Roller Skating Reborn

Spring 2020 was a time now known as “early pandemic” – a period defined by people stuck inside their houses, with endless Zoom meetings, washing groceries, hand-sewing masks and with many people utterly terrified by the deadly virus taking the world by storm.  

But in the midst of this chaos and uncertainty, a nostalgic trend took over – one with a focus on letting the good times roll.  

Roller skating – popular first in the 1930s and again in the 1970s – came back. The catalyst for this new trend? A single TikTok video, featuring Ana Coto, now a TikTok star, skating down her street. Within days, online searches for roller skating skyrocketed. Videos of people dancing to music in roller skates were everywhere. Roller skates were sold out “worldwide,” according to Vogue Magazine. Many people had found their new quarantine hobby. But why roller skating? 

WE Roller Skaters 

Crystal Durocher is the co-founder of WE Roller Skaters, a group that is creating awareness and space for the local roller-skating community. 

“With roller skating, it’s an activity you can learn kind of by yourself to start,” said Durocher. “And so, when you are able to hang out with friends, it’s an outdoor activity where you can still kind of maintain social distancing. And physical activity is really good for your mental health in general, I think.” 

Like many others, Durocher found herself without a job at the beginning of the pandemic. 

“Well, actually during – when the whole lockdown thing started, I’m a hairdresser and I got you know ‘sent home’ – can’t work,” said Durocher. “So, I actually got a little depressed and I came upon the idea of roller skating and I was like, you know what? What the heck. I had nothing to lose and I got myself a pair of skates and I fell in love with it right away.” 

What started as a fun activity for Durocher turned into a passion. With help from Lula Kuli, vice-president of Windsor Roller Derby, the two founded WE Roller Skaters, with a mission to raise awareness about the lack of a roller rink or other designated skating space in Windsor. When it debuted in May of 2021, their group made a splash, garnering local media coverage and attention.  

WE Roller Skaters hosts fun, recreational meet-ups for all types and levels of skaters, typically choosing an outdoor location. They have created space for Windsor-Essex skaters to gather in the absence of a physical building. But it was not always this way.  

Wheels Roller Rink 

Windsor has a rich history of roller skating. Wheels Roller Rink was a mainstay of the community, operating for years in multiple locations from 1974 until 2005. Many different generations of Windsorites have fond memories of the rink, so much so that a “WHEELS ROLLERSKATING” group was started on Facebook. The group has more than 200 members, who share their stories and experiences. 

George Drew, a former DJ at the Wheels Forest Glade location, was at the grand opening of the rink. 

“I was there opening day, but I was a train wreck,” said Drew. “I was holding the boards the whole time crying, ‘I’m gonna die!’ Just falling like a fool. And my feet. I’ll never forget how sore my feet were.” 

Kim Reaume, a member of the Facebook group and former head of PR and Sponsorship for Windsor Roller Derby, saw the group on Facebook and was interested in joining. 

“It popped up and my heart skipped a beat,” said Reaume. “As soon as I clicked on it, I started seeing familiar faces.”

Wheels was a significant part of Reaume’s life growing up. 

“I lived at Wheels as a kid,” said Reaume. “As soon as I could get the summer pass, I was literally there. Monday to Friday during the day, then I’d go back Friday night, Saturday day, Saturday night, Sunday day, Sunday night. That was my whole life growing up.” 

Julia Dawson, administrator of the Facebook Group, has many happy memories at the rink of Wheels. 

“I’ve met a lot of amazing friends, a couple of crushes,” said Dawson. “I fell in love with a lot of the music that (has) stuck (with) me now.” 

The various Wheels locations were co-owned by Chuck Faubert and Fred Sorrell, both of whom have passed away. 

Drew believes that owners Faubert and Sorrell helped an entire generation of people. 

“A lot of us kids could have ended up really bad, like bad kids,” said Drew. “You know, coming from the west end at that time…there was a lot of stuff that could go bad, real fast. And these guys just gave us like a safe place, stability. They would talk common sense into you if you were going to get in a fight.” 

Wheels had a major impact on the lives of the young people in the area. 

“That was my whole life,” said Reaume. “And so, when it went away, I missed it. I think I went into like a depression, because that was our soap opera. That was our who’s dating who and you know, all the drama…I grew up there and learned life lessons there, good and bad. It’s like, you know, the Cheers theme song. It’s like, ‘everybody knows your name.’ Everybody knew who you were.” 

Since the closure of the McDougall location, there has been no space for roller skating in Windsor-Essex. Many former Wheels customers would love to see a similar location in Windsor again. 

“I mean, if they ever built another rink in Windsor, I’d find a pair of states and join in again,” said Dawson. 

Windsor Roller Derby 

This new trend has created an interesting side effect – a resurgence in roller derby. But what is roller derby? 

Roller derby is a full-contact sport played on roller skates. Lula Kuli, vice-president of Windsor Roller Derby, said the best way to describe it is a mix of NASCAR and contact hockey. 

