On Saturday, 25th October Glasgow Roller Derby's Maiden Grrders take on Dundee Roller Girls' Silvery Tayzers!

The Maiden Grrders are very excited about this challenge, following their recent win against London's Batter C Power.  Several new Maidens made their debut appearance in that game, and are raring to make an impact on their second appearance.  Dundee will be travelling from the East Coast to the Arc, to fight it out on Glasgow's home turf.  Dundee will be keen to make a mark against the Maidens after their recent defeat by Fierce Valley, and with both teams fielding a wealth of skater experience, strategy and skills, anything could happen!

This will also be the first time that Dundee come up against several of their former team-mates, who have swapped their pink shirts for black due to relocation - adding another interesting twist to this game!  Glasgow's Maiden Grrders are currently ranked 39th in Europe, with Dundee's Silvery Tayzers ranked at 102nd (correct at time of writing).

Whatever happens on track, the after party is set to be a belter - Glasgow Roller Derby's fundraising committee are pulling it all out of the bag with a fantastic drag party.  Fun, games and gender bending will be the order of the evening, with drag accessories, singing and dancing all set to the theme of screwing the binary.  For more details, check out Glasgow Roller Derby's facebook page. (Due to circumstances outside GRD's control, this afterparty event has been postponed. The afterparty is now at the Solid Rock Cafe.)

Glasgow Roller Derby also offer a fantastic promo deal for other derby leagues - pay for 4 derby skaters from your team, and a 5th skater gets in free! (skaters must all be from the same league).

See you there!

Second up on our trip through the countries of Northern Europe attending the Blood & Thunder World Cup, and it's Team Belgium's turn.

As with Team Netherlands yesterday, Belgium is new to the World Cup this time around, and are pretty evenly matched with the former. In fact, Belgium placed 3rd in the European Championships, just ahead of Netherlands, after an extremely close bout. (We suspect that if they match up in Dallas, the Netherlands will be interested in reversing the situation.)

C.C. Titmouse was good enough to answer our questions on Team Belgium (these questions were received just before the Championships started).

Team Belgium logo: Anouk Paepen

Most of Team Belgium is derived from the plentiful Belgian leagues (excepting Scotland's Lilo and Stitches?). How was the selection process organized (did you have more expatriate skaters try out and not make the team, for example)?

Where did it all start ? On January 1st of 2012, Lolli Chop created a facebook group for all Belgian skaters, from an interleague point of view. Belgian leagues were this way, we were able to stay informed on Belgian roller derby events, to adjust our league’s calendars to other derby-events. Since we’re a small country, we’ve always wanted to support each other, so a forum was needed. In June 2012, SckrPnch (the local Belgian roller derby skate shop) organised « Derby Revolution », Europe's very own annual 4 day Roller Derby Convention. This event brought the best, international coaches and skaters to Belgium and gave the opportunity learn &  to challenge teams to scrimmage. It didn’t take long until the suggestion was made to set-up an unofficial « Team Belgium » delegation and challenge The Netherlands to set-up an All-star delegation, to play a challenge bout at Derby Revolution 2012. Before the bout, we wanted to have an opportunity to have at least one practice together, so on June 17th of 2012, the Blackland Rockin’ K-Rollers (Charleroi) hosted the very first national practice. The start signal was given and on June 28th, we (re-enforced by Kamikaze Kitten, who was eager to join us) played the Dutch All-star team, « The Bloody Oranges » at Derby Revolution and we took home the victory. At this point, we were all just seeing how and where things were going, but the idea of a national team started to get shape. We formed a little group with two representatives/league and started meeting on a regular basis. We started hosting regular national practices, open for all skaters who were linked to a Belgian league and learned from and with each other. Every league was encouraged to host at least one practice a year, which made 10 practices, since we were 10 leagues at the time. The main point on our meetings was how would we go forth in creating a national team/organization. The 2011 Blood & Thunder Roller Derby World Cup, held in Toronto (Canada) from December 1st – 4rd, was the first international competition for national team. Different countries put together teams, but since the timing was rather short, not every set-up went as smoothly. This was exactly why we wanted to take advantage from our country being small and thus making it possible for us to meet and train together on a regular basis. We wanted to do it right from the start, creating a base that would last us a long way.

It took us from that first training in June 2012 until November 26th, when we announced our Belgian coaching team to the world !

From there on out, things went very fast. We hosted a national practice every month and every month all Belgian reps (two reps/league) came together to discuss our next steps. The coaches started taking notes and putting together a selection of 35 skaters. June 2014, they selected a core of 20 skaters that will represent Belgium in the 2014 World Cup and we’re working up to the European Roller Derby Tournament in Mons, Belgium the upcoming weekend.

With the majority of your skaters in Belgium, I guess this makes organizing practices easier than it might be? How have they been scheduled (avoiding conflicts with team practices etc)?

In Belgium, we’ve always had trouble finding venues, but if you gather forces with all the leagues, things go easier. It does take a lot of coordination, even if you’re relatively close together. We try to let every league host one practice, that way we split venue costs and we encourage Team Belgium’s practices and events to be run alongsides fixed training dates. Most of the Belgian leagues train on Sunday f.e., so we try to organize all Team Belgium-related events on Saturday. If it does conflict with other league’s practices, it’s up to the skaters to decide of course, but we asked on before hand to commit and Team Belgium promises to take every league into account as much as possible.

Team Belgium is off to the European Derby Tournament in September. What are you aiming to get out of the tournament? (You've also had a few other pre-Dallas bouts, so how useful have you found them in general?)

We’re really looking forward to the tournament! It’s the ideal occasion to meet other teams, on and off track! We want to play the best game we have in us and play together as a team. We want to win of course, but we’re merely in it for the experience and experiencing gameplay of other teams. We want to learn from it and use that knowledge to improve our own game for Dallas!

We’ve played Germany & The Netherlands a couple of months ago, and it has been a good experience. A good way to get to know the teams, but the ideal way to learn how individual skaters work together. Although we’re a small country, the team consists of players from out different leagues and it remains a challenge to play together as a team and not just a bunch of awesome individuals.

What have you been doing to raise funds, awareness + sponsorship for the big expenses of getting to the World Cup?

We’ve been communicating quite some info on our skaters, coaches, practices, mostly on our website, facebook, Instagram & twitter account. We’ve organised 2 public games against other national teams, we’ve provided merch (that will be available at the European Tournament!) and we’re currently working on a Fundraising-plan to get more money for our skaters. So keep your eyes (and wallets! :p) open! ;-)

What are Team Belgium's aims for Dallas?

We haven’t set team goals just yet. Gameplay-wise we’re waiting for the European Tournament, since that’s the ideal occasion to set realistic goals for Dallas. Team spirit wise, we’ve been bounding since day 1. Belgium is small and has a lot of political issues, which has no place in derby. Whether we’re from the Dutch, French or German side of Belgium, we’re all Belgian and we’re proud to be! Our main goal is to be a front, to stick together off track,  so it translated on track as well.

Bonus questions: Does the English language focus of derby make it harder for Belgian derby, or are English language skill (and the recent publication of the WFTDA rules in French) in Belgium sufficient to ease matters?

In Belgium, we officially speak 3 languages; Dutch, French & German. But in reality, we’re mainly bi-lingual, speaking both Dutch & French. Most of us speak fluent English as well, so that can’t hold us back ;-).

Some national teams are apparently switching to legal names for the World Cup (eg much of Team Scotland has, with some retaining their derby names). Is Team Belgium taking a position either way on this (or is it unimportant)?

We didn’t take a general position within this matter, since a name is still personal. We have a couple of skaters who decided to play with their legal names, and that’s totally fine. Within Team Belgium, it’s an individual choice.

