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

Saturday 10th October 2009

How time flies, it seems only yesterday that Rainy City Roller Girls was formed, but its our first birthday on Saturday 10th October and to celebrate we thought we would offer everybody a chance to roll with us both on and off the track.

2 ’till 6pm-Afternoon skate session
FitCity Leisure Centre
Barton Lane
Salford,
Manchester,
United Kingdom
Map Here

A 4 hour skate session including a pick-up scrimmage with roller girls from all leagues welcome, bring a black and a white top, get warmed up and let the fun commence. we have a great venue, fully laid track and referee crew.

We form into 5s and away we go, its fast furious and fun, we will also take time out throughout the afternoon to play some on-skate party games for “big money” prizes.

**** The cost of skating is £3 each pay on the door ****

7pm ’till late – Evening Awards and Party
TV 21 Theme Bar
10 Thomas Street
Northern Quarter
Manchester
M4 1DH
Map Here

After a chance to shower, change and get ready, we jump on the Metro into Manchester City Centre to TV21 bar for our party and year end awards, including eating, drinking and general drunkeness. Everyone is welcome.
**THEME** Purple, black and Silver!!

See Facebook Event Here

On the 6th of September Rainy City Roller Girls has it’s first birthday and for a present… a full bout schedule! Bouts are already lined up well in to 2010 with Linconshire Bombers, Leeds Roller Dolls, Birmingham Blitz Dames and the Glasgow Roller Girls all up for a bit of derby love with the Rainy Girls before 2009 is out.

Linconshire will be a closed bout but that isn’t going to dampen the enthusiam for playing the Bombers. Rawr of the Roses in Nov sees Leeds traveling to Rainy City home turf, Manchester, to take on the Lancashire ladies.

Halloween sees the Rainys in Glasgow playing their old pals Glasgow Roller Girls and hoping to get even after losing to them at Roll Britania. A true case of good friends, better enemies.

The past year has brought many “firsts” for Rainy City, from their first training session to thier first European championship (which was thier second ever bout). The Rainys have handled it with suprising aplomb for such a young team. Along the way there have been tears, bruises, plastercasts and sad goodbyes but there has also been laughter, beer, corsets and triumphs.

Of course we would like to thank all the players, refs, coaches and also the unsung heros, the partners and friends, the people who give us lifts, the bosses that let us have time off for bouts and the army of fans, well wishers and other people who make it possible for us to kick bum!

And to all those who are no longer on the team…

Hot Rod – Retired

Ed Case – Retired

Ally lueia – Retired

Grabber Granma – Retired

Vampire panda – Maternity Leave

Cherry Lambrini – Retired

Sister Stroke – Transfered to Leeds

Thanks for being part of our sucess and all the best for the future

Morgue-Anna’s Guide to being a Derby Girl in a few simple steps

Step 1: Find your league
Get on t’internet and google roller leagues (wikipedia has a good list) to find one you can get to. alternatively derbyroster is pretty much comprehensive.

Step 2: Get in touch
E-mail your chosen League (or leagues) to check locations and times of practices. If you can’t find a league close to you try e-mailing the nearest one as leagues are popping up like mushrooms and they might be able to point you in the right direction.

Step 3: Kit
Most leagues have equipment they can lend to roller cubs(that’s you) but they will probably need to know what you need and in what size. Don’t worry the kit includes skates that you can borrow although girls with very small feet may need very big socks.

Step Four: Argh! What if no-one likes me?
Chill out, derby girls come in all shapes, sizes and from all walks of life. Try getting on to the leagues facebook site or forum and introducing yourself, most teams have informal welcoming committees, these are girls that go out of their way to help out new girls

Step 5: Turn Up
OK, sounds obvious but throwing yourself into a team full of people who already know each other and what they are doing is scary, but remember, no-one is born knowing how to play roller derby, we have all, no matter how accomplished we now look, spent time landing on our bums, forgetting how to stop when we really need to and feeling like a tit doing that strange tap dance thing you do when for no reason at all your skates decide to go to opposite ends of the room.

Good Luck Roller Cub
See you on the track

When you first learn to skate nobody warns you that these ladies speak a language all of their own. A rollerderby-ese that is unintelligible or misleading to other folk. But panic not, here is my guide to understanding your roller girl.

Blocker – The ones that hit people other meanings: evil, cruel

Jammer – Star helmet cover, scores points, other meanings include:target, victim, show off

Panty – Helmet cover, stars for Jammers stripe for Pivots

Pivot – The ones who do all the shouting other meanings: bossy boots, mum

Block – the act of impeding another player, often using violence

Skid lid – Helmet

Jam (noun) – Period during which points are scored

Jam (verb) – To take on the role of Jammer

Derby Name – Name for a skaters alter-ego or gimmick, often puns and many feature references to drinking, violence or weaponry

Boxed/In the box – Sent to the penalty box often as punishment for unnecessary violence

Foul out – To be sent to the penalty box so many times as to be in violation of the dangeous weapons act 2003 and sent away to calm down

Medic – Emergency medical personnel

Derby love – Exhibition of affection using violence

Take a knee – The act of placing one knee on the floor during a bout, this takes several forms, as a response to a block (being hit) as a means of stopping, and as a mark of respect for an injured player.

Whip – To fling a player around the track

Hip check – A block using the hip bone or buttocks.

Buttocks of doom – Using your bum as a weapon

Booty Block – To shove your behind into the face of another player in a bid to block their view and slow them down

Stripey socks – A derby girls second most treasured possession (after her skates) theft or defacement of which is punishable by confiscation of breathing privileges

Come and party with RCRG at Fluid Live lounge, St Helens. It’s free entry all weekend and we have a stall selling RCRG goodies… and of course you get to meet some of the Gorgeous RCRG girls:-)

A big thankyou to the London Roller Girls for organising such a fun and action packed weekend. We got to meet some great people, play and watch some great Roller Derby, spend all our cash on RD goodies and party like loons!

LRG… we salute you for the success of what was hopefully the first of many European Roller Derby Tournaments… Roll on Roll Britannia 2010!

Rainy City learned earlier this week that they will play in group C of the European Bout in London later this month, Group C comprises Rainy City, The London Rockin Rollers And The Glasgow Roller Girls, a tough match up for a team with less than 10 months on skates by the time the tournament rolls round. As one girl put it “it’s like west Bromwich Albion drawing man Utd and Liverpool.

However The Rainy’s intend to rise to the challenge, League captain Belle-Istic has the following to say “we’ve played with some of Glasgow’s best players at Storm in a D Cup, so we know how they play and what to expect”. Another Rainy girl was overheard saying “the great thing about going in as the underdog is you don’t have to win, nobody expects you to, you just have to put up a fight to get respect, and fight them we will”. Some the Girls remain worried with some of the more blood thirsty players rather subdued of late.
So far Rainy City has only played against themselves in the Intra League Bout “Storm in a D Cup” last month, so the second match for these Manchester menaces will be against one of the top few teams in the country, a daunting prospect for any team but it doesn’t appear to be dampening (excuse the pun) their spirits. In defiance of the draw or perhaps because of it, plans for distractions and celebrations in the big smoke continue a pace with Cinema trips, pyjama parties and dinner dates all planned for the weekend of the bout.