Dundee Roller Girls are hosting their first double header of the season on Saturday 17th of June at the DISC in Dundee!   DRG's Silvery Tayzers will be building on their win from last months Seaside Sirens game [FTS] by taking on Leicestershire's Dolly Rockit Rollers!

As always with Dundee double headers, DRG's B team, the Bonnie Colliders, will be taking to the track first to face off against the Scarborough Slammers! After a strong season opener against Arcadia Roller Derby [FTS], as part of Shepsk8: For Pulmonary Fibrosis, the Colliders will be looking to stand out in their first home game this year.

The two roller derby games will be alongside the usual merch and vendors stalls, including businesses from the local community. As well as the forever popular Cake Stall, boasting sweet and savoury choices! DRG are hoping to run a few hook-a-duck games and a tombola!

Image Courtesy: Laura MacDonald

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Tickets are on sale now over at BrownPaperTickets for £5 with tickets on the door for £6 for DRG's first home game double header on 17th June!

Doors open   : 12:30 First Whistle: 13:00

See the event page for more details: facebook event

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As is traditional, we’re bringing you another roundup of the upcoming Roller Derby this weekend from across the world. As always, we’re using Flat Track Stats for much of this information – for regions with less good coverage, we also do a bit of intensive searching using a tool which scans the Facebook events of Roller Derby leagues known to Derby Listing.

Predictions of bouts are from FTS, if possible, and from our own SRD Rank where FTS cannot make predictions (for example: Latin America, or non-MRDA men’s bouts). Our new SRD Rank for April is coming soon – the third for this year, with this years' redesigned interface, allowing you to browse historical rankings for the last 10 years, view a map of all the active teams, select by country, gender, and get predictions of scores. (It also has some WFTDA rankings as well as SRDRank.)

If we’ve missed you from our roundup, please let us know! [Or add yourselves to FTS and/or Derbylisting]

Scotland

This weekend Scotland has all the action at home, but only one bout:

• Aberdeen hosts a men's/ota game, as Granite City Brawlers play the Knights of Oldham [FTS][EVENT]

• Glasgow has a chance to join a team, as Mean City Roller Derby host a taster session [EVENT]

• And up in Elgin, Helgin Roller Derby have a... unique fundraiser, as they're inviting everyone along to bet on the horses [EVENT]

• On Sunday, there's more chances to get involved, as Livingston's New Town Roller Girls host their intake day [EVENT]

UK

British Champs is back this weekend (after a break for the bank holiday last weekend):

• Birmingham hosts the Tier 1 Mens, with a triple-header, as hosts Crash Test Brummies face Manchesters' New Wheeled Order, Cardiff's South Wales Silures bout Sheffield's Inhuman League and Newcastle's Tyne and Fear play Lincolnshire Rolling Thunder [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• York hosts the Tier 4 North, with hosts York Minxters playing Durham Roller Derby, and Grimsby's Grim Reavers versus the Wakey Wheeled Cats of Wakefield [FTS Tournament][EVENT] [This is a semi-closed fixture, due to lack of space.]
• St Austell, Cornwall hosts the Tier 3 South, as hosts Cornwall Roller Derby take on Riot City Ravens of Newport, and Dorset Roller Girls play Bath [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• Sunday; Taunton, Somerset hosts the Tier 2 South, with hosts South West Angels of Terror (SWAT) playing London Rockin' Rollers, whilst Royal Windsor Roller Derby bout Swansea [FTS Tournament][EVENT]

Outside of Champs there's not a lot going on, but what is going on is exciting:

• On Sunday, in Cardiff; Tiger Bay Brawlers host Middlesbrough Roller Derby in the first of a series of WFTDA Sanctioned bouts they have planned. [FTS][EVENT]
• and also on Sunday, X; North Devon Roller Derby versus Neath Port Talbot [FTS][EVENT] (this is closed)

• and (still Sunday) in Blackpool, Blackpool Roller Derby host a co-ed (open) scrim [EVENT]

• as does Cardiff's South Wales Silures (fresh from their bout the day before) [EVENT]

• Preston has chances to join the team, as Preston Roller Derby host an intake day [EVENT]

• as do the Seaside Sirens of Southend-on-Sea [EVENT]

Europe

In Europe, there’s a few national tournament with fixtures, and several other big events:

• Lille, France hosts the first part of the Final stage Playoffs for the French Nationale this season in a three day event (Saturday through Monday)![EVENT]
  • Hosts Switchblade RollerGrrrls, Roller Derby Lyon, Roller Derby Pibrac, Roller Derby Dijon, Nice Roller Derby, Roller Derby Aubenas, Lutèce Destroyeuses and B.M.O Roller Derby Girls compete for promotion from Tier 2 to Tier 1 [FTS Tournament]
  • Panthers Graou of Saint-Gratien, Marseille Roller Derby, Strasbourg Roller Derby and DCCLM of  Montpellier compete for promotion from Tier 1 to the Elite Tier [FTS Tournament]
• Munich, Germany hosts the next bout in the Bundesliga Division 1 as Munich Rolling Rebels play Bear City B (the Inglorious Bombshells) [FTS Tournament] as part of a double header, followed by Munich B (the Municorns) taking on Roller Derby Erfurt [FTS][EVENT]
• Helsinki, Finland is where much of the action is, as Kallio Rolling Rainbow host the FINvitational (WFTDA-Sanctioned) Tournament. Alongside the hosts; Stockholm Roller Derby, Malmö's Crime City Rollers, the UK's Rainy City Roller Derby... and Sun State Roller Girls from Queensland, Australia! [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• Friday, La Rochelle, France: Roller Derby La Rochelle host an informational evening for those interested in roller derby, with a screening of a documentary, demonstrations of roller derby, and chances to get to know the skaters [EVENT]

