Glasgow Roller Derby and Auld Reekie Roller Girls Go Global!

So, ECDX is now less than 8 weeks away! How ready is the team?
Cider (ARRG):  We bout all year round, so we’re always ready to play Roller Derby.  We just need to remember to pack party hats and sun block and we’re there!

Rogue (GRD):  As ready as we’ve ever been, I reckon! It was important to us to plan and train far in advance for this event so we’ve been working very hard at playing as a solid unit for a while now.

Is there any specific training that your team have been doing to prepare, eg extra scrimmage/off skates training/teambuilding?
Rogue (GRD):  Yes, everyone on the team has taken on some sort of off skates training. This has taken many forms. Some people are going to the gym, some do Cross-fit, running, strength training or even Parkour! This means that everyone has been making a huge commitment, as the team already train 3-4 times a week. It’s a lot of work and time for everyone. This team is dedicated!

Crazy (ARRG):  Yes - lots of intense off skates, focus on team work and a lot of work on our technical skating skills lately -  we jumped at LRG’s invite to go play at Anarchy in the UK III because we knew that would give us a couple of really challenging games and bring the team together just before ECDX.  And the lovely Hot Wheels invited us down for a bout the week afterwards, which was great in consolidating our team work a bit more. For the next few weeks we have booked in a lot visiting teams to scrimmage against us, so that we can do as much as we can to raise level of the ARRG teamwork dream work!  We also have an exciting scrimmage with Gotham, and a pre ECDX bout with another WFTDA league organised for when we get to the States to acclimatise us before ECDX starts. Bouting in New York AND Philly!

What are the team/wider league doing to help with finances for this international opportunity?
Rogue  (GRD):  The whole league, as well as our families and friends, have been amazing in helping us to raise funds for this. To try to list the ways that people have helped would be to miss something out. Fundraising efforts have been as diverse as bag-packing at a local supermarket;  a photo exhibition at a local café run by our own Phoenix; and a Grd Auction.  I’m grateful to everyone who has helped us and I hope we can make them proud.    Click here if you’d like to help out!  http://www.glasgowrollerderby.com/get-in-touch/donate

Cider (ARRG):  So much! It’s unreal -  I think everyone in the league has helped in some way which is a bit single teary for us as a team.  We feel really supported, and a bit overwhelmed by the sacrifices people have made for us.  Our limited edition merch, designed by Admiral Attackbar, has been a huge bonus because not only does it raise money for us, but it’s also amazing quality.  We love the designs! You can buy them here:   http://auldreekierollergirls.bigcartel.com/products.       Our Sponsorship and Advertising Committee have pulled off some brilliant and fun fundraising events for us this year too – like our huge 5^th birthday party which will be happening this Saturday, which has lots of lovely surprises happening on the night. This will help us raise further travel funds.  You can find our more here:          http://www.facebook.com/events/193068510841007/

Do you know anything about the teams you’re up against?
Crazy (ARRG):  Of course! We did some fairly intensive research as soon as the sanctioned teams were announced by ECDX Organisers – it’s frightening how organised our team was at online research or *creeping* as we call it.  There was a 12 hour overnight ‘ARRG mass creep’ period where the whole team did this massive impressive feat of internet stalking and voting to suss out who we wanted to play!  We’ve been keeping an eye on both teams – Ithaca and Dominion – and where they are appearing in rankings; who they’re playing and who they’re beating; but I guess it’s really only when we get there that we’ll get a real sense of the level of play.

Rogue (GRD):  Long island are ranked 93rd, and Columbia 39^th, in the WFTDA rankings but who knows what that means? Teams don’t tend to give much away and it’s hard to find recent footage online. However Columbia are playing against Charm City (17th) this weekend and I’ll be watching the results of that one very closely! I also know from being in touch with members of both teams that they will play hard and play to win, but that they are lovely people and I can’t wait to meet them.

How do you think the team will perform?
Rogue (GRD): The team have all been reminded to pack our A game. We’ll be playing to win!

