Photograph by Sam Skipsey
If you head over to Ante Ortus A Novus Lumen Ars you can read an excellent review of the first ARRG Home Season Bout between the Leithal Weapons and the Cherry Bombers.
An excellent review with pictures and video to peruse.
Nasty Nessies, all lined up. (Photo: James King)
In many ways, it’s easier to face these challenges now than it was back in 2006 when London Rollergirls were just getting started. There’s a vast array of established UK leagues, all keen to help those starting out. Every league has nothing but praise for the support they received from the existing roller derby community. “I definitely could not have done it without them,” says Aby of the Leeds and Manchester leagues. “They came to our first session, and they’ve set us out a training plan to get all of us who haven’t skated before to a good level.”
Dundee Roller Girls’ Cilla Block has been one of those helpful skaters for the Scottish leagues. “I think it can be quite daunting starting up, so ff there’s anything I can do to help, Scotland’s not all that big, you you’re only an hour or two away on the train. For Inverness, with [Irn-Bruzer, NNRG chair] at the moment, we’re looking at helping them with their mins.” She’s quick to note that even established leagues are always looking to improve, “Even now Dundee Roller Girls is always looking for people to come and help us, and I think it’s important for us to share that with other people as well.”
Even without being able to visit, the online roller derby community is a vital resource for information and advice. The Nasty Nessies are over 100 miles from their nearest league, but, according to Team Rep Cherry Bow “…the internet has been our life line! We have had support via Facebook, Twitter and emails from other leagues as well as individual skaters from as far afield as the USA…”
Fierce Valley Roller Girls, post first bout. (Credit: Sam Skipsey)
If you’re going to be a league, you have to have somewhere to skate. Practice space (and, later, a bouting venue) is often the first difficult problem that a new league faces. Many sports halls are reluctant to host skate-based sports, as they can mark the floors. One solution to this can be to find a hall that already hosts roller hockey; both the York Minxters and Dundee Roller Girls found their practice space by this method.
The first site is can often be the hardest, as Fierce Valley’s Grizabelta discovered: “As far as finding practice space goes, whilst we hit every obstacle we could to start with, once we’d been at Bo’ness a few months I wrote to all the other halls with a massive spiel about how great derby is (boosts self esteem, gets non-sporty types active, great camaraderie etc) and thankfully it worked!”
Paying for the space, and the equipment, can be a challenge, even for established leagues. Most set up a subscription fee for skaters, or practice sessions, and the community can be helpful in lending equipment at the outset.
Without access to funds from stalls at bouts themselves, however, sometimes you need to be more innovative. Fierce Valley recently held a concert as a fundraiser, and, as founder Kirk Jammett promises, they have plans for further action: “The novelty of the fundraisers tends to come from our own skaters’ hobbies – we just try and sell what we’re good at! Our next event is going to be a cabaret night!“
The other advantage of big fundraisers is in spreading the word, although most leagues find that the enthusiasm of their members makes for the best medium.
Tiger Bay Brawlers’ Lola Coaster enthuses that “the majority of our advertising comes from word of mouth promotions through skaters and our friends and families and I think that’s where the roller derby community really shines. Those who do love it are so passionate about it and that passion is infectious, whether you’re directly involved or not.”
It’s also worth talking to your local skate shops and seeing if they’re prepared to offer you deals on the basic kit. Both the Minxters and the Nasty Nessies managed to arrange discounts for their skaters; the Nessies even managed to gain a coach in one of the owners.
Although as new to roller derby as the rest of the team, he is learning on the job, and applying his experience in teaching skateboarding to the role.
If you can find someone with more coaching experience, however, it can work wonders: Fierce Valley have gained tremendously from initial coaching by Auld Reekie skater Ella-Bella Bang-Bang. As Grizabelta explains, “we were put in touch with the amazing Ella-Bella Bang-Bang by a mutual friend. Ella-Bella lives in our neck of the woods so helped us with our training right up until we passed our mins.”