• Saturday, Orleans, France:  Orleans Roller Derby are also doing outreach, with a stall at the "Rock n Roll Party" celebration of America-derived things [EVENT]

• Kassel, Germany: Kassel Roller Derby are hosting a scrimmage + bootcamp on "the modern art of Roller Derby" - with "Newbie" and "Advanced" scrimmages [EVENT]

• Zaragoza, Spain: it's Zaragoza Roller Derby's 5th Birthday, and they're holding a party! [EVENT]

• Murcia, Spain; and there's an actual bout going on, as Rock n Roller Derby Murcia host Roller Derby Madrid B [FTS][EVENT]

• Sunday: Vannes, France sees Les V'hermines take on Nantes' Filles de Neptune (one of the Nantes home teams) [FTS] [EVENT]

• Sunday and Chambéry, France: Les Chambér'Hyènnes are hosting a triple header round robin with 40 minute games, against Épinal's Reaper's Crew and Gap's Sisters in Arms[EVENT]

• and on Sunday in Saintes, France: The Holy Terrors are hosting a Roller Disco [EVENT]

Pacific

In Australia and New Zealand, it’s pretty busy, but with little on FTS:

• Levin, New Zealand has the most exciting event this weekend: Whenua Fatales Roller Derby League hosting a 15 team Sur5al tournament, with some teams made up of skaters from Team New Zealand! Three and a half hours of track time ahead of anyone going to see this makes it well worth the effort. [EVENT]
• Newcastle, Australia sees Newcastle Roller Derby host their third home teams bout of the season, as the Harbor Hellcats play the Bogey Rollers [EVENT]
• Adelaide, Australia also has home teams happening, as Adelaide Roller Derby League holds their next fixture, with Salty Dolls facing Road Train Rollers [EVENT]
• Wollongong, Australia has a double-header, as WIRD's Steel City Derby Dolls take on Wagga Derby Dolls [FTS] followed by a co-ed bout as the two NSW exhibition teams, The Ultimates and The Incredibles, face off [EVENT]
• On Sunday, Sydney, Australia sees  Sydney Roller Derby League host their level 1 intro to skating intake [EVENT]

• and Christchurch, New Zealand also has a Sunday "try roller derby" session as part of Dead End Derby's intake [EVENT]

• Finally, Sunday, Okinawa, Japan: the recently-rebranded Okinawa Roller Derby are holding their home-teams game, Summer Shovin' [EVENT]

Latin America

In Latin America, there’s quite a few things going on, a mix of fundraising and bouting, with a few tournaments:

• Bogotá, Colombia sees the 4th District Tournament continue, hosted this weekend by Rock N Roller Queens. In the Women's tier, Central Derby DC take on Maquina del Mal Feminino, and Fugitivas play Combativas Revoltosas; in the Men's, Rock N Roller Kings play Légion [FTS Tournament][EVENT]

• São Paulo, Brazil, the Ladies of HellTown are hosting Curitiba's Blue Jay Rollers for a bout... [FTS][EVENT]
• ...and on Sunday, São Paulo hosts a home teams game for the Ladies of HellTown as well, as Samurais da Liberdade bout Piratas do Tietê! [EVENT]

• Sunday, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Sailor City Rollers host a double-header of open-subscription bouts - a "B/C" level women's game, and a men's game [EVENT]

• Sunday, Mendoza, Argentina: Lado Oscuro Roller Derby invite The Galaxy to compete against them in a co-ed/open open subscription bout against the hosts. This event is raising funds for LORD to attend the Torneo Sucio in a few weeks' time in Temperley [EVENT]

• Sunday in Salta, Argentina: Malditas Lisiadas Roller Derby are hosting a bout against Tucumán's Centellas of Rayo Naranja [FTS][EVENT]

• In nearby Jujuy, Argentina, Mortal Kollas Roller Derby are also bouting, against the Coquenos Fighters - Jujuy's Men's derby team! (this bout also raises funds for the Mortal Kollas to attend Torneo Sucio) [FTS][EVENT]

• and, finally, Sunday, Buenos Aires, Argentina also has an demonstration and day, for the Brujas Roller Girls of Bahía Blanca [EVENT]

• Late addition: Mexico City, Mexico sees a double header (which was announced at the time we were doing this post) hosted by EMEXRD, as the other Mexico City league, LRDCM's Tekillerass take on Puebla's Furias Negras [FTS], and their Aniquiladoras play EMEXRD's Discordias [FTS] [EVENT]

Africa and Middle East

This section is quiet again…

Upcoming Events

Our upcoming events for this week are:

One in Argentina:

Torneo Sucio is Temperley's big Roller Derby Tournament, hosted by the Dirty Fucking Dolls, and with multiple tiers for teams across Argentina. The full tournament design has not been revealed, but with 3 tiers (including a men's tier), and 4 days (17th to 20th June), it's another huge tournament in Latin America!

