SEEING Amanda McDonald walking down the street, you would never pick that the everyday administration worker and mother-of-two has a colourful sporting alter-ego.
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Ditching her office clothes and sensible shoes, the 39-year-old dons skates and slightly risqué outfits several times a week to rumble in the roller derby rink.
Amanda goes by the nickname of Hugs when she’s with her fellow Dragon City Derby Dolls – but not because of her caring, motherly nature.
“It was actually going to be Amanda Hugginhit (after Bart’s ‘Amanda Hugginkiss/a man to hug and kiss’ prank call in The Simpsons),” she laughs.
“Then it was just Hugginhit, but that was a bit too long to put all over the back of my shirts, so it was shortened to Hugs.”
Husband Craig is affectionately known as Mr Hugs, and sons Sam, 17, and Declan, 11, are regular supporters on the sidelines at the club’s Truscott Reserve track.
“The boys do come and watch me play, which is fabulous,” she says, “though I’m not sure they are so keen on seeing me skate around in my hotpants.
“I never used to be comfortable with it myself – I was so self-conscious. But seeing all these other women of all different body shapes wearing those clothes changed things… and now I just wear shorts or leggings like everyone else.
Amanda first toyed with the idea of playing roller derby many years ago, and even went along to one of the group’s introductory training courses known as Fresh Meat.
“But it looked really scary and I just thought, I can’t do this, it’s too much” she says.
“A lot of the people who come to watch looked pretty scary too and that was one of the reasons I was a little reluctant at first.
"Everyone had massive hair and make-up and amazing clothes, and I was just a mum wanting to get out there and have a go.”
It wasn’t until 2012, when she had become bored with netball and was looking for a new challenge, that Amanda plucked up the courage to return.
“I did the Fresh Meat course again and loved it, so I gave up netball immediately and now train three times a week for roller derby.”
She is a level four bouting skater and member of the Derby Dolls travelling team, the Chiko Rollers, who will this year compete in a Statewide Stampede series against other roller derby leagues across Victoria.
Round one takes place in Braybrook this Sunday and Bendigo hosts round three in May.
Roller derby bouts can involve hard-hitting physical contact as teams of four blockers aim to clear the way for their jammer to skate through the pack and pass the opposition players, or stop the rival jammer breaking their own lines.
Matches consist of 30-minute halves, with jammers earning their team one point for every opponent they pass during the two minutes they are allocated for each jam attempt.
Players can be sent to the sin bin for committing illegal contact and other rule violations and are fouled out if they incur seven penalties in a single bout.
One minute you are hitting an opponent and the next they are giving you a hug and saying, hey, that was a good hit.
- Amanda McDonald, aka Hugs
“It can be a tricky sport to learn, but they teach you everything you need to know” says Amanda.
“At the start, it’s more about teaching your body how to move and working up your muscle memory so you don’t have to think about what you are doing.
"It’s not until level two that you really start to focus on game-play strategies.
“I even had to learn how to skate properly, as I could only do a basic lap when I started, and it took me a year from when I first began Fresh Meat to when I had my first proper bout.
“Some people take longer, others can take a lot less. One of our girls is a former artistic figure skater and she was bouting in three months.”
The Derby Dolls presently have about 40 skating members, including 14 in the travel team and up to 10 level threes, who have had contact training and can take part in home games.
The women are aged from 16 to 40-something and come from all walks of life.
“We are such a diverse group of really amazing people,” Amanda says.
“We have players who are full on about the athletic side of things and do boot camps, and we have mums who just need a night out from the kids to get to know new people and do something they’ve never done before.”
Not only is Amanda an active participant with 10 bouts under her belt, she is also the website co-ordinator and bout co-ordinator for local matches.
She loves the fact everyone puts their hands up to help out, and there is no shortage of personal support either.
“It’s so much more than just turn up, skate and leave. We train three times a week and travel all over Victoria together so it’s become like an extended family,” she says.
“When people have something going on in their life, like a job interview, all their team-mates will send messages saying good luck and things like that.
“We’ve also had a few people who have had mental health issues in the past and the camaraderie has been great in helping them through.”
After watching his mum, son Sam is now doing the Fresh Meat course run by the club and hopes to one day join the ranks of Bendigo’s other two male referees (also known as Dragon Keepers).
Amanda has erected motivational signs around the Derby Dolls skating track with messages like “Don’t be ashamed of your big butt – it’s a weapon of mass destruction” and “If you still look pretty at the end of training, you haven’t tried hard enough”.
But her main message is that roller derby is a sport for all shapes and sizes and it is definitely not as scary as it looks.
“Yes, you do really big hits and people go flying across the ground, but you are all padded up and have a mouth guard and the best pads you can buy, and you are taught to fall properly.
“One minute you are hitting an opponent and the next they are giving you a hug and saying, hey, that was a good hit.
“We have some really big girls who are solid athletes, all muscle, and people might not realise they play sport but you put them on a pair of skates and they will take anyone on.
“We’ve also got teenagers who are tiny and it’s amazing to see them jam.”
Amanda encourages any women who can skate a basic lap to consider taking up roller derby.
“I didn’t see it as a sport at first, and it scared me off initially that everyone seemed so alternative,” she says.
“My only regret now is that I didn’t do it 10 years ago when I had better fitness.
"I see all these young ones now in their 20s skating around and wonder, why did I wait so long?”
More information about the club and the sport is available at dragoncityderbydolls.com