Cider (ARRG):  I think that we’ve been performing well lately as a team and consistently improving with each bout or tournament, so if we keep our focus I know we can perform well.  It just all depends on how well the other teams perform against us I guess.  We’ve trained hard and we’ll go in with the usual 100% and see where that gets us!

What are you most excited about?

Crazy (ARRG):How long have you got?! It’s ECDX!!! Roller Derby in America! Food in Philly! Rocky steps! Team Sauna! And most exciting, is knowing the rest of ARRG will be watching and cheering for us. We want to make them all proud. Hopefully squeeze a bit of shopping in also…  And also, just to say it is such a great chance for two Scottish teams to represent themselves in the States … and if the Team Scotland after-party was anything to go by (from the World Cup) we should have fun doing it!

Rogue (GRD):  Oh, so many things! I’m excited to get there and play with the team and see all of our hard work pay off. I’m excited about the opportunities that this could create for us. I’m excited about the future of GRD. I rarely stop being excited about roller derby!

Scotland heads to ECDX

ECDX won’t know what’s hit it…

For skaters in the North American continent, the East Coast Derby eXtravaganza has been an essential fixture since its founding in 2007. Despite initial hiccups (scheduling their first event in the winter led to ice-related chaos, causing the move to the current June 28th to 30th slot), ECDX is now one of the biggest derby meetups in the USA, outgrowing its initial purpose of providing a yearly meetup merely for leagues  on the Eastern seaboard.

This year, however, for the first time in ECDX’s 7 year history, two of the teams competing in front of thousands of spectators will be from outside the USA and Canada.

Because, this year, Glasgow Roller Derby‘s Irn Bruisers and Auld Reekie Roller Girls‘ Twisted Thistles are bringing Scottish derby to the East Coast.

If ECDX is such an awesome event (winning Best Regular Season event in the DNN reader awards three years running), then why is it that no European leagues have attended before? The same reason, of course, that London Rollergirls has so many sponsors nowadays: the cost of flying up to 20 excited rollergirls, and supporters, across the Atlantic ocean, is a more than significant outlay for even the biggest European leagues.

As a result, both GRD and ARRG are embarking upon an extensive round of fundraising to pay for their travel and boarding, allowing them to represent not just Scotland but also the UK and Europe in Philadelphia.

Apart from augmenting the money made at their regular bouts from raffles and cakes (and face painting in the case of GRD), both leagues have been running a series of derby and non-derby events. For Glasgow, upcoming events include DJ nights at The Flying Duck on May 24th, and at Nice n Sleazy’s on the 31st of that month; a gala day and a speed dating evening with dates not yet finalised.

Facepainting at the first Glasgow Roller Derby Home Season of the year.

Auld Reekie have also been hard at work raising money for their trip, long before their plans were made public. As fundraising chair Skinner Alive notes, “We were in touch with the ECDX organisers just after the summer of last year so our journey to ECDX was always in our 2013 plans, and as such we have been fundraising like mad over these past 8 months.”

ARRG’s first ever hosted bootcamp, School of ARRG Knocks, was one of the first events that the league run to raise ECDX funds, and was so popular that a second bootcamp (subtitled “Even ARRGer!”; perhaps “Skate Free and Die ARRG” was taken?) is already planned.

ARRG are also running quizzes and music events across Edinburgh, in venues such as The Tron, ElboW, Brassmonkey, Leith Cricket Club and The Breakfast Club, hosting bands such as Shields Up, Trails, Taking Chase, Curators, Bonehouse and Albaroma. Skinner noted that both the hosts’ and the bands’ support is particularly valued, with the bands often providing their services for free.

As well as continuing to advertise such events, ARRG is also gearing up for a very special event: their 5th birthday party, which Skinner promises will be an event not to be missed.

Both leagues have even been driven to sell their possessions to help raise funds. One of the first things that Auld Reekie’s fundraising team (Skinner, Princess Die, Maulibu Barbie and Captain Havoc) did on learning they’d be going to ECDX was to stick all of the league’s old kit at a car boot sale for a starting fund, which “was a great easy money maker, and truly amazing what you can turn into cash with very little effort”.