Tiger Bay Brawlers, flying the flag. (Photo: Simon Ayre)
Tiger Bay Brawlers have also benefited from having an experienced skater to help kickstart their coaching, BB Bombshell bringing experience from her time in Victorian Roller Derby League in Australia. “BB definitely pushed us as athletes which has contributed to how successful we’ve been so far” say coaches Billie Pistol and Judge Redd.
If you don’t have access to an experienced skater, it’s not the end of the world; the majority of TBB’s coaching team, including head coach Judge Redd, have built up their experience from scratch; “We get new drills from bootcamps, guest coaches and online and keep up to date with strategy by watching games both in the UK and online, quite often we’ll see something we’d like to try and create an exercise around it.”
Of course, the point of those coaches is to bring you up to speed on the first challenge of all new skaters: minimum skills. Lola Coaster is keen to emphasize that they should be treated positively: “I think a lot of people are terrified by the ‘pressure’ of minimum skills, but I think they’re a really good way of measuring how far skaters have come since they first strapped on a pair of quads. They’re a really good way of identifying skater strengths and weaknesses so you know what you have to work on and have a defined focus and goal.”
It’s not just your skaters you need to concentrate on, however; a new league can’t afford to ignore the need for training referees and NSOs. Fierce Valley and York Minxters might have lucked out by being co-founded by Referees-in-training, but not all leagues can be so lucky. NSOs, are a little easier to acquire, as the traditional role of injured or otherwise indisposed skaters. NNRG’s Cherry Bow is a case in point, “I am planning on starting a family soon and I know I can’t skate when I’m pregnant so I want to train as a NSO and a ref so I will still be actively involved.”
When you do start to grow, there’s always the potential for drama; everyone knows at least one league that’s experienced some kind of major or minor conflict. The Norfolk Brawds’ Jessica Whackit advises: “Don’t take it personally when people realise it’s not for them. We had a huge number leave us before Christmas and you just have to remember that whenever you get a large group of people together, personality clashes will happen. With this in mind, setting up a coherent committee structure will see you through absolutely ANYTHING.”
Tiger Bay Brawlers, kicking butt! (Photo: Simon Ayre)
When all your skaters have passed their mins, the next challenge for the league is the big one: the first bout. It’s understandable to be a bit nervous; despite it being a closed-bout, Fierce Valley’s Grizabelta admits: “we’re still quite terrified! And yet really, really excited… I still struggle to get my head round what we’ve achieved – the bout will be 2 weeks short of our first birthday so it’ll be the best celebration!” Kirk Jammett agrees “As one of the refs I’m terrified of messing up badly and also scared of some angry girls screaming at me! … And as Ella-Bella is being our Head Ref – we really don’t want to let her down as she’s been such a fundamental element to our success.”
Still, if the nerves, and the inevitable disadvantage of facing much more experienced opponents gets to you, you shouldn’t be discouraged. The Norfolk Brawds’ first bout ended in a 23:188 loss, but Jessica Whackit took the best side to the experience: ”We were lucky enough to have a big loss, but still come out feeling on top. If you can lose well, you can win nicely. Towards the end of the game, a lot of the crowd were shouting for us, and we sold so many t-shirts! We came away with a lot of new fans, as well as our faith in our team intact. We played and lost as a team, so we won really.”
By contrast, Tiger Bay Brawlers have had an enviably successful first year. Based on their experience, Lola Coaster offered this parting advice: “It’s really hard to give a single piece of advice; I could write a whole article on do’s or do not’s. If I am only allowed one then I think I would have to say “be positive”. Yes you’ll have bad sessions, yes you’ll have weeks/months where you feel roller derby is taking over your life, yes you’ll get hurt at some point, yes you’ll miss sessions, you’ll be left out of the game roster and a whole host of other things that can make you think negatively and wonder why you bother. But be positive and stick at it.”
Cherry Bow by James King (Creative Skates)
I love rockabilly and 50′s style and a friend mentioned Roller Derby a couple of years ago so I looked into it and immediately wanted to try it. I was so pleased to find a sport that I could see myself doing and one that accepts you whatever you look like.
