A DUNFERMLINE HIGH pupil is heading to Canada after rolling her way into Team GB’s Roller Derby World Cup squad.

Heather Weatheritt, 16, discovered the sport at around the age of eight after receiving a pair of skates for her birthday.

Taking place on an oval track, Roller Derby is a manic, fast-paced, full contact team sport where five members of each team jostle for position and the lead. The physical game requires skill, strength, logic and quick thinking to secure points and claim victory.

After eventually finding a junior side in Falkirk to play with, Heather has been involved in Roller Derby for more than six years and now plays for the Bairn City Rollers’ adult side in Grangemouth as well as training regularly with juniors in Glasgow.

She was one of five Scots to be selected to travel to Canada in August with Team GB after attending trials in Newcastle back in November.

Heather was delighted to have been picked and said that taking part in the trials had been “immense”.

“Even the warm-up was so hard but it was such a good experience,” she said.

“I was in a room with so many other amazing kids who were so brilliant and the support that you get – everyone was giving it their all and pushed each other on.

“It also helped with different aspects of the sport because some kids there were showing different strategies you can use.

"It is a very strategic game so it was really helpful. Training with the people in England helps a lot because you see the ways they do it and not just the way you have been trained to do it.”

The sport, Heather admits, is a tough and manic one which requires physical strength and brings with it the constant danger of injuries.

“It can be quite intense. What I like about it most is I am not a big fan of individual sports, you have to rely on the team a lot and I really like that. It is a really violent sport but everyone is really nice.

“You have to be fairly in shape because sometimes you have to go really, really fast round the track and you have to keep on going even when you are exhausted. A match is an hour – there are two 30-minute halves with an interval.

"I am the youngest one at the Bairns as I am just 16 but the age goes up to about 40. There is a massive age range. It is down to strategies so there is such a mix of strengths.”

Heather, from Garvock, is currently sitting prelims before taking her Highers in May. She is also planning fundraising to help pay the £1,500 required for the trip to Canada and has already set up a fundraising campaign. 

To donate, please visit Heather's donation page.