• Torneo Sucio II - 17-20 June 2017 - Temperley, Argentina, https://www.facebook.com/events/1384672648233274/

and one a bit closer to home, but further away in time:

the return of the Last Action Heroes tournament, organised by Talk Derby To Me's King Crazy is upon us - and this time it's in Halifax. 8 mixed/coed exhibition teams, each with an action movie theme, compete for the trophy over a day of action!

• Last Action Heroes - 15 July - Halifax, England https://www.facebook.com/events/178322755955272/

As is traditional, we’re bringing you another roundup of the upcoming Roller Derby this weekend from across the world. As always, we’re using Flat Track Stats for much of this information – for regions with less good coverage, we also do a bit of intensive searching using a tool which scans the Facebook events of Roller Derby leagues known to Derby Listing.

Predictions of bouts are from FTS, if possible, and from our own SRD Rank where FTS cannot make predictions (for example: Latin America, or non-MRDA men’s bouts). Our new SRD Rank is out – the second for this year, with an entirely redesigned interface, allowing you to browse historical rankings for the last 10 years, view a map of all the active teams, select by country, gender, and get predictions of scores. (It also has some WFTDA rankings as well as SRDRank.)

If we’ve missed you from our roundup, please let us know! [Or add yourselves to FTS and/or Derbylisting]

Scotland

This weekend Scotland has all the action at home:

• Glasgow sees a double header from Glasgow Roller Derby as they face Vagine Regime UK in a A team v A team [FTS] and B v B bouts. [EVENT]
  • Followed by, as usual for these, the GRD Queerosity afterparty event [EVENT]
• Edinburgh also hosts a similar format, as Auld Reekie Roller Girls host Newcastle Roller Girls for A v A [FTS] and C v C [FTS] games [EVENT]

UK

the rest of the UK is pretty quiet, with no British Champs fixtures at all!

Outside of Champs there’s also not much to talk about, as far as we can see:

• Friday, Nottingham, the Hellfire Harlots are hosting a Quiz night to fundraise for their first ever hosted international tournament in September! [EVENT]
• Norwich, and Norfolk Roller Derby host Smarty Pants for a 2 day bootcamp [EVENT]

Europe

In Europe, there’s a few national tournament with fixtures, and several other big events:

• Münster, Germany hosts a Bundesliga division 2 bout, as Zombie Rollergirls Münster play Darmstadt's Riot Rollers. [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• Gent, Belgium hosts the 2017 Edition of SKOD (A Skate Odyssey) from Friday. Featured bouts include Lille, One Love from Antwerp, Copenhagen, GO-GO Gent themselves, Oslo, Tampere... and a special Team Belgium v Team Italy event to cap things off. [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• Rotterdam, Netherlands, sees a double-header as Rotterdam Roller Derby host Utrecht's Dom City [FTS] and their B team play Amsterdam B [FTS] [EVENT]
• In Gallipoli, Italy, Seasters Adriatic Derby League are hosting "the first tournament in Southern Italy", featuring Poland's Worst Warsaw and Bloody Wheels Torino, as well as the hosts themselves, in a triple round robin [FTS 1,2,3][EVENT]
• Dijion, France sees a double header, as Velvet Owls host Paris Rollergirls C, San Culottes [FTS], and Reims' Beastie Derby Girls play the Night Terrors (Roller Girls of the Apocalypse B, Kaisterslauten)[FTS][EVENT]
• Aarhus, Denmark, sees Aarhus Derby Danes host the London-based exhibition team, Team Dragon! [FTS][EVENT]
• Gdansk, Poland: the 3 City Piranhas are hosting a "Flower Power Roller Disco" [EVENT]
• and in Prague, Czech Republic; Prague City Roller Derby are having their 5th Birthday Event [EVENT]
• On Sunday, there's definitely derby happening with the Kamiquads and Avignon... but it's a bit confused for the moment. We'll update this when we know what's happening.

Pacific

In Australia and New Zealand, it’s pretty busy, but with little on FTS:

• Friday, Tauranga, New Zealand has an open scrimmage hosted by Mount Militia Derby Crew [EVENT]
• South Windsor, NSW, Australia and Western Sydney Rollers host Round 3 of the 5x5 Tournament, with bouts between Varsity (Canberra) and Newcastle, and the hosts and Central Coast (Niagara Park) in the A tier, and Maitland and Inner West (Sydney), South Side ("South Sydney") and Hawkesbury  in the B tier [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• Christchurch, New Zealand sees Otautahi Roller Derby host Dunedin Derby and the Sirens of Smash (of Nelson Bay) in a triple header round robin [FTS 1,2,3][EVENT]
• Canberra, Australia sees the third game in Canberra Roller Derby Leagues' home season, with Brindabelters playing Surly Griffins [EVENT]
• Campbelltown, Australia also has home teams action, as Murder City Roller Girls' home teams the Slamazons and Valkyrie Storm compete [EVENT]
• Rockhampton, Australia, and Rocky Roller Derby host a hybrid team, the "Rumpoons", representing members of Rum City (Bundaberg) and Yeppoon Roller Derby [EVENT]
• Tasmania sees Devil State Derby League host a mysterious black v white bout [EVENT]
• Maylands, Australia: the WayWARDS (Western Australia B) host Dread Pirate Rollers of Perth in their first game of the season. [FTS][EVENT]
• Sunday, North Hobart, Australia: Convict City Roller Derby league host "Storytime with Bonnie D Stroir" - a session for developing mental attitude, making the most out of sports, and goal setting. This looks really interesting to us, and we'd appreciate a writeup from any attendees (hint hint). [EVENT]
• Monday, Victoria, Australia: the second intake day of the year for Victorian Roller Derby League! [EVENT]
• Late addition: Sunday, Yokosuka, Japan: the Yokosuka Sushi Rollers (of Tokyo Roller Derby) are holding a mashup tournament with 30 minute games! Teams open to anyone.[EVENT]