“When it comes down to it, ideally, it’s a race and the idea is that you are gaining points by passing skaters on the other team,” said Kuli. 

Windsor Roller Derby, formerly Border City Brawlers, has been operating since 2010. Currently they are running Skate School, a weekly class for new skaters to learn basics.  

Kuli said that this season has been a great success. 

“This latest round of skate school that we have started with Windsor Roller Derby, we had like 30 applicants,” said Kuli. “I’ve never had that many skaters sign up for derby 101 training or anything like that. It’s so many people, it’s super exciting.” 

In addition to Skate School, the team is running regular, full-contact derby practice for the first time since the pandemic started.  

Kuli has been skating for almost 10 years. What was It about roller derby that was interesting to her?  

“Initially, what drew me to roller derby is, I would say, the same kind of stereotype that draws everybody to roller derby,” said Kuli. “A lot of people in derby look like me, in the sense that they were very alternative looking, they had coloured hair, piercings, tattoos.” 

Kuli said that many people get their initial impression of roller derby from movies like Whip It. 

“That was like the initial pull for me and since then it’s definitely become so much more than that,” said Kuli. “It’s a very athletic sport, it’s a very community-driven, grassroots sport. It’s not something that is obviously widely known. Every time we get new skaters, it’s our mission to teach them how to play roller derby because you don’t just grow up knowing how to play roller derby like you do a lot of other sports.” 

Kuli explained that coupled with the lack of awareness around derby is many misconceptions. 

“The culture in roller derby goes far beyond the face value stereotype of like, alt, mean girls looking to hit each other and take their aggression out,” said Kuli. “It’s very much not that. It’s a very community-driven, body positive and women supporting women, generally speaking.” 

Kuli also said that the roller derby community is very inclusive of all people, not just women. 

“We are also non-binary friendly and there are men’s teams, but very much a body positive, empowering sport,” said Kuli.  

When it comes to roller derby, fitness or body size is not an issue. 

“There are lots of body types that are actually great for roller derby which I think is a huge part of that world, is you don’t have to necessarily be cut and trim and super-fast and athletic,” said Kuli. “You can come into roller derby at any size and you will succeed.” 

Kuli agrees that this inclusive culture extends to the wider community. And this atmosphere is what originally drew Durocher to roller skating, a move which would inspire her to start WE Roller Skaters with Kuli’s help. 

“I love that there’s no cookie-cutter molds, that everybody’s welcome,” said Durocher. “I think that’s why I liked it, because my whole life I was kind of like a misfit myself, so it’s just kind of nice where there’s something you can join in on, where no one’s judging you and everyone’s welcoming you.” 

Looking Ahead 

So is the return of a roller rink in Windsor’s future?  

Drew said that if done right, a roller rink could do very well, especially if they catered to the different types of roller skating.  

“If you could recreate that rink and have specific days, like today’s in-line day, today’s quad day,” said Drew. “And have it set up so that the kids come in and play roller hockey, in-line hockey.” 

Drew said that regardless of the method, a new rink would bring back the magic of the old Wheels. 

“Would it be neat to see it come back?” said Drew. “Absolutely. Because the memories I have, if you could recapture that and put it in a bottle and pour that bottle on some dirt today and make that a reality again, I’m sure that same emotion that we all got to enjoy and share would…transcend into this generation. But maybe it’s just a pipe dream. I don’t know.” 

Many in the local roller-skating community believe that a new rink would fill a void in the area. 

“God, I hope it happens,” said Drew. “It would be so cool. I really think so. And it would help a lot of these kids who have nothing to do, they would just pick it up and love it.” 

Windsor seems to have a lack of activities for young people, and a roller rink might solve that. 

 “I’m just so sad that our generation doesn’t have that now,” said Reaume. “Like where do they go? Other than hang out at the mall?” 

According to Kuli, Windsor Roller Derby would also benefit from a roller rink. 

“(A roller rink) would be a huge thing for us because it may mean we have a permanent space, because we are currently without that,” said Kuli. “We’ve been jumping from venue to venue for years. We can’t host games where we practice because there’s not enough space, so we’re moving to arenas in the summer to host our games.” 

A new roller rink in Windsor would realize the dream of WE Roller Skaters, as well as expose the community to the sport. 

“Roller skating has been amazing for me, for sure,” said Durocher. “And I know many people that have gotten started along with me this past year, they felt the same way.” 

The roller-skating community feels that a rink would be a welcoming space for skaters and non-skaters alike. 

“Just something that would be like a good community hub I think benefits everybody,” said Kuli. 

Durocher said she had personally experienced many benefits of roller skating that she hopes the community can experience too. 

“No matter what you’re dealing with up here, you can let it out physically, and mingling and making new friends is so good for the heart,” said Durocher. “And then just gaining the confidence of learning something new, right? All positive.”