I do amateur pin-up modelling and Cherry Bow is my modelling name (after my tattoos) so it felt natural to make it my derby name too. I did toy with the idea of changing it to something with a touch more ‘Grrrr’ but I kinda like being different so Cherry Bow I shall remain… Plus I have my hoody printed up now!
Um, learning to skate! Before derby the last time I skated was about 20 years ago and I am not a natural skater so I had to start completely at the beginning. I also had to get over my fear of falling but thanks to my fantastic team mates, awesome coach and my amazeballs hubby, I am becoming more confident with every week that passes.
I tell everyone I meet! No really, I do!! It’s normally bought into conversation within minutes of meeting me and I talk about derby pretty much throughout the day (ask my family and work mates). People see how enthusiastic you are and it sticks in their minds so they remember- regardless of if they want to or not!
I have learnt to do crossovers which has made me unbelievably happy as this will help for my 25 in 5. The most important thing I’ve done is rest over Xmas and come back raring to go and get my skate on!
The most difficult is speed work like 25 in 5 as I’m not a fast skater. I’m getting there though and with every week that passes I can feel myself getting faster. The best thing I’ve done is hard to pick one thing for as I love all of it; but my personal favourite thing so far is derby curling and derby bowling as it teaches you to stay stable while taking a hit but equally is one of the funniest things you have ever seen!
Well we have a few things up our sleeves but the next few months will be getting mins completed and taking the Nessies to the next level. We also have a couple of newish skaters who are fitting in well and it will be great watching everyone grow. Watch this space as the Nasty Nessies will be coming to get you! 
Cherry’s pick for February is Belle Block-H, so be sure to come back in 30 days to hear about her month!
Rufi-Ohh, photo by ChaosFairie (zenspirations photography)
I also liked the element of getting fit mixed with a fast paced, hard hitting sport. It was very suited to me. As my mum said, it was the first sport she’s ever seen me love and stick to!
I’m on my second name, however, this one is for good. I chose my first name (Ro-whip-nol) as it was suggested and I thought it was quite clever. I eventually decided the name really wasn’t me and it didn’t mean much to me. I know names don’t have to but I think my current name suits me more. I changed my name to Rufi-Ohh. Inspired by the film hook, which was a childhood favourite of mine. He was always one of my favourite characters. Very cocky, confident and sure of himself but in the end always does right by himself and others. I like to think I can be like that on track. Confident in myself but my hearts always with my team!
What was your biggest initial difficulty?
The biggest difficult for myself was actually where I live. When I first started skating (Sept 2010) there wasn’t a team near me. I worked in Glenrothes and decided to skate with Dundee. The girls taught me a lot and are still a big inspiration to me. Later that year a league closer to home appeared, the lovely Fierce Valley. I didn’t make the move until around April/May 2011 and this eased as I was travelling from outside Kinross or from Glenrothes to Dundee and back 3 nights a week!
Lots of roller girls find it hard not to spread the word about their new sport. How have you been spreading the word?
I spread the word from my first night on skates! I went home and bought my skates that night. From that night onwards I have not stopped talking about Roller Derby. I think if you ask most people I know they’d probably say I should just stop talking. I have a passion from the sport and I think more people should know about it. It’s really taking off in Scotland now and it’s a great thing!
What’s the most important thing you’ve learnt/done this month?
Within the last month (I’m counting December as we’ve only just started this year) I think the most important thing I’ve done is setting up some excellent teams to play against FVRG in the coming year. Still looking for a few more but some good ones on the cards. I think that the most important thing I’ve learnt is I need to have confidence in my own ability. The minute I doubt I can do it is when I stop managing. I think that every skater has to believe they can do it and put everything into it to better themselves!
I think the most difficult thing I have done is to change leagues.
I started skating with the lovely Dundee Roller Girls when they were still the Dundee Destroyers. The girls taught me everything and helped me really improve and become a better and confident skater and I have a lot of great friends there. It was hard to leave as your league becomes like your family. I knew, however, that financially I couldn’t keep going to Dundee 3 nights a week.
