World Cup Interview: Team Brasil

Moving around the globe from Europe to South America, the next team taking part in the Blood And Thunder World Cup to be interviewed, is Team Brasil. The team are returnees to the competition, having placed 12th in Toronto back in 2011. We interviewed Lara Raineri on behalf of Team Brasil. Lara is a skater with the São Paulo league, Gray City Rebels, and handles PR and coaching duties for the national team.

Team Brasil logo art and design: Fernanda Correa Team Brasil logo art and design: Fernanda Correa

How are the team preparing for the World Cup?...have you played an warm up bouts?

We are training once a month. Players are traveling to the practice, most of the team is from São Paulo, so we get together there. Yes, we already did 6 games only this year.( Team Brasil have been playing mainly composite/exhibition teams every few weeks since January)

Dallas is a long way away, how have the team been raising funds to get there?

We receive donations from all over the world here: http://www.gofundme.com/6rmfco. We are making merchandise, raffles and these kinds of things to help, but each player will have to contribute to their costs. We have Atom Wheels(as a sponsor)and we are searching and trying others.

Unlike almost all other skaters in the world,the skaters from Brasil don't tend to use skater names when they represent their country,(although there is a growing trend towards legal names) Why does Brasil differ in this respect?

It´s a tradition that Brasilian players use the first name, or nickname in their career, especially in soccer, so we decided to maintain the tradition. It´s a truly Brasilian thing... it´s rare to call someone by their last name, but it´s really normal to give nicknames to someone. Also, when we are playing we call each other by the nicknames or first names, so it´s easier for us to communicate like that, they are short, strong and we are 100% sure that "OH! THAT´S ME!".

Back in 2011, Roller Derby already seemed fairly well established in Brasil, what effect did the Team competing in the first World Cup have?

Actually, it wasn´t. We picked only players that could stand in skates in Brasil and could pay for the ticket. Most of the team played for the first time at the world cup. After the first world cup the sport grew a lot here and more girls started doing it and devoting more time to derby.We gained a LOT of experience in the transition from what Derby in Brasil was like before the World Cup and after the World Cup, because we understand the sport and saw how beautiful it is all over the world, so they came back home with fresh energy to make it better here. In 2011 we had 5 leagues, and maybe 50 players in Brasil, now we have 25 all over the country and something like 600 players.

How has the experience of competing in the 2011 World Cup shaped the team this year?

When we came back from the world cup in 2011, we started to wait for the next one. All the experience and learning was shared with the others players in Brasil made us wait for this moment. At the first game in 2011 we had no idea what we were doing, where we were and the size of everything. By the last game in 2011, we made Scotland work hard, and we wanted to come back home, to start working here as soon as possible. We have waited for this for a long time, we want to show everybody how much we learned and that we are not the underdogs anymore. GET READY!

The Team Brasil roster..

107 Andrea Carlsson-Gray City Rebels

1972 Amira Dutra Mello- Bleeding Heartland Rollergirls

13 Bá Lisboa-Ladies of Hell Town

33 Camila Stocco-Maui Roller Girls

Is9 Chu – Chiara Abreu-Wheel of Fire Roller Derby

80 Fernanda Ezabella-Los Angeles Derby Dolls

16 Fernanda Correa-Philly Roller Girls

87 Gilda Guimarães-Gray City Rebels

55 Julia Magalhaes Beirao-Ladies of Hell Town

181 Lara Raineri (COACH)-Gray City Rebels

16t Manu Vasconcelos-Ladies of Hell Town

86 Mariana Leal-Gray City Rebels

1949 Mariana Teixeira-Gray City Rebels

72 Patricia Correia-Rio Riot Roller Derby

505 Paula Mitie-Ladies of Hell Town

20 Roxane Velozo-Boston Derby Dames

208 Shyrlei Braith-Ladies of Hell Town

23 Tati Goes-Gray City Rebels

07 Bianca