“For many, the question isn’t why would you play such sport, but why AREN’T you playing such a sport?”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/04/roller-derby-britain-women

The Armitage Sports Centre in Fallowfield, Manchester was the setting for the first home bout of the Rainy City Roller Girls. They were to take on the Leeds Roller Dolls in a hard fought battle and aptly named “War of the Roses”. The crowd swelled to over 300 people with equal support from both sides. But the virgin Manchester crowd were quickly converted and kept on the edge of their seats by the scoreline, which for the most part was neck and neck.

Things kicked off in favour of the Rainys, but they quickly felt the pressure with 19 major penalties in the first half! Leeds weren’t far behind with 14 majors – there was a lot of passion and pride riding on this battle! Half time finished with Rainy City on 78 and Leeds on 57. But victory was no way in the bag… the gloves were off!

Both teams were on form – teamwork and tactics keeping things tight but in the end the Rainys’ discipline let them down. Leeds managed to keep their heads when passions ran high. The final score was Rainy City 127, Leeds 138. Notable performances from LRD came from Rushin’ Doll with her magical zipping through the pack, Bruise ‘Em Banshee and Riggor Morris. From RCRG the MVP award went to Belle-Istic, as dependable as ever with Missy Rascal as star jammer and Dee Mise keeping the opposition jammers at bay.

All-in-all, it was a good day for roller derby in the North of England and hopefully the first of many meetings between the two teams. Derby Love to Ex Con Vic who was injured during the game – hopefully she’ll recover in time for the re-match!

Thank you to Adam@amodelofcontrol.com for the use of the image

Upon joining roller derby i thought i had the measure of what a rollergirls job was: skate fast, hit hard, look hot… i can do that, i thought. so here i am.

I hadnt considered what happens in the eventuality that you’re a rollergirl but dont make the team selection for one reason or another. At our first home bout this weekend Sui-Cider sat out of track action, but still managed to whip us into shape between every jam in her very special position as Bench Manager.

Working as the ultimate team, Stef Mainey and Sui-Cider kept us all in check, uptodate and organised throughout the bout. The remit was very simply to make sure everyone on the team knew when there were on the track, and when to be ready. The reality on the day saw these ladies performing the most amazing juggling act with our motley crew of skaters who developed quite a penchant for the penalty box.

Despite racking up an astonishing 37 trips to the box, being the marked underdogs and having passions riding high, Sui-Cider and Stef kept us calm, collected and helped us through every jam to push us within a hairs bredth of victory.

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all girls doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too; . . . If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same . . . Yours is the Bench and everyone on it.”

Thank you ladies <3

A very close fought battle played in front of a packed audience, but Leeds Roller Dolls came out top on the day.

Some brilliant play and awesome jamming gave the crowd an edge of the seat game.

Well played everyone and a massive thankyou to everyone who helped on the day.

What a busy day we’ve had promoting and preparing for tomorrows bout.

Huge thanks have to go to Heather Stott @ BBC GMR for having me and Missy Rascal on her show. you can listen again to the whole show of course (we’re on at about 1hr 43 mins, but i know you wont skip through): http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0057235/Heather_Stott_27_11_2009/

Also a massive thank you to Mike Sweeny and Russ Dewsbury at Rock FM for having Feral Fairy and Psycho-Delia on their show today. listen here rock radio 27-11-09

Thank you again to the BBC and to Rock FM, we look forward to speaking with you again in the future.

So wow, we made page 3!

Many thanks to the Manchester Evening News for running a feature on us and helping us promote our upcoming bout. This was a huge boost for us in terms of awareness and we look forward to keeping them uptodate with our future antics. We always need more people to get involved, hopefully this kind of promotion will help us continue to grow and blossom.

Read the article here: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1183838_skater_girls_get_rough_on_the_rink

Rainy City Roller Girls Vs Leeds Roller Dolls

This week at practice we were lucky enough to be joined by Rachael Brown from Out North West. Out North West is published by the Lesbian and Gay Foundation, they provide more direct services and resources to more lesbian, gay and bisexual people than any other charity of its kind in the UK, visit their site here

Rachael took the time out to chat with some of our ladies here is an excerpt from the full article that was published.

What is the best thing about Roller Derby and the Rainy City Roller Girls?

Feral Fairy: The names for sure. It’s great fun to pick a team name and it gives you a new persona. You can reinvent yourself. In fact I know people’s team name but often not their ‘real name’! Our team names are printed on our kit.

Sui – Cider: We’ve changed our Facebook names to our team names! Most people do this. We have lots of friends in the Roller Derby community across the country and we all know each other by our team names.

Ms’isle: I love the fact that our club is so welcoming. I felt completely at ease and accepted straightaway. It’s like a family and the Roller Derby community is so supportive of each other too.

How are names chosen?

Feral Fairy: It’s different for everyone. For some people it’s a play on words or it’s something to reflect their personality. All names have to be registered online to make sure nobody else has the name. It’s really cool. What is your favourite roller girl name?

Sui-Cider: That’s a tough question. There is a player in America called, Beyon Slay. She has a bit of a cult following.

There seems to be quite a punk aesthetic to roller derby, with the names and the dress, do you think this is important in attracting players who might not ordinarily be interested in sport?

Sui-Cider: Definitely. Roller Derby is unique as it brings punk and alternative together with sport.  I was never interested in sport at school so it’s great that there is a sport where you can be an individual and express yourself. It’s such a comfortable environment, we have members from every walk of life.

Feral Fairy: You don’t need to be a fitness fanatic to play. Most of our members had never played Roller Derby before. All levels are welcome. You don’t have to commit to anything, just come down, give it a go and see what you think.

Roller Derby is becoming increasingly popular in the UK, do you think it will explode next year with the release of the film ‘Whip It’?

Feral Fairy: Yes. The film is due for release early next year and it will certainly create awareness of the sport and hopefully encourage people to give it a try. We are planning to have a stall at the Odeon when Whip It is released so we can spread the word about Rainy City Roller Girls.

It’s a relatively new sport, but what are you hopes for the future of roller derby in the UK …a national league maybe?

Ms’Isle: It’s growing quickly. Every couple of months we hear of a new team being formed. Tournaments are happening much more frequently now too. In fact there was a tournament at Earls Court in July this year and teams from Germany came. It’s definitely becoming more mainstream. I’m sure a national team is a real possibility in the next year or so.

See the full report here