redneck Rumble was a day of celebration for the host Redneck Betties as the upstart roller derby team hosted five bouts on their home track ranging from junior players, to a men’s scrimmage, all the way up to many of the top skaters from two provinces when Team Sask took on the Calgary’s All-Stars.

The day also had a slight undertone of sadness though as the Redneck Betties roster will be taking a major hit with some key departures.

Team captain Smash Vegas played her final bout with the Redneck Betties as she relocates to Regina and will join the Pile O’ Bones Derby Club. Jammer Funkie has been forced into retirement due to concussions and was around the track Sunday as an official.

Smash Vegas skated for both the Redneck Betties and Team Sask on Saturday.

“Actually I don’t believe it right now. I am sure tomorrow I will wake up tomorrow and realize that it is over.

“I always have such a good time with them and I feel like I will always be a part of the team no matter what,” said the captain after her second bout.

“I love these girls. I love the team, I love the fans, I love the city. It is going to be hard to leave,” said Smash Vegas.

“In my opinion it is going to be a huge loss,” said teammate Bashful Button.

“She has dedicated so much time and effort towards this team. She busts her butt off out there.”

Button was also sad to see Funkie forced into retirement from the physically demanding sport.

“That will be a tough one. I am always there and we always work together me and Funkie. That will be hard but it is awesome that she gets to ref now.”

“It is going to be hard for us to have lost Funkie and to lose Smash Vegas,” added jammer Jinger Vitis. “It is really really hard for us and a little bit emotional at the same time because they have been with the team for so long. At the same time they are still sticking around, they are still in derby, so at least they are staying with us.”

She hopes that the team can continue to be successful despite some key losses.

“It is going to be a tough loss, but it is not one person that makes the team. We have some fantastic girls that have just come up with us. They’ve got a long ways to go but they are going to be stellar players.”

Smash Vegas has been one of the driving forces behind roller derby in Swift Current both on and off the track. Despite taking roller derby from obscurity to surprising prominence in just a few years, she said she was most proud of their teamwork.

“I am most proud of our teamwork in every area, on the track, off the track, the closeness that we have like a family. When things go wrong we support each other, we trust each other, and that translates on the track.

“You can tell, other teams give us compliments that they can tell that we are a family and it really shows up on the track too.”

She is looking forward to a different challenge in Regina with a new team.

“It will be different. I know a lot of the girls already just from Team Sask and just playing against them and they are great too.

“They have a really good club too. They have been going strong for a really long time. They are another family, an extended family for me.”