The Team Belgium Roster is:

Aline Decat #6 Bhurt #88 (Namur Roller Girls) Bicky Monkey #18 Bundy Nelson #1610 (Brussels Derby Pixies) C.C. Titmouse #85 (One Love Roller Dolls) Charlie McHell #829 Cherry Moshpit #07 (One Love Roller Dolls) Daisy Destroy #8 (Blackland Rockin’ K-Rollers) Eve’il X #13 (One Love Roller Dolls) Evil Spin-Her #26 (Gent GO-GO Roller Girls) FallWafal #90 (Gent GO-GO Roller Girls) Guts’n Glory #68 (Gent GO-GO Roller Girls) Hipshot #89 (One Love Roller Dolls) Humpme Bogart #00 (One Love Roller Dolls) Lilo & Stitches #626 (Auld Reekie Roller Girls) Majin Buu #10 (One Love Roller Dolls) Miss Miyagi #86 (Gent GO-GO Roller Girls) Olga Volt #44 (Gent GO-GO Roller Girls) Sandra ButtBlock #36 (Gent GO-GO Roller Girls) Todestrieb #6 (Brussels Derby Pixies)

Coach: Mister Grey Lineup: Kadha

This week we move a little north in our coverage of Blood & Thunder Roller Derby World Cup teams, covering Northern Europe. First up is Team Netherlands - new to the World Cup this time around, although a participant in the recent European Championships (where they placed a very creditable 4th, after a few other teams we'll be mentioning this week).

Team Netherlands co-Captain Furrrocious was good enough to answer some of our questions.

Team Netherlands logo: Camiel Zwart

Yes of course. One of our coaches left due to personal circumstances, the commitment to Team NL was just too much on his plate right now. The other coach left due to disagreements within the coaching staff. And I dont think its my place to say more then that about it. We do however have a new part of our coaching staff. One of our skaters, Ma Baker, has been dealing with an injury and decided to dedicate her time to coaching the team together with our head coach Lola Rock n Rolla. They just functioned as our bench team at the European Tournament and did a splendid job. They really compliment each other. If you look at the final rostered 20 girls, we have skaters from six leagues. Amsterdam Derby Dames, Eastside Rock n Rollers, Rotterdam Death Row Honeys, Dom City Dolls, Rockcity Rollers and Dundee Roller Girls. The last one you will know, coming from Scotland. :) In the complete training squad we have skaters from even more leagues, including a skater from Crime City (Malmo). For our not Netherlands based skaters it's a big commitment to come to our monthly practices. But they do come. We have tried to have all our practices set up ahead of time so everybody has been able to make the appropriate travel arrangements. We have mostly been meeting up in Utrecht, which is pretty much in the middle of the Netherlands and therefore pretty easy to get to for most. Little late, but I will answer in retrospect. We were aiming to learn! To get as much experience out of the tournament as possible. And oh my we did! We didn't expect to win against Wales, and when we did it meant we were up against France, who we had already faced in our very first game as a team. This time we did a lot better than the first time! Our game against Team Belgium was epic! It was hard fought and well matched. All our games were a great learning experience and an amazing bonding opportunity as a team. We grew a lot during this tournament, as individual skaters and as a team.

I wish we were able to play a few more tournaments like this before the world cup, as it would get us even more ready for Dallas. But we don't have that luxury. We are looking into scrimmaging other teams before Dallas. Lets hope that will work out. But honestly it's especially hard to schedule everything as all skaters also have practices, bootcamps, bouts and tournaments with their own teams. But the European tournament was a great opportunity and I think we have a lot of stuff we now know we can work on in the next few months.

Of course we have a go fund me page: http://www.gofundme.com/apsdso But seeing how the whole derby community seems to be fundraising, these pages don't bring in that much. So we are doing all kinds of stuff on the side. We have been doing a sponsor skate, asking friends, family and co-workers to sponsor per lap or km. Raising quite some money! Also we will be organising a bootcamp for skaters, and all proceeds will go to team NL. Well let's speak for myself as a skater and in the role of Co-captain, I think we are going to Dallas to kick ass! To do the absolute best we can. We know we won't roll away from Dallas in the top 3, but we also won't end up last. Apart from where we will end up (as it's all guess work with 30 countries) I think our main goal is (or should be) to get as much experience as we can and bring it back to the Netherlands. Our country is still young in derby and we have lots of leagues that are eager to learn more. And I think we all want the Netherlands to get bigger and better in the sport of Roller Derby. A lot of leagues in the Netherlands run their practices in English, as especially the bigger cities have a lot of transfer skaters from out of the country. Or, like Amsterdam and Rotterdam, both just have a lot of expats. And in general the Dutch people are pretty good at English. Therefore I am not worried that the language will be an issue for our team. Different skaters have different opinions about this. There was discussion about it when our uniforms were being ordered. But there was no discussion in the sense that we wanted the whole team to do the one or the other. I think a lot of skaters just feel that skating under their real name for a national team just makes it so real. And I think they are proud to be representing their country under their own name. I personally stuck with my derby name. When I play derby I just am Furrrocious. And switching that was just awkward to me. I think what is most important about this discussion, is that people decide to play under the name they feel comfortable with, if that be a derby name, first name, last name, whatever. As long as they are all there, all proud and happy to be there and ready to give it their all, it hardly matters what type of name is on the back of their jersey.

The Team Netherlands Roster is:

Abs of Steel Cousijn (San Solo) Crazily InSanne Dirty Job Essemay Furrrocious Fuss (Fuss Ro Dah) Jolly Jane Marcie (Marcie Misbehave) Morales (Ezekial 25:17) O'Pray (Jamakaze) Party Sparkle F.H. Peekaboo Panda Salomons (Ann Alizarine) Van der Star (Vegan Vengeance) Vix Vendetta Vocking (VOCKING Hell) Westhoff (Gina Gasolina) Whippin' Red Siren Zoeteweij (Lee's Lightning)

In the second week of our ongoing coverage of all of the National teams heading to the Blood & Thunder Roller Derby World Cup, we concentrated on Southern Europe.

Here's our interviews, in case you missed them:

Team Spain

Team Portugal

Team Italy

Team Greece

This week, we'll move a little north, and cover the Northern and Central European Teams.

Completing our look at the teams of Southern Europe heading to the Blood & Thunder World Cup this year, is Team Italy.

In common with all of the Southern European teams, Team Italy is new to the World Cup this time around. Unfortunately, unlike Spain and Portugal, they did not attend the European Championship earlier this month, so it is hard to get the measure of their performance.

Thanks to Sikki Sixx and Robscene Behaviour of London Rockin Rollers for responding to these questions on behalf of Team Italy.

Team Italy logo by ...

Glasgow’s roller derby dudes will go roaring into action on Saturday, October 4, 2014 as they aim to be the leaders of the Pack against some of England’s top skaters.

The city’s first men’s roller derby team – Mean City – are once again hosting a special double-decker featuring top male and female skaters from north and south of the border.

Mean City Roller Derby will be taking on Wirral’s Pack Animals in an all-male clash, while the all-female, all-awesome Cannie Gingers from Glasgow Roller Derby will go toestop to toestop with fellow Scots, the sensational Central Belters.

It’s going to be a rock ‘n’ roll day out for sports fans of all ages – combining skills, thrills and spills … all on skates.

Kenny Reid, Chairman of Mean City Roller Derby (MCRD), said: “We can’t wait for this very special double-header. Mean City is Glasgow’s first and only men’s roller derby league and has been going from strength to strength since it was formed in 2012.

“We’re genuinely thrilled to be welcoming three amazing squads to Glasgow.

“The Pack Animals are a great team and a terrific bunch of lads – we can’t wait to line up against them. Mean City features some of the best skaters in Scotland and we will be giving our all to ensure the super summer of sport continues in Glasgow.

“The Pack Animals hail from the wilds of the Wirral and are coming north aiming to take Mean City’s scalp, but we’re aiming to be the leaders of this Pack.”

Mean City recorded their first ever victory in August against Teesside's Skate Invaders and are hungry for more.

Meawhile, Glasgow Roller Derby (GRD) – Mean City’s all-female sister league – is renowned throughout the roller derby world. Its A team – the Irn Bruisers –stormed America earlier this year, while its B team – the Maiden Grrders – are also a force to be reckoned with.

Such is the strength in depth at GRD that a third travel team has been formed – the Cannie Gingers – and they are already making a name for themselves.

The mighty Central Belters – part of Bairn City Rollers – all hail from Central Scotland and will be heading west aiming to pop the Gingers’ bubble.

Kenny added: “This is the first team these four teams have clashed and it’s going to be awesome. You’ll be treated to two full-on games of roller derby for just £5 – free entry to under-14s with a paying adult.

“It’s going to be a great showcase of all that roller derby has to offer – an action-packed afternoon of skating, scoring, skills, thrills and spills.

“If you’ve never been to a roller derby bout, get along to the ARC on October 4 – there will be action, fun, entertainment, refreshments and more.”

The double-header takes place at The ARC, Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow, on Saturday, October 4, 2014 – from 11.30am

Mean City Roller Derby has been developing as a league since its formation in 2012. Men’s roller derby is a fledgling off-shoot of the modern day all-female sport of roller derby – with the game rising in popularity with people of all genders.

Mean City train regularly in the Glasgow area and new members are always welcome to give the sport a go in a supportive environment. Equipment can be provided – just get in touch in advance.

Visit www.facebook.com/MeanCityRollerDerby to buy tickets for the event and to find out more about joining the revolution.

As we all know putting on a bout can be a very costly venture for any league especially when it comes to your first. So when Capital City announced last month that they would be hosting their first home bout they were a little nervous. Being a relatively small league (around 14 members), they know only too well how difficult it can be bringing in enough money to cover costs. So they have come up with a novel way to help raise the funds they need to put on their double header bout.

In a first for Scottish roller derby, they are looking to crowdfund for their bout to help raise money ahead of the big day. The aim is to raise money to help cover the majority of costs that need to be paid ahead of the bout, which breakdown as:

• Meadowbank Hall Hire: £930
• Public Liability Insurance: £200
• Emergency Medical Technicians: £100
• Track Rope and Tape: £100
• Programme Printing: £50

Over on their crowdfunding page they allow you to pre order items such as bout tickets and merch (t-shirts/caps/tote bags) along with some more special one off items, such as picking a song on the bout day playlist, blowing the first whistle for the game, getting your very own Capital City Uniform and much more. They have even auctioned off their skate out song which was snapped up only minutes after their campaign went live.

Purchasing items help items Capital City put on their bout, but it will also save you money. As bout tickets and merch are cheaper for those who pre-order than they will be on the day as a thank you to those helping them. You will have to be quick as you can only purchase items until the 1st of November when their crowdfunding campaign ends.

If you want to pre-order your tickets or are feeling a little flush with cash and want to buy some other things then head over to their crowdfunding page at indiegogo via the link below to find out details of all the things on offer: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/capital-city-roller-derby-s-double-header-29-11-14

To find out more about their crowdfunding campaign watch the video below from Capital city

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66QK04yIVFU

Third up this week, as we approach the end of our South Europe coverage of the Blood & Thunder World Cup teams is Team Greece, another new entry to the Cup this time around.

Team Greece is actually still selecting members as far as we can tell (they certainly haven't announced most of their roster),  so we don't have a complete roster for you at the bottom of this post. They have been running their gofundme, with additional rewards in the form of merchandise for donators.

London Rockin Rollers' Dire Ria and Houston Roller Derby's Bullet Sucker took some time out of Team Greece's somewhat busy schedule to answer some of our questions.

Team Greece logo by Five Second Skate Gear.

Continuing our look at the teams from the south of Europe heading to Dallas for the Blood & Thunder Roller Derby World Cup, we reach the close neighbour of yesterday's entry: Team Portugal.

Since this interview was given, Team Portugal competed in the European Championship, unfortunately taking the last place (but not without some fight!).

Team Portugal managers Carolina and Flávia were responsible for answering the questions we sent them.

Team Portugal Logo: Daniel Pinheiro

I get the impression that a lot of your skaters are sourced from the Lisbon and Porto leagues, which are both about 2 years old now?

Yes, most of the team is composed by skaters from Lisbon and Porto leagues, but also by athletes from the Algarve and overseas, such as England, Finland, Belgium and USA. Roller Derby in Portugal is indeed a recent sport but it is growing exponentially!

Did you have skaters from outside Portugal submit applications to try out, or were you firm on wanting to be a pure Portuguese National team?

We opened the tryouts to anyone who has a Portuguese nationality and was willing to make Team Portugal´s dream come true! Among the selected athletes, are skaters from the UK, Finland, Belgium and the USA. We were very pleased to have applications from Portuguese athletes around the world and to see that we have several athletes who play roller derby in other countries.

How have you been managing travel for training sessions and team building?