This is when I decided to move to Fierce Valley Roller Girls. I was extremely apprehensive as I was going into something as a new skater to them but not new in the sense that I had passed minimum skills. They are an amazing group of people and I felt welcome right from the beginning. My FVRG family are some of the most amazing people I have ever met and some of the most inspirational. They never stop surprising me and never stop improving. It’s also one of the best things I’ve done!
Another of the best was getting to Captain FVRG in their first (closed) bout against the lovely FCR. It was manic but great fun and I’m happy to now be Vice Captain to the lovely Fun Ghoul as Captain in February.
What’s new in FVRG… hmm.. We now have a lot of nice new committees in place which means things are not so hectic for our lovely board! Our fresh meat from our last intake are coming on in leaps and bounds and I think some of them are going to be skaters to watch for! Our intermediates are also coming on SO FAST. I can’t remember being able to learn any of it so fast and they all just absorb the knowledge like sponges!
We have our first public bout on February 18th against the lovely Dundee Roller Girls at the DISC in Dundee. We are gearing up for this and so excited!!!! As I mentioned before we have some AWESOME bouts coming up this year and a lot of nice trips (including Sweden). 2012 is going to be a great year for FVRG.
Oh we also have another Fresh Meat Intake on February 19th at Bo’ness Rec Centre from 11am, the day after out bout. No rest for the wicked!!
Hi everyone,
This is Buffy Boiler, I’m joining the Scottish Roller Derby blog team to share a little bit more of the perspective of the people with the whistles.
My own blog (see my “about page” for details) is unashamedly aimed at people with a bit of an idea about Roller Derby officiating, or at least some interest in it. For this blog I’ll be teaming up with V for Vienetta of FVRG to run the new Ref’s Corner segment, which we hope will provide a more general insight into the officiating side of things.
To get things started we thought we’d try and do some rules Q&A pieces. That’s where we need to ask for you, the reader, to help us out!
So if you’ve any rules questions at all, whether they’re specific to a situation you’ve seen at a recent bout or just a more general query about how a certain rule or type of penalty works then please feel free to ask us about it in the comments section to this post. If it’s just a quick clarification you need we’ll try and answer the comment directly. If it’s a more complex issue we may well devote an entire post to it – in which case we’ll inform you that we plan to do so.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Buffy Boiler
The Auld Reekie Roller Girls much anticipated all new Home Season kicks off on the 21st of January with a bout between the Leithal Weapons and the Cherry Bombers.
The bout takes place at Meadowbank Sports Centre,doors open at 2pm and entry is £7 on the day,or £6 in advance,you can also get a further price reduction if you buy a season ticket which gets you into all four of ARRG’s Home Season bouts for the princely sum of £20,more details here.
Image courtesy of Glasgow Roller Girls
Glasgow Roller Girls proudly present a WFTDA Officiating Clinic on the 4th and 5th of February 2012 at The Arc,Cowcaddens Road,Glasgow.
The Clinic is open to Referees and NSO’s and will feature training on a range of topics,such as skating,rules,communication and a great deal more.See the WFTDA site for details on how to register , view the welcome pack,feast your eyes on the list of instructors who will be taking part and find some more general information here. This clinic is one of only three to be held outside of the US and is the only one of those in Europe,so there is bound to be considerable interest from around the UK and beyond.
This is guest post from Bryan McWilliam aka Flyin’ Bryan Killman,Bryan is the manager of Chicks Ahoy! of Toronto Roller Derby and a freelance journalist from Toronto. He has covered roller derby for Gear Up For Sports and his writing portfolio can be viewed at Bryan McWilliam.com.
Last December, Blood and Thunder Magazine hosted the first-ever Roller Derby World Cup, in conjunction with Toronto Roller Derby at The Bunker in Toronto, Canada.
The tournament had several exciting moments, from the overall dominance by USA, to host country Canada playing to a silver medal. The event also featured a bout where 500 points was scored by one team and the rare appearance of a “ghost jam,” which occurred during the Ireland/Finland bout.