Latin America

In Latin America, there’s quite a few things going on, a mix of fundraising and bouting, with a few tournaments:

• Buenos Aires, Argentina sees B.A.R.D host Torneo Buenos Aires Salvaje, featuring multiple 2x4 Roller Derby teams (Cowgirls from Hell, Bloody Furias), Dirty Fucking Dolls, MD Queens, Alianza Rebelde, Mambas Negras of BARD, Insurrexion and Cholas (of NERD) [FTS Tournament][EVENT]

• Manizales, Colombia sees Valkyrias Roller Derby host the "5 Torneo Regional Roller Derby Occidente" for teams on the western side of Colombia, featuring the hosts, Titanias of Palmira, Pain Dealers and Silver Lynx both of Ibagué and Silver Lynx of Cali in a whole weekend event.[FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• Cuidad Juárez, Mexico: Juárez Roller Derby host their second "Copa Norte" tournament, featuring all their teams (Chulas Roller Derby, Black Dahlias Reloaded and Inquisidoras Roller Derby) and two visitors (Medias Rotas Roller Derby, of Juárez, and  División del Norte Roller Derby of Chihuahua). There's no public schedule so far, so the FTS tournament page is empty for now... [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
•  Santiago, Chile sees the Tacones Banditos and Bototos Banditos (of Valparaíso) visit to play a friendly with Metropolitan B, and a more serious bout against the A team, respectively. [EVENT]
• Rosario, Argentina sees Rosario Roller Derby host a bootcamp run by Nina Brava of (amongst other things) multiple Team Argentina rosters. [EVENT]
• Sunday, Blumenau, Brazil, the Iron Ladies are holding a bake-sale fundraiser [EVENT]

Africa and Middle East

This section is quiet again…

Upcoming Events

Our upcoming event for this week is:

One in the future: the 2017 edition of Euro Derby Con - the European Derby Convention organised by Track Advantage. Hosted in Barcelona, not only will it have a bunch of challenge bouts, and training sessions from some of the best in Roller Derby, but you'll also get a chance to see the host city for the Men's Roller Derby World Cup next year!

• 2017 July 13th,  Barcelona : Euro Derby Con https://www.facebook.com/events/596116850567901/

 

Roller derby is a very DIY sport, so people at different levels will always be looking to achieve different goals within the sport. For some, their purpose is to advance as far as their body will allow. For others, it’s a great way to get out a couple of nights per week and let off some steam in a fun, friendly environment.

Mean City Roller Derby fall somewhere in the middle, as we're made up of a wide variety of different people and personalities – we have actors, students, scientists and even a Thai masseur! It's our members that make our league special. Although we have lives outside of derby, we'll always be there for each other, both on and off the track.

This year we're looking to continue to build upon progress we've made as a league and as a group of friends. Next Saturday, 20th May 2017, will be our first bout of the year and we are hoping to capitalise on the hard work we've put into our training. Not only that, we are rebranding and will be debuting our new logo and team tops for the first time!

The logo really captures the good humour of the league and the spirit of Glasgow, Mean City's home and stomping ground.  We don't want to give too much away until game day, but we can say the logo is indeed still purple! This has been a long time in the making, but we can proudly say it looks fantastic. A big thank you to our Design Team and to Roller Derby City for our awesome new uniforms.

We are facing tough opposition. Our ladies' team are playing the Granite City Fight Hawks from Aberdeen. We played them up north in October 2016 and were narrowly defeated, so we will be looking to make the most of the home advantage! Our co-ed/open team will then be playing the Portsmouth Scurvy Wenches who are travelling up to Glasgow for the bout. They are more unknown to us, so should make exciting opponents. We also hear they like a good after party, as do we!

The action starts at 12pm at the ARC: Health & Fitness, Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow, G4 0BA. Entry is £5 per person/under 14s free,

Tickets available from the Facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1288036437909237/

As part of our short series on Coaches and Coaching initiatives in the UK (which started with a look at the Derby Form Check initiative), it would be remiss of us not to cover this next topic:

Logo by Lee Moyer Designs

Rule 56, the North-of-England based coaching business responsible for the UK's first Coaching Summit last year, have not been resting on their laurels.

Continuing their association with Texas Rollergirls' Smarty Pants, (also of Get Smarty Coaching) Rule 56 have been spreading communication via their series of Coaching Webinars.

