Fiona “McFeerce” Dominick in action.
By Rehabilitation Physiotherapist,
Eilidh McGillivray.
“McFeerce” – otherwise known as Fiona
Dominick; a Speech & Language Therapist at
Whakatāne Hospital skated up a storm at the
Roller Derby World Cup in Manchester (UK)
earlier this month.
Along with her other fearless Team Aotearoa teammates they
travelled across the globe to be part of the 38 team tournament.
For those not in the know, here’s a quick primer on the “rules of
the roll”:
• Two teams of five ― four “blockers” and one “jammer” ― skate
counter-clockwise around an oval-shaped track.
• The blockers keep the other team’s jammer from completing
laps around the track, while helping their own jammer get past
the other team.
• Blockers are allow ed to use shoulder, hip and full body contact
to prevent the jammer from passing.
Team Aotearoa played five matches over the 4 days taking on
Scotland, Greece, Denmark, Mexico and Spain. They were
undefeated for the first 4 games and only narrowly losing their final
game to Spain to finish in a hugely successful 10th Place.
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The competition, heated as it was, ultimately came down to two
teams: The U.S. and Australia. The American team beat the
Australians 187-146.
Fiona has been an integral part of the Whakatāne Roller Derby
over the last 5 years and had the goal of the World Cup in her
sights.
"When I saw the last World Cup, I knew that I wanted to be in it,"
Dominick told the Whakatāne Beacon earlier this year.
"That is when I applied for my citizenship. They asked us to give
a speech about why you got your citizenship and I told them I
wanted to play roller derby for New Zealand."
We are so very proud of you Fiona and send you and all the team
a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS.