Pepper Howard ‘loves the chaos’ of roller derby and next year she’ll head from Port Kembla to Brisbane to represent Australia. Photo: Tanya Fielding Photography.
Port Kembla teen Pepper Howard will rock the national stage in Brisbane in 2025 as part of the Australian junior national roller derby team.
Pepper, also known as ‘Guns’N’Rollers’, may be only 16 years old, but she’s seasoned in the sport.
Along with her friends, Pepper was part of Wollongong’s first junior roller derby team when she was 10.
The team, and her derby name, were both inspired by Pepper’s dad, who’s a fan of both Guns’N’Roses and roller derby.
“I got the name when I mispronounced Guns’N’Roses when I was talking about skating,” she said.
“Watching Dad got me really interested and a bunch of my friends were too.
“I loved the madness of it; it looks really chaotic.
“We came up with enough numbers for a junior team and started one.”
Almost seven years later Pepper now plays for both junior and senior teams in Wollongong, fitting training sessions around her full-time fitter and machinist apprenticeship.
While she’s happy to play all over the track, Pepper mainly plays in the pivot position.
She said with time and practice she had learnt to see the patterns of play in the chaos, but she still loved the mad energy of the sport.
Pepper was quick to point out that while the sport might be rough and tumble, the community around it was warm and friendly.
“You’re skating around a track and hitting people to get points – it can be therapeutic at times,” she said.
“I keep coming back because I love the people, everyone that plays; they’re the sweetest people you’ll ever meet; they’re amazing.”
Her passion was rewarded when she learnt recently that she was selected to play for the Australian juniors side in Brisbane 2025.
Far from being intimidated by the step up in competition, Pepper said she was excited to experience a higher level of play.
“I was very surprised when I got the phone call; I cried a bit,” she said.
“It’s intensified my love for the sport; the intensity at this level is so much better and so much more chaotic.
“We have a strong solid team; I think we’re going to do alright. I have a good feeling about it.”
Pepper hopes this selection will be the first step on a long national career.
She’s looking forward to the opportunity to meet and learn from some big international names in skating and develop her own skills further.
“I want to continue to compete at this level. I’d love to go on and make the Australian adults team; that would be amazing,” she said.
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