GRD are also raising money in other ways, with an auction of time and items in planning. This will be hosted by GRD themselves, although the precise format is not available at this time.

The Auld Reekie Limited Edition Merch stall, at their first Home Season bout of the year.

Finally, both leagues are also producing new merchandise. In Edinburgh, skilled graphic designer, and star ARRG jammer, Admiral Attackbar has developed a range of limited edition clothing with the “Party ARRG” brand. “We decided that we really wanted to give something back to our supporters for helping us out so rather than just donating money, fans can buy themselves a sweet limited edition tshirt instead and know that the proceeds are going to help us get to ECDX,” said Admiral. Asked about the origin of the punny slogans, she revealed that their something that’s been bubbling under for a while: “When we hosted School of ARRG Knocks we were coming up with puns all over the place and Party ARRG arose at some point with regards to the after party. I was really trying to capture the spirit of the league in the new merch designs whilst still keeping things clean, simple and effective.”

Meanwhile, in Glasgow, GRD are sourcing recipes for a  planned cookbook, with a vegetarian and vegan slant, which they are hoping will be successful enough on its initial run to raise funds.

More prosaically, both leagues will be offering their bag packing skills in the shopping centres of their respective cities, so if you want your purchases packed by a roller derby skater, do watch out in the next few months!

Of course, it isn’t just skaters who are raising money for their trip. Dave McAleavy, possibly Scotland’s most well-known derby photographer is running an exhibition in derby-owned Cafe Phoenix to raise money for the GRD’s cause. “Glasgow Roller Derby have had a great couple of years,” said Dave, “and heading to ECDX to take on the world [...] the proceeds from sales will be going to their travel fund.”

If you want to know how important this is to both leagues, all you have to do is to talk to the skaters, all of whom are now considering their next few months in the context of ECDX.

New GRD Irn Bruiser Mona Rampage, playing as part of the composite team “The Gravehearts” in Edinburgh. (Photo: Laura MacDonald)

Speaking for Glasgow Roller Derby, new Bruiser Mona Rampage was luckily enough to graduate to the A-team just in time to join the ECDX crew, and is understandably excited. “Getting selected to be a Bruiser was a massive accomplishment for me”, she said: “I failed my minimums 3 times so was always behind everyone else in my intake skill wise; watching them getting selected for the top 20, NSOing bouts they were playing in, and bench managing their team’s games. To finally go from being on the sidelines to being on the A-team was huge for me. I can’t even express how happy I was to be selected. I feel like I really earned my spot though, which makes it so much sweeter! As for ECDX, I am really trying to up my game for the tournament as it will be the hardest thing I have ever done, not to mention the hardest thing the Bruisers have ever done.”

Alma Geddon, jamming against Sheffield Steel in Scotland’s first international derby tournament, in Glasgow

Auld Reekie’s Alma Geddon has been on their A-team, the Twisted Thistles, for a while, but that hasn’t tempered the excitement of ECDX for her.

 Both Mona and Alma were especially excited not just to be facing some fantastic American derby opponents, but each to be doing so alongside their counterparts on the other side of the country. “It’s massive for Scottish and UK derby and I’m glad we can share the experience with them. We are really lucky that we get on so well with all of the ARRG girls and I’m excited to hang out with them by the pool, cheer them on in their sanctioned outs and I’m sure they will do the same for us” enthused Mona.

Alma was equally pleased to be seeing Glasgow’s skaters at ECDX. “It’s fantastic that both ARRG & GRD will be a part of ECDX this summer. In 2011 the Scottish national team competing at the first Roller Derby World Cup in Toronto consisted mainly of skaters from these two leagues. In the bout against Team USA, Team Scotland may only have scored the now infamous ‘one point’, however, I think it’s true to say our Scottish pride & tenacity has already left quite an impression on a number of the American skaters. As one of the Team Scotland skaters I know I learned a lot from my World Cup experience & have grown as a skater as a result. The other lovely byproduct of the World Cup is that the two leagues have grown much closer & more supportive of each other than ever before, there was a whole lot of Scottish love at Track Queens tournament last November in Berlin. I’m looking forward to ARRG & GRD showcasing how far we’ve all come & how hard we’ve all been working!”

