When members of the Lethbridge Roller Derby Guild were planning their future fundraising projects they knew it was time to go bigger.

“The support we’ve had at silent auctions, games and other events has been phenomenal,” says Martina Emard, vice president of the league. “However with more members joining every month, it means more practice space fees, gear and other costs to keep up with the growth. We want to keep the roller derby experience for new skaters to be even better, so we decided to do an ambitious fundraising project.”

That project is the 2012 Lethbridge Roller Derby Guild Calendar.

Getting help from local photographers, league members set out to create unique images representative of each month while featuring skaters.

“We had a lot of fun coming up with the ideas of ways to integrate roller skates and derby into every photo,” says Emard.

Scenes include skaters getting schooled for September, arm wrestling in bunny ears in April and a homemaker kitchen party for November.

The calendar, available for sale at league events or online through the league website, will raise enough for the league to help them rent and maintain practice space as well as some new gear for their fresh meat skaters.

“Because we are skater-run and funded, we constantly have to fundraise on top of training and practicing,” says Emard.

“The sales from these calendars will earn us thousands, as opposed to hundreds of dollars, so we can breathe a little and really concentrate on just playing and improving as a team and of course bringing more roller derby to our fans,” adds Emard.

The calendar is for sale for $20 and includes coupons from local merchants as an added bonus for those who pick one up.

“We couldn’t have done this project without the help from our photographers and the support from our calendar advertisers. We hope everyone picks up a copy to support the women of roller derby in Lethbridge.”