Team Scotland added some astounding moments of their own into the mix, having played one of the hardest hitting bouts of the weekend against New Zealand, adding their rendition of “Flower of Scotland” to the opening ceremony and scoring a thirty point jam of their own, courtesy of jammer Marshall Lawless.
However, what could arguably have been the most exciting moment of the tournament came upon its conclusion. A most valuable player award was handed out to one member of each team for their outstanding performance over the course of the weekend.
An impressive list of skaters from around the world such as Iron Wench for Canada, Francey Pants for France, Swede Hurt for Sweden, Shortstop for Australia and Joy Collision for USA earned the honour for their teams.
When Lisa Donati a.k.a Marla Mayhem, a member of Team Scotland who also plays for Glasgow Roller Girls, was announced as the MVP for her nation she had a look of wonder on her face when she ran up to accept her award and pose with the other MVP’s for the press photos.
Perhaps Marla was surprised by the announcement, but with the kind of tournament she had against some of the top skaters in the world, the award should have been expected.
Marla showed no fear from the jammer position as she fought through tough packs and took bodily damage over the course of the three days. She scored a large majority of her team’s points along with fellow jammers Lawless, Blazin Phoenix and Clinically Wasted and the tournament decided that her effort and “never say die” attitude was worthy of the MVP honour.
After getting back from the World Cup, getting over the loss of her voice, working through a mountain of work from her two businesses and spending time with her two pre-schoolers she managed to answer some questions for Scottish Roller Derby.
Bryan Mcwilliam: How did it feel playing in the first ever World Cup?
Marla Mayhem: A great honour and amazing experience. I feel hugely inspired to do better having skated with the world’s greatest skaters, especially so many in a short space of time.
BM: Did you enjoy Toronto? How do you think Blood and Thunder and Toronto Roller Derby did hosting the event?
MM: Toronto was great. I’m a fan of cities built on a grid system; it’s clean and from what I experienced, most efficient. Fortunately, I managed to squeeze in some sights too, once I recovered from our post cup celebrations.
Blood and Thunder have got off to a great start laying the foundations for future World Cup events. The tournament ran to schedule, B&T were great hosts, always available, & willing to help. Having the opportunity to get injuries dealt with on site with Dr Rick was a godsend and definitely a requisite for all future tournaments. I met some amazing people and hope I have the opportunity and good health to be up for more.
BM: What were some of your personal in-game highlights?
MM: Well, skating with athletes at the top of their game wasn’t too shabby. New Zealand was tight and that’s my kind of game. USA was crazy and brilliant together, it’s the only footage I’ve seen and I had to watch myself through my cringing fingers – those women really are something. Each game had its own merits and delivered its own highlights for different reasons, but when Team Scotland delivered what we were aspiring to, it couldn’t get any better.
BM: Did you think you would win the MVP for Team Scotland? Why do you think you were chosen?
MM: Not at all, especially as our first day was so challenging. It’s difficult to comprehend that you’re doing okay when you’re taking such a battering and defeat.
BM: If you could give your MVP award to any one of your team-mates who would it be?
MM: I think I’d need to share it with Wild Oates, Marshall Lawless & Mistress Malicious. Malicious knows tactics and play like no-one else. I love watching her thought process filter from brain to skate – as ever, it was in top form in Toronto. Oates and Lawless have been training like devils and it really shows; every time I see them they get fitter, stronger and up the challenge for the opposition.
BM: What does the future hold for Marla Mayhem in life, in derby and in any other interesting aspects?
MM: Ah, life. I’m shifting the whole focus of my life, work and derby this year. I am intending to make 3 training sessions this year, 2011 I was lucky to make 1 or 2. We have a great season lined up – Berlin, Paris, Malmo, and Rainy City – and I’d like to bring my best to the Glasgow Roller Girls’ Irn Bruisers. I have 2 young daughters whom I’ll be mainly hanging out with until August when they start nursery and primary school, a bit of skating with them hopefully. I have 2 businesses, one of which I will be stepping back from, the second of which, I launched last year ,Psycho Pants, and will be putting my energies into progressing that to the next phase.