That said, if it was all about simply hanging out with each other, there’d be no need to fly to Philadelphia to do it. Mona Rampage was all about the challenge,  “really excited to play Columbia as they are the highest ranking team we will be coming up against. I really hope we give them a hard game! I’m going to try my hardest in any case!”  While Team Scotland veteran Alma Geddon has perhaps a few more contacts, and is looking forward to catching up as much as making new friends “Three days of superb derby action to enjoy watching & playing, not to mention rubbing shoulders with some derby heroes/crushes, meeting up with old friends & making new friends …. I stumbled across a roller derby spectating team called Hot Pants Cold Beer, they sound like a great fun bunch of folks.”

Whether those folks can keep up with the cream of Scottish Roller Derby is another matter entirely, and one we look forward to testing on June 28th!

All of Auld Reekie Roller Girls’ events are advertised on Facebook & Twitter (@AuldReekieRG), as well as the ARRG website. The limited edition ARRG merchandise can be bought at: http://auldreekierollergirls.bigcartel.com/  before April 15th, and then at all of the ARRG bouts until the 18th of May. You can also donate directly to ARRG via their website.

Similarly, Glasgow Roller Derby’s events are also publicised on Facebook and Twitter (@WeAreGRD), and on their website, which also includes a funding thermometer. As with ARRG, you can donate directly to them via their website.

Auld Reekie Roller Girls:Home Season 2,Bout 3-Leithal Weapons Vs Skatefast Club

Image courtesy of ARRG

The penultimate bout of the Auld Reekie Roller Girls Home Season is coming up.
The bout takes place at Meadowbank Sports Centre,London Road,Edinburgh on Saturday the 8th of March.Doors open at 2pm and entry is £7 on the day or £5(plus booking fee) in advance.

Glasgow Roller Derby Vs Auld Reekie Roller Girls

Image courtesy of GRD

Glasgow Roller Derby‘s Irn Bruisers take on Auld Reekie Roller Girls’ Twisted Thistles in their first bout of the year.The bout takes place on Saturday the 23th of February at The Arc,Cowcaddens Road,Glasgow.Entry is £6 on the door or £5 in advance.
More details on the Facebook event page.

Auld Reekie Roller Girls:Home Season 2,Bout 2-Cherry Bombers Vs Skatefast Club

Auld Reekie Roller Girls present the second bout of this years Home Season,with a match between The Cherry Bombers and The Skatefast Club.
The bout takes place at Meadowbank Sports Centre,London Road,Edinburgh on Saturday the 16th of February.Doors open at 2pm and entry is £7 on the day,or £5(plus booking fee) in advance.
More details at the Facebook event page.

Auld Reekie Roller Girls:Home Season 2,Bout 1-Cherry Bombers Vs Leithal Weapons

Image courtesy of Auld Reekie Roller Girls

Auld Reekie Roller Girls kick off the new year with their second Home Season, featuring a bout between the Cherry Bombers and, last seasons winners, the Leithal Weapons.
The action takes place at Meadowbank Sports Centre, London Road, Edinburgh,on Saturday the 19th of January.Doors open at 2pm.Entry is $7 on the day, £5(plus booking fee) for an advance single bout ticket, or there is also the option of a Season ticket, which will allow entry to all Home Season bouts for £15(plus booking fee)
Please note, Season tickets may only be purchased up to the first game.
More info at the Facebook event page.

An Interview With Crazy Legs

Photography by Dave McAleavy.

Track Queens looked fantastic from the footage,how was it to actually be a part of?

An unforgettable weekend – BCRD did Europe proud in organising it, and it was great to see WFTDA representation there to support us too. What great Roller Derby from all of the teams who took part – some real nail-biting action in every single bout. It was as fun as it looked. More so because of all of the hilarious extra’s; the pony invasion, the Helsinki/ARRG ninja v pony fight at half time in the final – that was a grudge match that needed to be fought. In Helsinki this year, my new jumper got ripped off my back and the team needed some retribution, you know? I think we got it. I think they got the message. We’re watching you Turtles.

The first bout against Central City Roller Girls was quite literally heart stopping to watch and really could have went either way.Did you ever doubt ARRG could win one of the hardest fought opening bouts of the tournament?

I never doubted for a minute that we had the ability to win it, but I also thought it would be close fought and really could turn out either way. CCR came into the tournament having had some great wins. I always thought we were strong enough, we just needed to really keep the focus and pull it together. Playing against teams so well matched in skill level means no time for any sort of mental lapse. I’m so proud of the team for keeping it zipped up to the end – there were a few shaky moments, but we didn’t freak out! We’ve been really focussing on the mental angle, we do have a small team of excitable exploding ponies and it is important that everyone on our team is in the game mentally and playing the long game not panicking about every point change or bad jam, we sometimes get too excited or distracted. We’ve added in some pre bout and mid bout ‘activities’ to assist with keeping it together which I think is starting to work for us.

The LRG bout was interesting,as right from the outset it was obvious that it was not going to be a repeat of your previous encounter with them.Do you feel that the closer result this time around shows how far the team has progressed?

Well we wanted to demonstrate that we used the huge beasting last time to improve, which we definitely have I think. Our team has matured and grown really close over the course of this year after some upheaval, so yes I really hope it showed! We took some key lessons from the last game with Brawling and applied them to our training over the past 6 months – strength and stamina was one area; we’ve practically taken over TEBA (The Edinburgh Boxing Academy) lately, their Ultimate Fitness classes for boxing are absolutely mental and amazing. We also switched up our jammer rotation a bit and worked on tighter, faster pack reactions – and just trying to keep it on a level and together – last time we played Brawling they probably had a different game plan too though. It’s also amazing how they manage to keep playing at such a high standard even with some roster changes, we do aspire to that. We wish we could play them once a month. Hopefully we can take a trip down to do some friendly training with them soon.

The Stockholm bout was if anything, more exciting to watch than the first and easily one of the best bouts of the whole tournament,are you disappointed not to have taken the third place after such a close, hard-fought game?

It’s weird, of course we really wanted a medal, but I don’t think the team felt deflated about not getting 3rd place – probably because we felt we played a really good game and had a good tournament with us moving up a place to 4th overall. Stockholm have some fantastic skaters, they are really tough and strong, which always makes for a fun bout – I do find it frustrating to watch the footage when we lost the lead …but again, so much learning opportunity there! It was a close result at the end, and it’s given us confidence that we’re playing at a good level just now and we are all raring to go after the Xmas break and get focussed with pushing ourselves up to the next level. We have a list of things to work on again ready for the next batch of Thistles games.

Taking a broader,European view for a moment,the Track Queens tournament has shown that most of the competing teams are grouped very closely together in terms of ability and skill,how do see European Derby progressing from where it is now?

I think that the more European tournaments we have and the more teams that start travelling a bit further for bouts to get a different perspective on the way the game is being played elsewhere, the better the standard will become. There are so many more teams across Europe who also could have competed confidently at this level and probably would have surprised people too. I think the teams with the drive and commitment to keep pushing will ultimately push through and I’d love to see some massive strong European presence at the national level competitions soon. I think we’re lucky to have so many good leagues in such a relatively small geographical area. It’s exciting how many Euro leagues are becoming WFTDA members too just now. I also have to mention the fantastic level of officiating we saw at Track Queens too – I love seeing dedicated NSO’s/refs and in Europe it’s looking SO good.

Auld Reekie have had an interesting year,the first Home Season and the other big first,organising an ARRG boot camp,then some losses balanced out with very strong performances in two major tournaments,not to mention the ,’this is how we roll’ signature team move.What are your Auld Reekie highlights of the past year?