Hosted on ClickMeeting, the Webinars make use of videoconferencing technology to allow coaches and skaters from around the world to attend a virtual seminar-like experience - with the advantage that collaboration is enhanced by shared whiteboards and the like.

SRD attended two of these hour-long sessions, where Smarty took the attendees (representing leagues from Illinois through Spain, and within the UK from Southhampton all the way up to Orkney) through an engaging look at a particular topic. In our cases, these were the "general purpose" introductory Coaching sessions - called Coaching 101 and 201 on the model of American University course numbering - which covered concepts such as "how to coach adults", "different styles of interaction when coaching", and so on.

The participants were all engaged regularly by Smarty - and the advantage of the online format was that Smarty could always look back at the chat stream at a later moment, without breaking her flow, to pick up responses and questions. This was definitely handled well as a component of the seminar - whilst Smarty stuck to her slides generally, the responses from the attendees were woven into variation and extension on each topic as it was addressed.

Explicitly collaborative "brainstorming" sessions were also well managed, with the shared whiteboard eliciting some genuinely free discussion, as you can see below:

We spoke to Steph Howarth, of Tiger Bay Brawlers, who also participated in both sessions, who was equally positive. "Although I've been playing roller derby for a while, I'm relatively new to coaching. So it was great to have the chance to learn from Smarty's experience - she's clearly cares passionately about good coaching. I was particularly interested in learning how to structure practices and communicate my ideas better. Smarty's seminars really helped with this - I came away with a heap of new ideas."

The remaining sessions are still available to book from the Rule 56 Facebook Events page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/rule56/events/ , or the ClickMeeting link earlier in the article.

The next session will be on "Indicators in Coaching", on the 5th June - there's still time to book this! After that, the 12th sees a session titled "Creating Team Success", and the 19th a seminar on dealing with "Questions at Practice".

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Other initiatives on the way from Rule 56, apart from actually coaching people, include a series of bootcamps - starting with one at the most northerly league in the UK, Orkney ViQueens! This is going to be an exciting one to attend, as Team England (and Rainy City)'s Missy Rascal is making her way up to lead the event as well.

You can catch up with Rule 56 at their coaching venue in Manningham Sports Centre in Bradford, online at their webinar series, or meet Hydra (#56 herself) at Euro Derby Con in mid-July, Barcelona!

As is traditional, we’re bringing you another roundup of the upcoming Roller Derby this weekend from across the world. As always, we’re using Flat Track Stats for much of this information – for regions with less good coverage, we also do a bit of intensive searching using a tool which scans the Facebook events of Roller Derby leagues known to Derby Listing.

Predictions of bouts are from FTS, if possible, and from our own SRD Rank where FTS cannot make predictions (for example: Latin America, or non-MRDA men’s bouts). Our new SRD Rank is out – the second for this year, with an entirely redesigned interface, allowing you to browse historical rankings for the last 10 years, view a map of all the active teams, select by country, gender, and get predictions of scores. (It also has some WFTDA rankings as well as SRDRank.)

If we’ve missed you from our roundup, please let us know! [Or add yourselves to FTS and/or Derbylisting]

Scotland

This weekend Scotland has a double headers’ worth of action at home (plus some action away):

• Glasgow sees Mean City Roller Derby host Portsmouth Scurvy Wenches against their coed/Open to all team [FTS], and Aberdeen's Granite City B  (Fight Hawks) take on Mean City women's [FTS] [EVENT]
• On Monday, Glasgow also sees another of the Resistance Roller Derby (Glasgow's inclusive junior derby league for trans and queer youth) Room To Grow scrimmages, open to Adults and all ages. [EVENT]

UK

British Champs fixtures are on in the rest of the UK too:

• In Middlesbrough, Tier 1 has a triple header, with hosts Middlesbrough Roller Derby playing Leeds Roller Derby, Tiger Bay Brawlers competing against Birmingham Blitz Dames,  and Bristol Roller Derby taking on London's Brawl Saints (B) [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• Daventry, Tier 4 East hosts Vendetta Vixens play Lincolnshire Bombers, whilst Wiltshire Roller Derby bout Suffolk Roller Derby [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• Salford, Tier 4 West hosts Arcadia Roller Derby play Riverside Rebels of Birkenhead, the second bout is North Cheshire Victory Rollers vs Roller Derby Leicester [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• Hereford, Tier 4 South, Hereford Roller Derby host Neath Port Talbot Roller Derby, and also see Swansea's Reaper Roller Derby take on Plymouth City [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• On Sunday, Oadby, Leicestershire: the Tier 3 West, has hosts Leicestershire Dolly Rockit Rollers play Wolverhampton Honor Rollers, and Nottingham Roller Girls against Milton Keynes Roller Derby [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• also on Sunday, Halifax sees Tier 3 North, as hosts Halifax Bruising Banditas bout North Wales Roller Derby, and X' Spa Town Roller Derby play Edinburgh's Auld Reekie Roller Girls B [FTS Tournament][EVENT]

Outside of Champs there’s also this we know about:

• London is the location for a double header of men's derby, as Southern Discomfort play Lincolnshire Rolling Thunder in an MRDA-Sanctioned bout[FTS], and SDRD B (Mild Discomfort) take on a mixed open-subscription team [EVENT]
• Oxford sees Oxford Roller Derby host Lille's Switchblade [FTS] for a double header with a mixed rookie bout to start [EVENT]

Europe

In Europe, there’s a few national tournament with fixtures, and several other big events:

• The German Bundesliga has multiple fixtures:
  • In Mannheim, the Delta Quads host Karlsruhe's RockARollers for Division 2 [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
  • In Nürnberg, hosts Sucker Punch Roller Derby play Bremen's Meatgrinders for Division 3 [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• Ylivieska, Finland, the Pohjola Cup runs on Saturday and Sunday,  hosts Riverdale Rollers playing along with Roll-on Derby (Rovaniemi), Blockbusters (Jyväskylä), Kuopio Roller Derby, Shitty Village B-pol (Oulu) and Seinäjoki Roller Derby [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• Nantes, France, and Nantes Derby Girls are hosting a triple header, with Nantes B playing Les Gueuses de Pigalle of Paris, and B.M.O Roller Derby Girls of Brest [FTS 1,2,3] [EVENT]
• Calais, France sees a triple header, with Roller Derby Calasisis playing:  Brussels Pixies B ("Atomium Kittens") (womens) [FTS], Unnamed Basterds (mens) [FTS] and Copenhagen Juniors (junior) [EVENT]
• Dublin, Ireland and Dublin Roller Derby also hosts a triple header, as San Fernando Valley Roller Derby bring a little Hollywood to Ireland, with their A team the Like OMGs playing Dublin  A, and Central City A in a round-robin [FTS 1,2,3] [EVENT]
• Vienna, Austria, sees Vienna Roller Derby host the rest of Dublin, as Vienna, Dublin B and Belfast Roller Derby all play in another triple-header round robin! [FTS 1,2,3][EVENT]
• Madrid, Spain... also hosts a triple header, with Roller Derby Madrid A playing Zürich Roller [FTS]; and Madrid B competing against Manchester Roller Derby B, the Furies [FTS], whilst Men's team, MadRiders play what we assume is Mons'ter Munch Derby Dudes of Mons [FTS] [EVENT]
• Malmö, Sweden hosts Paris, as Crime City Rollers play Paris Rollergirls, A team v A team [FTS] and B v B [FTS]. WFTDA-wise, this is an important event for both A teams, as they aim to make Divisional placements for playoffs. [EVENT]
• Lille, France, hosts a special double header, with Lille Roller Girls B against Lyon Association Roller Derby [FTS], and also Lille Juniors ("Glorious Lapinous") against Copenhagen Junior Derby [EVENT]
• Regensburg, Germany, sees Roller Derby Regensburg host Roller Derby Dresden B (the Trackoons) [FTS][EVENT]
• and Ruhrpott sees a home teams game with Ruhrpott Roller Girls' Schlagwetter playing the Püttperlen [EVENT]

Pacific

In Australia and New Zealand, it’s pretty busy, but with little on FTS:

• In Wellington, New Zealand, there's a double-header, as hosts Richter City A take on Vagine Regime Aotearoa [FTS] , whilst Richter B play River City Rollers of Whanganui [FTS] [EVENT]
• and in North Palmerston, New Zealand, Swamp City Roller Derby are also hosting a double header against Tauranga's Mount Militia Derby Crew - A v A [FTS] and B v B [FTS][EVENT]

• Wollongong, Australia sees Wollongong Illawarra Roller Derby host a double header, with WIRD A (Steel City Derby Dolls) playing South Sydney's South Side Derby Dolls [FTS], followed by a mixed open subscription bout [EVENT]

• Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand: Bay City Rollers host their first intraleague of the season, as double header: junior league Guns & Rollers playing first (Angels v Devils), and adults second (Gangstas v Hippies) [EVENT]
• Brisbane, Australia sees Sun State Roller Derby host Adelaide Roller Derby [FTS] in the year's first interstate for Brisbane [EVENT]

• Sunday, Gold Coast, Australia sees Paradise City Roller Derby host... Adelaide Roller Derby (who are having a busy weekend!) [FTS] in a Sanctioned bout [EVENT]

• Sunday, West Footscray, Melbourne, Australia is a whole day of scrimmage for WestSide Derby Dolls, with juniors and adult derby scrims throughout the day [EVENT]

• And, on Monday (22nd), Victorian Roller Derby League host the start of their second intake of the year [EVENT]

• And, of course, the first ever Roller Derby bout in Shanghai, China: Shang-High Rollers host the Pan-Asian Spring Rollers [Bangkok/Hong Kong/Beijing/Shanghai] for a game! [FTS][EVENT]
• Late addition for Okinawa, Japan, as Devil Dog Derby Dames host a (free entry) home teams game [EVENT]

Latin America

In Latin America, there's still some things going on, a mix of recruitment and bouting, with one tournament:

• Mexico City, Mexico sees a Saturday triple-header, as Liga Roller Derby Ciudad de México(LRDCM) host Valkirias Roller Derby against Block Division Roller Derby [FTS], Tekillerass (LRDCM B) vs Discordias Roller Derby [FTS] and Aniquiladoras (LRDCM A) bout Roller Derby Celaya[FTS] [EVENT]

• São Paulo, Brazil sees Ladies of Hell Town's recruitment event on Saturday [EVENT]

• Lima, Peru, sees Toxic Lima Roller Derby's first intraleague of the year, as Terror de la Selva take on  Furia Marina, postponed from a few weeks ago! [EVENT]
• Buenos Aires, Argentina sees No Excuses Roller Derby host a bootcamp run by Tui Lyon! [EVENT] as part of the DerbyPalooza Festival of Derby (which also has a tournament... featuring Cordoba's Hiedras Toxicas, Buenos Aires' NERD, Wonderclan and BARD, plus two exhibition teams "Interior" and "Argentina All-Stars") [EVENT]

• Sunday, Bogotá, Colombia and the 4th District Tournament continues, with Fugitivas RollerPunk hosting: Bogotá Bone Breakers and Rock N Roller Queens playing against their own B teams in the women's tier, and Maquina del Mal playing Combativos in the men's [FTS Tournament][EVENT]

• and Sunday, Rosario, Argentina : Rosario Roller Derby host a recruitment day! [EVENT]

Africa and Middle East

This section is quiet again...

• except for the late addition, in Egypt, of the CaiRollers' Friday open scrimmage, their last event before Ramadan. [EVENT]

Upcoming Events

Our upcoming events for this week are:

A local one to start with, as Granite City Roller Derby prepare to host their Scottish Sevens tournament. At the moment, we know there'll be 7 teams, to make this as septimal as possible... and the votes are open for what the names will be!

• July 29th - Granite City's Scottish Sevens - https://www.facebook.com/events/1468759543169257/

 

More remote from us in space, but much closer in time, Buenos Aires Roller Derby (BARD) are hosting the Torneo BAS Buenos Aires Salvaje next weekend. Featuring teams from across Argentina (including 2x4, represented by two home teams!), it looks like being another great Latin American tournament!

• May 27th -Torneo BAS Buenos Aires Salvaje https://www.facebook.com/events/1258614694258106/

Next in our series of articles covering new teams in the 2018 Roller Derby World Cup is one of the smallest attendees. Representing Eastern Europe along with Team Russia, it's Team Romania!

Team Romania Logo: by Libby Odai and Alina Usurelu

As with much of Eastern Europe, the spread of Roller Derby in Romania has been very slow: in fact, there are currently no leagues in the country, even in the capital Bucharest. Team Romania, then, is necessarily formed from expats and descendants of citizens - with the intent to promote the sport in the country itself as a result.

Exe QT, one of Team Romania's founders, is perhaps typical. "I've lived in Sweden since I was 4, so I'm pretty much Swedish," she told us, "even though I go back to Romania once every couple of years and obviously still speak Romanian with my mum, relatives etc..."

A skater for Gothenburg Roller Derby, Exe QT first thought of the possibility of Romanian entry for the World Cup because of a chance meeting at a London Rollergirls bootcamp. London Brawling's AnDrac is herself of Romanian ancestry, and meeting someone so well known in the sport set a "seed" in her brain.

All it took for it to sprout was hearing that there were other eligible skaters... and it started to look very possible indeed.

Despite there not being any skaters in Romania itself, the team takes the representation of their country seriously. "I believe it's a huge thing to get to represent your nation, in any situation," says Exe QT. "I am proud of my heritage, even though in my daily life, no-one would think about that I'm basically a first generation 'immigrant'." And this patriotism is something echoed by fellow Team Romania member Tenacious (of Kent Roller Girls), for whom representation is really important: “to represent Romania, myself, a woman, to the world it's fantastic! We have always had great females taking part in many different sports, females that I have always looked up to with a lot of respect and admiration. I would like to show that Team Romania can be diverse and supportive of all genders of people!”

AnDrac, who has joined the Team Romania roster herself, told us, "I am finally starting to feel quite excited about a potential Team Romania in the next World Cup as there is no roller derby in Romania yet. Hopefully we will be able to find a few more players to field a team.

It will be an experience for all of us as we won't really have the time to train together like the more established teams but we would have paved the path for the future Romanians that play or will play Roller Derby around the world. Exciting times ahead!"

As with many of the newer teams, the aim for Team Romania this time around is simply to represent. Exe QT notes, "For the Cup, I'm hoping that we could all go there and have fun! No-one should be upset if we lose games, and we could all celebrate being able to skate for our birth nation, enjoying the ambience, meeting new friends.

If we would win a few games that would be awesome.  But I don't want to put too much pressure on everyone, because we will be a team that barely would have practiced together, and that is a big disadvantage!"

And in the future, maybe Roller Derby will come to Bucharest itself!

Exe QT: "It would be great if we could find some people in Romania who'd be interested in starting up a team, but as we both know, it requires not only a lot of time and energy, but also money. Where should they practice, how do they get equipment etc etc

I'd love to go there for a week and coach derby, like a full week's program on and off skates, so that they could start up (I coach my league, and I really love it)"

Even for the National Team itself, experienced skaters from Romania are welcome, as Tenacious notes, “I know Romanians are big on skating, inline especially. We can find a way of getting a team together, coaching them, even from the distance, if there's anyone interested in putting themselves forward!” Team Romania are still recruiting for players, and looking for coaches and support staff of all kinds, so if you would like to skate with them, apply at their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/RollerDerbyTeamRomania/

As is traditional, we’re bringing you another roundup of the upcoming Roller Derby this weekend from across the world. As always, we’re using Flat Track Stats for much of this information – for regions with less good coverage, we also do a bit of intensive searching using a tool which scans the Facebook events of Roller Derby leagues known to Derby Listing.

