A 17-year-old from Sheffield is raising money to fund his trip to Australia to compete at the roller derby world cup.
Thomas Halsall, from Upperthorpe in Sheffield, has been selected to represent team GB at the competition, which will be held in Brisbane, Australia in July this year.
Training, travelling and accommodation expenses are all self-funded for roller derby, as it has no government funding. Tom also has to take along an adult with him as part of the requirements since he’s under 18 years of age.
Tom said: “The fundraising campaign is really important to me. Last time I checked, the price was about £5,000 for both of us going, which is more than what my family happily has available.
“So, we’re looking to fill the difference with fundraising and hopefully, we’ll manage to get there close enough to be able to get me to the World Cup.”
Roller derby is a sport played on roller skates. Each team has a jammer, who earns points by lapping opposing players, while blockers try to stop the opposing jammer and assist their own.
Tom has been playing the sport since 2016, getting involved with the Sheffield Steel Junior Rollers league initially. His success on the track has led him to represent Great Britain at the last junior world cup in France in 2023.
Tom said: “Since roller derby is still quite a small sport, you don’t get to play games as often as other sports. Having the opportunity to play against players at the highest levels of roller derby, test my skills against them and generally just learn new things, I feel really enthused and happy.”
The preparation to compete at the world cup is intense. Tom trains weekly with two Sheffield adult roller derby teams. He also plays with teams around the country and attends team GB training sessions once a month.
Tom said: “A goal that is reflected in the team is – last year we came really close to beating Canada – this year we want to absolutely make sure that at the very least we do beat them.”
A target of £1.5K has been set, and Tom has already managed to raise more than £1.2K in almost three weeks.