Courtney Gowitt is used to coming home with bruises. An elbow here, a shove there, it’s all part of the game, she says.

The life of a blocker in the sport of roller derby can be a tough one, but for Gowitt, the bruises are badges of honour.

The Maple Ridge mother-of-two is a member of the Reign Valley Vixens, a fledgling roller derby league of women 19 and over from the Fraser Valley

For five days a week, Gowitt works as a forklift operator at a warehouse in Port Coquitlam. But on Saturdays, she undergoes a transformation, becoming Fierce Envy, her roller derby alter ego.

“It’s a different kind of sport,” she says.

Equal parts sport and spectacle, roller derby perhaps has more in common with professional wrestling than organized athletics. Rollergirls wear colourful, funky outfits, and take on stage names with matching personae, offering a measure of escapism, as well as an adrenaline rush.

The girls in the league run the gamut, says Gowitt. Off the track, they are single moms, teachers, counsellors. But when they step on the track, the sweet dispositions and good manners disappear, and the alter-egos take over.

“I feel powerful, and mean,” says Gowitt. “I definitely try to be fierce.”

But the bruises are real, and so is the heated competition.

The sport itself takes place in a rink with the ice removed. Each team has 10 players, separated into pivots, blockers and jammers.

Points can only be scored by the two jammers, who attempt to pass the other teams’ blockers and pivots, who form a defensive block circling the rink.

The sport is full contact, as the blockers and pivots use their whole body to prevent the jammers from getting by them.

The sport was popularized by promoter Leo Seltzer in the 1930s and enjoyed a revival in the 1970s, before slipping back into obscurity.

However, about 10 years ago, grass-roots all-female roller derby leagues began popping up around the United States, and it wasn’t long before the sport made its way to Canada.

Today, there are more than 7,000 roller girls competing in 200 leagues around the world.

Gowitt got her first taste of roller derby three years ago, when she was on maternity leave with her daughter Allie, becoming fascinated with an A&E mini-series chronicling a Texas roller derby league.

“It’s a different kind of sport, and looked like so much fun,” she says.

Growing up, the athletic Westview secondary grad had been involved in dance, volleyball and basketball. But since starting a family, she found herself out of touch with the competitive athlete inside of her.

The roller derby league was on the other side of the continent, and Gowitt resigned herself to the fact that she would likely never take part in the spectacle.

But when she spotted an ad in an Abbotsford newspaper about a roller derby league in the Fraser Valley looking for “fresh meat,” she jumped at the chance.

Her husband Dustin thought she was crazy. Her mother still thinks she’s crazy.

“I’d never been on roller skates before,” she says. “I’d only ever been on rollerblades a couple of times.”

The Vixens took Gowitt in and taught her everything she needed to know, and soon Fierce Envy was a part of the roller girl sisterhood.

“I was scared at first,” she says, not knowing what to expect. “But everyone was really welcoming, and we’ve all become good friends.”

The team practices and competes in Abbotsford, but as the league expands, Gowitt hopes to bring the sport to Maple Ridge.

The Vixens are hoping to attract 60 potential roller girls, aged 19 and over, from across the Fraser Valley to join the league so they can then split into four teams.

“There’s not much to do here for young people,” she says. “Having something like this is pretty cool.”

Actress Drew Barrymore is currently directing a Hollywood movie about roller derby, due out next year, and Gowitt expects the popularity of the sport to get a big boost as a result.

“Anybody can do it if I can,” she says.

• For more information about joining the Reign Valley Vixens, call 778-552-6571, or email reignvalleyvixens@yahoo.com.

The Vixens are holding a fundraiser at the Kingmaker Bar and Grill, 21671 Fraser Hwy, Langley. Visit www.freewebs.com/reignvalleyvixens/ for details.