Off-skates training I try to build into normal life, for example cycling with the girls in a trailer in the back, running to the shops, squats in the garden, etc. I loathe wasteful time, like sitting on a bus or in the car when I could cycle, walk, do something rather than nothing. Other than that, random things I’d like to do is explore the old, disused underground network in Glasgow, it’ll be freaking scary, but good scary. I’d also like to try trapeze and to design a font.
The future seems bright and busy for Marla Mayhem as she looks to bring her success from the World Cup to her home team in Glasgow. If she keeps up the type of play she did in December she will definitely be a skater to watch for as the Glasgow Roller Girls season begins in 2012
Many thanks to Bryan for this interview and to Dave McAleavy for kindly supplying the photo of Marla Mayhem.
Tarce in action at the Roller Derby World Cup in December - photo courtesy of Dave McAleavy
The skaters always seem to be the stars of the Roller Derby show, but realistically, a live bout would dissolve into chaos if we didn’t have Team Line Up Managers, Bench Managers and Non-Skating Officials (NSOs).
Tarce, a skater with Glasgow Roller Girls, unexpectedly found herself positioned as Line-Up Manager for Team Scotland only a few weeks before the World Cup kicked off! The person in this role is a vital part of any team as they take the time to understand each skater’s strengths and weaknesses, and can make clear decisions on which skaters will play together per jam, and how to recover when players are sent to the penalty box.
We catch up with Tarce to hear how she found the World Cup experience and just what the job entails.
How did you become involved with Roller Derby?
It was back in February 2010 when I got a message about the Glasgow Film Festival on Facebook. The message also contained a part about a roller derby bout that Saturday between Glasgow Roller Girls and London Rockin’ Rollers. Now I’d never heard of roller derby before but something about women on skates possibly hitting each other somehow drew my interest! I decided to go along by myself to check it out and as soon as I entered the room I knew I was in the right place for me! So this was where the cool people hung out!
I went along to the after party too and got talking to one of the refs (who I’d met before through our mutual tattooist) and him and his lovely wife talked me into coming along to the next newbie intake, which just happened to be that same Tuesday! I also remember talking to a rather drunk Marla Mayhem of GRG and the Fabulous Mighty Mighty Bash of LRR and thinking these were women I could definitely get along with.
I plucked up the courage to go along to newbies that very Tuesday and managed not to break anything or embarrass myself too much .. and I’ve been hooked ever since!
How did you get involved in Line-Up in general, and what made you sign-up for the World Cup?
Haha now here comes the funny part! When I did the line up managing for Team Scotland’s first game against New Zealand at the World Cup, that only the second time I had ever done it! To say I was slightly nervous would be a small understatement; I’d much rather have been skating at that point that much I knew!
Back in February last year, Viper, our head of league training at GRG at the time, was in the first stages of trying to organise a national team for Scotland and she was desperate for people to help out. To play to my strengths, I volunteered to administer the Team Scotland forum as I sit in front of a computer all day at work and I’d done that sort of thing before anyway.
To cut a long story short, before I knew it I was Chairperson of Team Scotland and I was off to Toronto in a few weeks! It was at that late stage that the person we had in the role told us that due to family commitments she would be unable to attend theWorld Cup. My one previous time doing line-ups (TS vs Northern Allstars) had filled the captains with enough confidence that they asked me to do it again for Team Scotland – the crazy fools! Well, I was going to be there anyway and I knew all the skaters, whats the worst that could happen?!
What makes a good Line-Up Manager?
Well you definitely need to remain calm and focussed in the eye of the storm! Exuding an air of confidence and that you know what you’re doing are very important too (even if you are actually bricking it inside!). You have to make instant decisions and stick to them. Stay focussed on whats happening on track and in the penalty bin and listen to what the bench manager is shouting at you too. You have to be able to be firm with the skaters as well as they will either be giving you puppy dog eyes to go on next, moaning that they want to go on with their best buddy or crying cos they ain’t getting played enough! It’s a tough job! You’ve also got to keep an eye on them, especially the jammers, to see how tired they are and if they maybe need to sit off for a couple to get their breath back. Its definitely not a job to take on if you want to get a good view of the bout, that’s for sure!
