Jester was nominated for WARDian of the month for eagerly jumping in to give refereeing a go at our scrimmages, back when they were a level two skater.

Jess has now passed the game-play entry assessment and shows sheer grit and determination at every training session.

How long have you been involved in roller derby, and how did you first hear about the sport?

I joined WARD in January 2022 after I'd incidentally met Squeals the Sign-Up coordinator and overheard her talking about derby. I'd tried to join PRD a year or so ago, but they only had intakes once a year. I was an artistic roller skater from when I was 4-5 and trained on Monday nights at the morley rollerdrome. I remember watching my coach running derby training after the artistic training was over while waiting for my mum to finish chatting with people. I didn't really know what it was until I was older though but thought it looked cool.

When you're not at derby training, what could we find you doing on a normal day?

I'm started studying a Master of Occupational Therapy this year after finishing a research year in neuroscience last year, which takes up a fair amount of time in procrastination. I otherwise watch movies with friends and am trying to learn the cello, but I'm not very good.

How did you come up with your derby name?

I have trouble with processing speech, especially when there is background noise. I figured to help with this I should work out a derby name that sounds like my real name, so that I'll be able to pick it out in the chaos of derby better. Also I tend to make mildly inappropriate jokes at the wrong times.

What's an interesting thing about you that's NOT roller derby related?

I have visual snow syndrome, which is essentially where I see TV static/thousands of points of flickering light across my vision 100% of the time, even when my eyes are closed. It's a little personal light show only I can see.

What is a roller derby goal you are working towards right now?

I'm working toward understanding some of the rules better! I'm still a bit confused about where you can and can't reenter the track but really am just trying to become more aware of where my legs are.

Can you tell us about a tough moment you've overcome in derby, or when you've played a hard game in which you've accomplished some goals?

I haven't played any games yet, but I think one of the main things I've struggled with is just cardiovascular endurance. I like to jam but get tired easily and so I'm just going to keep working on staying on for longer.

Who do you nominate as our next WARDian of the Month, and why?

I would nominate Vector because he does so many things to keep the ref side of things going.