The Jaw Breakers during a scrimmage at the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre.

The Lil Chicago Roller Derby League's Jaw Breakers will have their “Gameface” on this weekend.  They host the Weyburn/Estevan Hillbilly Hurt in their home opener on Saturday at the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre.

“You can bet we're excited,” said Karla Pratt, Hiss 'N Hearse with the Jaw Breakers.  “It's our first game that we get to play in our home crowd.  We've got a lot of new girls that are looking to get their feet wet as well as our veteran skaters that our returning this year.”

The Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre has been transformed into a roller derby track this summer for the LCRD and they've been practicing up in anticipation of this bout with the Hillbilly Hurt.

“We've been doing a lot of training, a lot of strategy, that type of thing and so we're very excited to get out there on the track and put those things to use,” said Pratt.  

“We've been really working on our communication and this is something that is very important.  Some teams will use vocal cues to one and other, some will use hand signals and we don't want to give away too much, but we're hoping it work out well for all of us.”

The LCRD has been busy since moving into Mosaic Place.  They hosted “The Big Hit” at the end of April, which featured Team Saskatchewan facing off with Team Alberta as well as a two-day bootcamp for skaters.  During the bootcamp, the Jaw Breakers were able to hone their skills with some top-tier coaches.

“They each came with their own prospective on things,” explained Pratt.  “Some of the coaches discussed the strategy with us and because we were all broken up into different skill-levels, they could speak to us in terms that would help us at the level we're at.  It was a wealth of knowledge and we're so happy to be able to put that to use now.”

Heading into their first bout against the Hillbilly Hurt, Pratt said they've been doing their homework in hope of finding an advantage, “We always try to read up and study video of our opponent and we're hoping that will help us come out on top.”

The game goes Saturday night at 7:00pm.  Doors open at 6:00pm and there will be an after party to follow.  You can get your tickets at the Mosaic Place box office, they're $12 in advance or $15 at the door, children 6-12 are $5 and under five are free.