Meet Dark Spark where shady behaviour steps into the spotlight

Durban Roller Derby (DRD) is a sports league founded in 2012 by Michelle Murray and Cara Munroe. It grew steadily over the next few years as three women’s teams and a fellow men’s league were established by 2015. In 2014 and 2018, DRD players were selected for TeamZA to compete in the Roller Derby World Cup. In March 2020 DRD played in the first International game on African
soil: African Good Time. They teamed up with Cape Town Roller Girls and the UAE, and skates under the name PAN African Rollers. DRD battled against Cairollers from Egypt and Golden City Rollers from Johannesburg. The league currently consists of a handful of members hailing from Drummond, Durban North, Waterfall and Glenwood. In a monthly series, the Berea Mail’s Danica Hansen will chat to members of the league to find out more about this empowering sport.

“I WOULD describe Roller Derby as a rugby scrum on skates without the ball. It’s a battlefield where you are going to get sweaty and have a good workout,” said Morningside resident, Amy “Dark Spark” Wyatt.

She joined DRD in 2019 after becoming part of the team for their Open Skate sessions at the Durban beachfront on the promenade.

“After having a blast and realising that these were my kind of people I signed up with,” said Wyatt, who added that she started out skating on rollerblades.

She is still learning the ropes of the game.

“We learnt how to skate safely, how to fall properly so that you can get up and carry on and how to stop, which is my least favourite part – I love speed. I’m a rookie which means I still have another skate course to attend before my first match. You have to learn to skate safely before playing a game. Covid-19 interrupted everything for a lot of people,” she added.

Also read: Durban Roller Derby: Meet Chocovivious- where sweet meets savage

Her derby nickname, Dark Spark, was inspired by a comment at the skate shop in the United Kingdom where Wyatt bought her roller derby quad skates.

“The sales rep asked if I wanted some glittery, sparkling, bright laces and I said I was quite happy with black. Her reply being, ‘Oh so you’re not a sparkly type then.’ I burst out laughing and that is where Dark Spark originated from for my skate name,” said Wyatt.

There is a lot Wyatt loves about the sport, especially the challenge of recovering from a near fall and carrying on.

“You have to be balanced, focused, driven, strong, agile and tough to play. ‘Tough’ as in ‘able to take a knock or two’ not ‘tough’ like a stone outhouse building, although it would help. It is not so easy to avoid falling over when someone pushes against you- while resisting their force as well as pushing back and that is hard enough barefoot or in shoes. Put skates on and apply those two forces against each other as well as quick footwork from left to right with bumps coming from all directions and it’s fun just trying to stay upright,” she said.

As an avid sports player, Wyatt was drawn to the challenge of roller derby.

Also read: Durban skater girl aims to inspire

“Having played various sports codes – hockey, softball and volleyball to name a few – roller derby appealed to me as it is extremely physically and mentally challenging. I do love a challenge,” she said.

When she took up the challenge, Wyatt’s biggest fear was falling, and it was not long until she faced that fear while skating on the Durban promenade.

“It happened when I was on my own, at the beach, in front of a busy café. I landed up doing the splits with the crowd giving a drawn-out gasp. You know the one. All I wanted at that moment of time was for my pack to be there laughing at me in good spirits. But alas, I hightailed out there with some floral vocabulary,” she joked.

“Derby gives us confidence, letting us be strong, rough and tough, get all sweaty and take a few knocks. It shows us how powerful we are and how resilient we are,” she concluded.

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