How did you prepare for the World Cup?
When I realised that I was going to be the one doing the job, I made sure I went along to all the training sessions and watched and got to know all the skaters that weren’t from my own league. I needed to familiarise myself with the roles they played when skating; who only blocked, who would jam and block, who was confident pivoting, etc. I’d have liked to have been able to perform the role at more bouts or even scrimmage sessions but unfortunately there just wasn’t the time.
I also spoke to Knuckles, our bench manager and got as much information and tips from him as possible. He does an amazing job and it was great working with him.
Has the experience changed how you would manage Line-Up in future?
I don’t want to do it ever again! Haha. Seriously though, I did gain a lot of confidence in the role by being thrown in at the deep end; it is full on and it is stressful but at the end of the day as long as you get enough skaters on track you’ve done your job! Lol. If I do it again in future I wont worry so much about trying to stick to the written line-ups provided by the captains; after that first person goes to the penalty bin you can basically throw them out the window. Just stick to the general ethos in your head of what they want and just go with what feels and looks right to you at the time. I think trying to work to that bit of paper definitely made things more stressful. So I guess the lesson to learn is: know your skaters well, know their strengths and weaknesses and know the tactics that the captains are playing to.
What do you think the World Cup has done for Roller Derby in Scotland?
It’s really given skaters new enthusiasm and motivation! Something new to aim for; who wouldn’t want to make it on to their country’s national team! We showed this year that Scotland is definitely a force to be reckoned with and basically anything is possible for us. Roller derby is going to keep on growing exponentially from here, its going to be huge and Scotland has a chance to be a big name in the sport. We have some amazing new skaters coming through who have a real hunger to do well. I see great things ahead for us! This first World Cup for a bit of an experiment really but it totally worked! I cannot wait to see what the next one will look like… it’s going to be immense! Watch out USA, Scotland is coming for you!
Do you have any advice for anyone considering becoming a Line-Up Manager for their local league?
All those non-skating roles are vitally important to the sport as a whole; if we didn’t have people to fill bench and NSO roles then we couldn’t play, simple as! All leagues need those people that are dedicated to the sport and want to do their bit even if it doesn’t involve skating. And the skaters are hugely thankful that they come along and do what they do.
Come along as often as you can for scrimmage sessions especially. Get to know everyone and feel part of the team. Know the rules inside and out and watch as much roller derby as you can – just like being a skater really! Practice makes perfect, the more you do it the more confident you will get. I don’t think there are any big secrets to it, it’s just about being level headed, sensible and logical really. And if the skaters know they can rely on you they will love you forever!
In another World Cup interview,we talk to Ballistic Whistle,Head Coach of Team England
Photo of Ballistic Whistle by Dave McAleavy
At the World Cup,Team England placed a well deserved third,how does it feel to have represented your country and managed a squad of skaters to such an amazing achievment?
Well, technically I haven’t represented my country….being Australian and all. I did take a sick joy from writing myself into what my countrymen would consider the wrong side of that classic sporting rivalry though. However, I do feel that English derby is truly where my heart lies. Having invested so much time and effort into the sport in this country it was emotional to have the opportunity to lead a team of excellent skaters at an event which saw sickening amounts of national pride.
From the streamed footage everything seemed to run very well,what were your impressions of the World Cup?
I thought it was really well produced for a first event of its kind. Obviously there were some elements that I would’ve preferred were different – for example the pillars in the middle of the track – but given the scale of the event I thought Black Dahlia did an amazing job of pulling together something that no-one, up until now, had decided to brave attempting.
What are your World Cup highlights? Both personally and for the Team
My actual highlight from the world cup can’t go in print so I’ll just say that I loved the New Zealand Haka as well as watching the USA v USA bout. The thing that really sticks with me was just seeing so many different countries representing their brand of derby. It was great to watch. That, and being able to coach some fantastic skaters that I don’t normally get the opportunity to.
