It was a blood-stirring scene.

The Takhini Broomball Arena pulsated with the energy of the 500-plus spectators there to watch the Yukon Roller Girls (YRG) take on the Fairbanks Roller Girls in the Klondike Klash – the first-ever roller derby hosted in Whitehorse – Saturday night.

The thumping music played throughout only helped ramp up the crowd and the roller girls.

And the YRG – which lent six players to complete the visitors' roster of 12 – absorbed the energy of the arena en route to a 159-104 win.

Mere feet from the action, fans encircled the oval track, reacting with sign waving and cheers when a pile of girls went clattering to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs.

It was the kind of scene in which YRG captain Katherine Stewart, a.k.a. Wilder Than Her, reveled, even pumping up the crowd whenever she made a pass.

"I'm a bit of a show-boater,” Stewart said following the bout. "I like doing it because I think the crowd sometimes needs to know that you know that they're there, and so it's really fun to play with the crowd a little bit and get their energy back. I just have fun with it, and I hope that they enjoy it too.”

They certainly seemed to.

Even before the event began, the YRG sold roughly 500 tickets to the bout, which included a demo before the opening whistle and half-time show featuring the Yukon Junior Roller Girls.

"I'm blown away by how many people came out to it,” Stewart said. "We were kind of surprised when we sold 500 tickets before the bout, and then I couldn't believe when I came out to skate how many people there were.

"It was a really loud crowd, which was really exciting. I think this was the loudest crowd I ever skated in front of. I think that really helped the energy of the team … and we're just so thankful that people came out and seemed to enjoy it.”

Stewart added that the crowd was larger and louder than the crowd they skated in front of in the YRG's first-ever full-club sanctioned bout in Edmonton in August.

The Fairbanks Roller Girls, which was represented by six all-stars, were impressed by the throng of supporters out for the first Whitehorse bout.

Fairbanks captain Amy Aholelei, a.k.a. Magically Delicious, said the numbers were near what the Alaska club enjoyed for their first-ever bout, held at the Carlson Center, a facility she said is roughly three times the size of the Takhini Broomball Arena.

"I think the atmosphere is about the same. We might have had a little bit more people at our first bout. But it's a work-in-progress for everybody to have their fans come out,” Aholelei said, adding that it can be difficult to draw fans out to their bouts.

"It is because if hockey's going on the same weekend, we have a hard time getting our fans to come. But we have about 500 or 600 people that are really dedicated roller derby fans.”

Those are numbers Stewart and the YRG are hoping to draw to future bouts in Whitehorse.

Trouble is, the YRG have no space to bout in through the winter.

"As much as I'd love to say we're going to keep putting on these events, if we can't find a space here in Whitehorse, unfortunately it's really going to limit us,” Stewart said. "We really are looking for an indoor space for the winter.”

Stewart has experienced the growing pains of starting a roller derby team in Prince George, B.C.

She arrived in Whitehorse last January after helping to start roller derby in Prince George and a stint at a high-level club in Saskatoon, Sask.

She agreed with Aholelei's assessment that promoting the sport is a constant work-in-progress.

"We went through the process of learning how to play, and I think that that kind of helped me when I moved here, because I've been able – hopefully, in a respectful way – share some of those mistakes you make at the beginning or some of the good things you can do at the beginning,” Stewart said.

With that said, Stewart added that the ground the team has made up since she arrived last winter has been "amazing.”

"When I arrived here in January, it was very much a rookie league. And tonight, playing this bout … I think it really speaks volumes to how hard our league has worked and how cohesive our league is.

"We really work hard together, and it's a really incredible group of women that really respect each other and listen to each other, and I think that's a really unique thing. And I think that's why it's such a tight-knit group.”

The YRG are hoping to expand that tight-knit group when the league starts up again in January with a six-week training session.

When asked about the future of the sport in the Yukon, Stewart was optimistic, to say the least.

"I think people in the Yukon and in Whitehorse really are interested in seeing roller derby,” she said.

"Whitehorse is a really unique community, in that it really supports its own community, and we're into something new and interesting, so I think it kind of fits with the community mentality, I hope. I think maybe that's it. Maybe it's a Yukon thing.”