Back when we interviewed UKRDA Internal Chair, Tess Robinson, one of the ongoing projects she mentioned was to support Coaching, via certifications and other events. Well, in combination with Coaching outfit Rule 56, and the Female Coaching Network, part of this is coming to pass: in November 19th and 20th, the UK's first "Coaching Summit" will be held, in Leeds.

"Derby Stance" will be a two day event, with sessions available to see on the website, and including aspects across the community, including Junior Derby Coaching.

A host of guest speakers and presenters will be there, of who more in a bit, but this is also seen as being an opportunity for Roller Derby Coaches across the UK to get together to influence the future of coaching, the certification process and any other developments.

To support this, Rule 56 have managed to get coaches from some of the top teams in the UK: Auld Reekie's own Stef Skinner, London Rollergirls/Team England and Double Threat Skates' Kirsten "Kitty Decapitate" Lee, ex Team England/current Wizards of Aus/Southern Discomfort Ballistic Whistle (who we interviewed not long ago) and many more. But, more than this, they've also managed to get Texas Rollergirls' own Smarty Pants (Nadia Kean) to come across to provide her own sessions.

Smarty is a very experienced coach, both in Roller Derby and other sports; she runs Get Smarty Coaching to provide coaching services across the USA and worldwide, as well as skating for Texas. She's also working on a book on coaching!

We were lucky enough to get the chance to talk to her about her experience in coaching, roller derby and a lot of other topics. You can hear the interview, in a first for us at the blog, here (forgive the initial uming from yours truly, this is a new thing for us):

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Once you're inspired by that, get booking your tickets for Derby Stance, if you haven't already!