I honestly would ramble on for hours on this subject because all of the things you mentioned have been huge achievements, especially the rolling around in dirt It’s definitely been the year of the tournament, and a good fun filled one at that. But to keep it short – personally it’s been having Cider voted in as Thistles Vice Captain – she brings her unique style to the role and it fits just perfectly with us as a team – she never fails to make me laugh even when I’m stressed or tired and I’m enjoying the Captain role even more because of this. Also she looks so good with a Moustache. Things that make me smile a lot just now are the Thistles being just the best bunch of women a person could ever meet and the whole of ARRG pulling together to make our huge league ambitions into realities, I can’t actually put into words how this makes me feel, I seem to cry a lot more these days from happiness and pride in people than from anything else – ARRG has turned me into an emotional softy.

Looking forward to next year,can you tell us anything about ARRG’s plans for 2013?

I cannot breathe with the excitement of it – we’ll definitely be taking the Thistles to America!! More to be announced on that soon!!

So um, probablly a few fund raisers to do as well!!! We’d love to do another Boot Camp if we can find the time, because we had so much fun – maybe School of ARRG Knocks “even ARRG’er”?! We have a couple of exciting festival bouts planned for August – we may just get a re-match with Stockholm yeah! We have a whole batch of exciting new bouters showcasing their stuff at our home season kicking off on 19th January (cheap season tickets on sale now) and we have 3 whole fresh meat intakes planned, the first in February 2013 (email newskaters@arrg.co.uk to get your name down). For once, I can’t wait to get Xmas out of the way!

Finally,the new rule set, are you looking forward to getting to grips with it and do you think WFTDA have succeeded in streamlining the sport for fans and skaters alike?

Oh yes – I really like it. I always found minors really frustrating and think they interrupted the game /slowed it down excessively in relation to the impact they had. Time will tell how it changes the game I guess, we’ve already seen some changes emerging, being a WFTDA member league, we had a good head start to plan for this, as we get to vote on them and see draft versions of the new rules – we’ve been using an hour every week over the last few months for some preparatory exploration of how the changes ‘would’ feel, and we’ve had a mock bout with GRD to try it out already and help our Scottish WFTDA affiliated officials plan for it. We also planned our home season to be the time and place where we test the rule set out fully in public before we start our travel team bouts. In terms of the slow game/fast game, the faster game is always more fun to play

Auld Reekie Roller Girls Vs Dundee Roller Girls

Image courtesy of ARRG

Auld Reekie Roller Girls‘ Cannon Belles take on Dundee Roller Girls‘ Silvery Taysers on Saturday the 27th of October,in the last ARRG home bout of the year.The action takes place at Meadowbank Sports Centre,Edinburgh,entry £7 on the day,advance tickets available here at a cost of £5,plus booking fee.
Please note that this bout starts slightly earlier than normal,doors open at 1pm.
More details at the Facebook event page.

The Revolution on Roller Skates:Roller Derby Exhibition

Image courtesy of NMRD,photography by Dave McAleavy

The National Museum Of Roller Derby present ‘The Revolution On Roller Skates’.The first public exhibition on the beginnings of Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby in the UK.
Curated by members of Auld Reekie Roller Girls and Glasgow Roller Derby,the event is being held at the Glasgow Women’s Library and launches on the 22nd of September.The exhibition promises an insight into the fast and furious early years of the sport in this country and is not to be missed!

Auld Reekie Roller Girls Vs Sheffield Steel Rollergirls

Image courtesy of Auld Reekie Roller Girls

Auld Reekie Roller Girls’ Twisted Thistles take on Sheffield Steel Rollergirls at Meadowbank Sports Centre,London Road,Edinburgh on Saturday the 22nd of September.Entry is £7 on the door or £5 plus booking in advance.
ARRG won the last time these two teams met at the Chaos On The Clyde tournament,should make for a good bout as SSRG will be hungry to even the score.