Team England drew a varied group with Ireland and Argentina,interestingly, Team Ireland featured some skaters from The London Roller Girls,given that those skaters are well versed in the way you work,how did that affect your tactics for that bout?
Well, for whatever reason Team Ireland chose not to play those skaters in our game against them. We had the luxury of being able to observe the Ireland team before we played them so had an idea of how they were going to set themselves out. Having said that, they certainly played a style we weren’t expecting and made our opening game really tough which, given points differential was vital to the knockout phases, put a little extra pressure on us for the remaining group game.
A sizeable chunk of the Team England squad had played in the Eastern Region Playoffs as part of the London Roller Girls team where you were also Coach,how much of an edge do you think that experience gave you over most of the other teams in the World Cup?
Getting better by playing better teams is one of the hard and fast derby truths that LRG swears by, so having the opportunity to go to Regionals just made those participating players stronger, both physically and mentally. I can imagine that a lot of the players at the cup would never have felt the experience of being involved in such a large-scale, high-profile event such as that, so having players who were able to put all that to one side and focus on the job at hand was quite advantageous to us
Argentina were one of the unknowns in the competition,how impressed were you with them and the newer,less established teams?
It was almost impossible for us to do research on many of the unknown teams. Footage doesn’t exist and you only really find some snippets of the one or two “stars” playing with their own league. Argentina and Brazil were especially exciting to watch during the cup as they were essentially representing the newest frontier of derby (out of the teams at the cup anyway). I was incredibly impressed with how well Finland did and am just sad that I didn’t have more free time to catch more of their games.
Looking back at England’s World Cup bout scores,it seems that you sailed through almost every match,however,scores rarely reflect how hard fought a bout was,who among your opponents gave you the hardest bouts?
The Canada game was the toughest by far. We never really got into the game and were working hard just to stay within touching distance. We got off to a terrible start against Australia, but just needed to take a breath, have a chat, and we were able to regain control of that one. For me, the most unexpectedly tough game we played was against Ireland. Not because it was our first bout of the tournament, not because it was played at 9:30am on a Friday, but because Ireland played a really strong, disciplined game. They gave us a fight right from the start and pretty much made us re-evaluate our tournament game plan.
What do you think of the European Cup that has recently been announced?,can we expect to see Team England there?,or do you have any other international bout plans?
I love the idea of a Euro Cup. I think whoever takes responsibility for organising it is going to have to deal with headaches Blood & Thunder avoided, now that the teams are established and have a voice. Something that Dahlia started catching more and more as the prep for the World Cup went on. I would hate for a Euro Cup to happen without Team England there. The team took the festive season off, but we’re going to be discussing how we want to move the forward in 2012. Obviously a lot of the players have hectic derby schedules already, so working out how we can fit it in is going to be somewhat tricky. As for other international bouts, there are some things that are being discussed, but I can’t divulge anything at this stage.
2012 will be an exciting time for Roller Derby here.There are new full WFTDA and apprentice leagues all over Europe and the Track Queens competition coming up for them later in the year,plus the European Cup.All of which can only improve the standard of the sport right across the board.How do you see the future of Derby in Europe?
I have fingers crossed that WFTDA will consider formalising the European Region in terms of the existing Big5 tournaments. It’s going to be tough to work out how a Region with such a small number of teams and such a diverse ability level will fit into their tournament structure though. That’s a task I don’t envy. I’m hoping that the Euro Cup will give an opportunity to some other European Countries to establish their national teams as well. The Track Queens tournament is really exciting as well. I realise there have been localised tournaments such as Tattoo Freeze and Highland Fling, but I’m hoping this can be the spiritual continuation of Roll Brittania wihich is now so long overdue. 2011 saw me witness European teams playing strategies that were less than 3 months old at the time. That many of the established teams have reached that point means their progress should accelerate even more rapidly in 2012. Exciting stuff.
Many thanks to Ballistic Whistle for taking the time to do this interview
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