An alleged car thief has slowed down a Nanaimo roller derby team.
A Chevy Aveo belonging to Harbour City Rollers player Tina Haywood was stolen in the early morning on Monday in south Nanaimo. The vehicle contained all kinds of roller derby gear, including six or seven pairs of skates plus various elbow pads, wrist guards, helmets and spare wheels.
The team had collected the used equipment over the years to make it available to newcomers – “fresh meat” – wishing to try out the sport.
Amber Sparks, another Rollers player, said it costs $300-400 for a new player to purchase all the necessary equipment.
“So being able to try on some gear, get the correct sizing, figure out, can I skate, can I not skate, is this for me, is a great opportunity for someone just starting out,” she said. “And so for all of our stuff to get stolen, now we don’t even have the chance to offer that to people.”
She said the equipment, though it doesn’t have much resale value, will cost the Rollers a significant amount of money to replace.
She hopes someone might spot the car, which is distinctive. It’s yellow, dented on both sides, and has a ‘derby girl’ sticker in one of the windows.
“It’s not a great car. It [just] happened to have all of our stuff in it…” Sparks said. “[Stolen] cars have been found with all the contents intact so we’re really hoping for a good resolution here.”
sports@nanaimobulletin.com