Roller derby league hungry for funding after Saskatoon festival cancelled

The Saskatoon Roller Derby League is hungry for funding after the Taste of Saskatchewan festival was cancelled for 2023.

“You don’t realize that a food festival being canceled is potentially detrimental to a sports team,” said Kimberley Bernhard, the league’s athletic director. She also goes by her roller derby name, “Terror-dactyl.”

(Kimberley Bernhard/Submitted)

Bernhard explained that ever since the league started, its members have worked at the summer food festival cleaning tables, picking up garbage and sorting recycling. The event is essential to funding the league’s season, she said, and helps covers costs for their practice space.

“It definitely is worth it for us,” Bernhard said, noting the money raised at the festival typically makes up more than half of the league’s income.

“To make up the amount of money we made at Taste of Sask. requires a lot of fundraising events. It’s not easy to find one event that is going to get us that lump sum,” she said.

The athletic director said the money also helps keep the cost of fees from rising for skaters every year. She said members of the league currently pay $50 per month, and the organization does its best to keep participation affordable.

“Once you’re 10 years in, the idea of not being able to afford to come anymore is really devastating for a lot of people,” she said, adding that the league offers a safe space for its players, which include students and single parents.

She said dues won’t be raised for the first half of the season, in hopes the organization will be able to raise enough money for the second half.

Bernhard said the league is already facing a more expensive season after the closure of their regular practice space, the Granite Curling Club. Skaters now practice at the Saskatoon Soccer Centre, which is significantly more expensive, she added.

The league has already shortened its season by two months to offset the costs, and will include fewer home games in their season this year, as venue costs are paid for by the hosting team.

Bernhard said cancelling the home games is sad, “because some of our skaters can’t afford to travel as often as others.”

She said the league is now on the hunt for a new solution for funding, such as working at bingo halls, but she added that a gaming license would be required. Bernhard said those licences are not typically granted to adult sports teams, though the league is trying to get an exception.

Bernhard said the league has received support from the community on social media posts about upcoming games, and is currently working on getting additional sponsorships.

“We have a hard time getting sponsorships because roller derby is greatly unknown. It’s not a sport that you see on TV. It’s not in the Olympics, so a lot of people don’t even know it exists,” she said.

Still, Bernhard said she remains hopeful that the Taste of Saskatchewan will make a return next year.

650 CKOM has reached out to Taste of Saskatchewan’s organizers for comment about the festival’s status for 2024.