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The girls spearheading roller derby’s revival in Egypt
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by (CNN) _After a busy working day, Rahma Diab makes her way to Cairo’s International stadium. Boots strapped, helmet fastened, mouth guard in place, she braces herself for the hits and knocks that will inevitably come.
The trick to minimizing unsightly bruises, “is to learn to fall in the right way. Even before we learn how to skate we learn how to fall,” laughs Diab, a 24-year-old research analyst.
Egypt is famous for many things, but roller derby isn’t one of them. Diab along with her fiercely competitive teammates known as the CaiRollers want to change this.
Just 25 girls make up the team created over four years ago — hardly enough for a sporting revolution — but the CaiRollers are focused towards a slow and steady track to derby hegemony.
They’ll be anchoring for a win in a competition against Abu Dhabi this month, and later in April, they’ll take on Marseilles’ league. Taking place at Cairo’s International stadium, both games will be the first significant derby matches within the Arab world.
“They are just friendly games but I think it might be something in the future,” says Diab. “Maybe we’ll have a small tournament … in this part of the world.
