Born and raised as a man, Cassie came out as a transgender woman to her family and friends last year and began making changes she had been thinking about for a long time, many of which she says "were not easy".

"The spaces I value the most now are the spaces where I don't have to be the 'transgender person' and roller derby is one of those places," she says.

Cassie is one of a growing number of transgender athletes who compete in Newcastle's sporting scene.

Newcastle Herald journalist Phoebe Moloney outlines the challenges for these athletes in the Weekender's cover story this Saturday.

Also in Weekender, Jade Lazarevic writes about cafes with all-day breakfast on the menu, like Estabar in Newcastle's East End.

And writer Alex Morris surveys the growing legion of Newcastle-based podcasters, who talk about everything from motherhood to cancer treatment, to the Knights and wrestling.