It has been a challenge to conciliate the team´s schedule and availability but we've managed to get most of the team together in our practices. The financial aspect has been the hardest because each athlete and staff member has to handle their own expenses. We are humbled by the effort that all athletes are doing to make this dream a reality.

I see that you're one of the 8 European National Teams travelling to the European Cup in September. How are you feeling about this, only a few weeks before hand? This is a good chance to get a feel for how the team is doing and also raise your profile - is there any other public bouts you're planning before the World Cup?

We are very excited and eager to participate in the European Cup. It is going to be Team Portugal´s first public bout and we are working hard to leave a mark in this tournament. Besides, it is a great preparation for Dallas WC. We are trying to book other public bouts before the world cup but nothing is settled yet.

How are you raising funds and sponsorship for the big expense of getting to the USA for the World Cup itself?

We have a crowdfunding campaign (http://www.gofundme.com/teamportugalrollerderby) and we are always looking for sponsors willing to help our team. We already have great sponsors that are helping us with gear and uniforms.

As a team that is new to the Cup (not having played in 2011), what are your aims for the World Cup?

We want to show that, despite roller derby being a recent sport in Portugal, we are here to stay and that we are going to work hard all the way.

We want to play with the best and learn. We want to soak up the ultimate derby experience, living and breathing roller derby. We also want to have some fun!

The Team Portugal Roster [updated 10 October] is:

Ana Camila Silva | Deadly Rapunzel | 108 Ana Costa | AnnieWhere? | 12 Ana Morais | Blockahontas | 13 Andreia Nicolau | Andreia | 84 Bruna Alves | Yokai Onna | 138 Catarina Sá | Mia Sparrow | 1408 Cláudia Luz | EmeCii | 155 Cláudia Silva | Super Villan | 911 Cristiana Pereira | abraCRISdabra | 1083 Daniela Rodrigues | Speedy | 27 Danielle Correia | Pinky Swears | 2 Diana Santos | Lady Di_struction | 26 Dina Fontoura | Sparta | 000 Jessica da Silva | Da Silva Surfer | 48 Joana Bailão | Big Jo | 21 Joana Borges | Guerrilla Jay | 25 Joana Farinha | G.I.Jójó | 952 Joana Soares | Pikante | 1314 Lillian Ribeiro | Lilly Lips | 77 Maria Azevedo | Mary Pan | 10 Marta Carvalho | Bloodrunner | 3.14 Raquel Correia | Turbo Lenta | IC19

Coaches: João Silva | Silva Spark | 25 Ricardo Reis |RicHard-Core | 24/7 Inês Azevedo | Tink.R.BooO | 01

Managers and technical staff: Carolina Martins | Bonnie Darko | C7 Flávia Neves | Iron FLÁwer | 313 Marta Silva | Scooby Dee | 112

On Friday 17th October Granite City Roller Girls are hosting the next long awaited Rock Night!

A night of Rock music featuring some homegrown talent, a booze raffle and other awesome prizes up for grabs.

The lineup includes;

Talking Sideways.

A local band from Aberdeen heavily influenced by Biffy Clyro www.facebook.com/talkingsideways

Miss Lucid Miss Lucid offer their own style of 'in your face' rock, driven with the punk/grunge undertones of bands such as The Clash and Nirvana, blending large sonic sound scapes and crafted melodies reminiscent of Placebo and Manic Street Preachers.

https://www.facebook.com/MissLucid Guttergodz

An eclectic mix of influences in the band such as Thin Lizzy, The Wildhearts, Elvis Presley, Backyard Babies, The Clash and so on. In 2010 they made it into the shortlist of bands rated 'particularly awesome' by Kerrang radio and at the start of 2013 they were crowned 'Best Rock Band' at the Fudge awards in Aberdeen and made it to the final of Cafe Drummond's battle of the bands to win £2000.

https://www.facebook.com/guttergodz

Doors open at 8pm with £8.00 entry. An absolute bargain!

Plus booze raffle!

...did I already mention booze raffle? I'm just pretty excited about somebody winning a hamper of booze and rocking out to some great music

So come on down to Downstairs at 82 Holburn Street and start your weekend off on a high!