For International Women’s Day, we talked with some amazing women around the Cariboo Chilcotin. There are enough incredible women in this community to fill several books, but please read on for International Women’s Day series on just a few of them.
To the kids she coaches in roller derby, Sunny Dyck goes by Coach Bruisley.
“Roller derby pretty much consumes my life,” says Dyck, who teaches classes in roller derby for both youth and adults, and coaches a team as well.
She says she grew up playing roller derby in high school and after.
“It’s always been something I’ve loved.”
When she moved to Williams Lake, however, it took her a while to get back into it.
Read more: International Women’s Day: Sue Zacharias
At first the community didn’t have a team, she says, and then when one formed it was when she chose to have her children.
Now though, she says her life revolves around the sport, which in a game, involves two teams of (usually) women on roller blades circling on a round track.
“It’s a great all around fitness activity, and it’s not just physical, there are a lot of mental games,” says Dyck.
“It is so mentally intensive. It is all about working with your team and it’s about playing off of how other people are going to perform their moves.”
Read more: International Women’s Day: Patsy Grinder
While she loves playing herself, she says what really keeps her coming back are the kids (both male and female) that she coaches.
“With the kids right now we only practice once a week because it’s winter and we practice on Mondays. Practicing on Mondays has made it the best day of the week ever, which it is normally not, to be honest,” she says.
Her goal is to make an impact on the kids she coaches, one way or another, and says she teaches everything from “this is a skate” to “how to get to the World Cup.”
“It’s such a positive amazing experience where you can have a little girl who tries out for her first time and she says that I’m scary, because I’m in gear, and by the end of the practice she’s like I love you, I love this sport, I’ve got a derby name. It’s that rewarding every day and it doesn’t stop.”
Read more: International Women’s Day: Cindy Chappell