Predictions of bouts are from FTS, if possible, and from our own SRD Rank where FTS cannot make predictions (for example: Latin America, or non-MRDA men’s bouts). Our new SRD Rank is out – the second for this year, with an entirely redesigned interface, allowing you to browse historical rankings for the last 10 years, view a map of all the active teams, select by country, gender, and get predictions of scores. (It also has some WFTDA rankings as well as SRDRank.)

If we’ve missed you from our roundup, please let us know! [Or add yourselves to FTS and/or Derbylisting]

Scotland

This weekend Scotland has a double headers' worth of action at home (plus some action away):

• Grangemouth sees British Champs Tier 3 Men's North hosted by Bairn City Rollers' Skelpies. Due to various issues, the Skelpies are playing Glasgow Men's Roller Derby in an "unofficial" bout, but the Teeside Skate Invaders v Men Behaving Derby bout counts for Champs itself. [FTS Tournament][EVENT]

• and if you'd like to start roller derby yourself, Glasgow Roller Derby are hosting their recruitment/new skater intake [EVENT]

UK

British Champs fixtures are on in the rest of the UK too:

• Cambridge hosts the Tier 2 North, with hosts Cambridge Rollerbillies against Wirral Roller Derby, and Rainy City B facing Liverpool Roller Birds [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• Oxford hosts the Tier 3 Men's South, as hosts Oxford Men's Roller Derby play the Brothers Grim of Grimsby, and Dorset Knobs compete against North Wales' Sons of Icarus [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• and Durham hosts the Tier 4 North, as host Durham Roller Derby bout Wakefield's Wakey Wheeled Cats, and York Minxters play Durham City Rolling Angels [FTS Tournament][EVENT]

Outside of Champs there’s also this we know about:

• Southend-on-Sea sees a double header, with hosts Seaside Sirens playing Dundee Roller Derby [FTS], and exhibition teams Team Dragon and Vagine Regime UK bouting as well. [EVENT]
• Birmingham hosts one of the two strongest teams in France, as Roller Derby Toulouse visit Central City Rollergirls [FTS], and Central City B take on Killa Hurtz of Chelmsford [FTS][EVENT]
• Croydon sees Croydon Roller Derby invite over Lille Roller Girls from France for an A v A [FTS], B v B [FTS] double header [EVENT]
  • and Lille are staying over for the Sunday, to take on London Rockin' Rollers [FTS]
• Newcastle Upon Tyne, and hosts Newcastle Roller Girls C are playing Nottingham Hellfire Harlots B [FTS][EVENT]
• Sunday: Taunton, Somerset, sees the South West Angels of Terror B host a triple-header round robin with Bristol Roller Derby B and Team Bath [FTS 1,2,3] [EVENT]
• Also Sunday, Brighton sees Brighton Rockers host a double header, the A team playing Hell's Belles of Hertfordshire [FTS], and the B's bouting Suffolk Roller Derby B [FTS] [EVENT]
• And finally for the weekend's bouts, Coventry Roller Derby host their first game of the season, against Deathrow Hull [FTS][EVENT]

• In Preston, though, Preston Roller Girls are hosting a sunday open-scrim (skater places currently sold out) [EVENT]

• Late addition (Saturday): Nottingham hosts a short-format "B-teams" tournament featuring hosts Nottingham Roller Girls B; Sheffield Steel Roller Girls B, Wolverhampton Honour Rollers Pack Beaters and Leeds Roller Derby B! [EVENT]

Europe

In Europe, there's one national tournament with fixtures, but a lot beyond:

• Cologne, Germany hosts the next Bundesliga (Tier 1) bout, as hosts Cologne Roller Derby take on Munich. [FTS Tournament][EVENT],
• whilst in Ludwigsburg, Barockcity Roller Derby host a Bundesliga Tier 2 bout against the Delta Quads of Mannheim [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• Nørresundby, Denmark sees hosts Aalborg Roller Derby run the "Northern Takedown" tournament, featuring the hosts, Aarhus Derby Danes, Tampere Roller Derby B, Dock City Rollers B, and Antwerp's One Love Roller Derby B  [FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• La Roche sur Yon, France sees Les Passeuses Dâmes host "Block'n'Roll 2", a tournament featuring, as well as the hosts, Nantes Derby Girls B, Roller Derby Rennes B, and Roller Derby Angoulême B[FTS Tournament][EVENT]
• Prague sees a double-header as both active leagues host: Prague City Roller Derby playing Sweden's Västerås Roller Derby [FTS], and the Hard Breaking Dolls playing Vienna Roller Derby B. [FTS][EVENT]
• Nidaros, Norway: Nidaros host Berlin's Bear City Roller Derby [FTS][EVENT]
• Oulu, Finland, and Eurovision fans Oulu Shitty City Rollers host a double header, playing Luleå Roller Derby [FTS] and hosting a rookies bout featuring skaters across Finland. [EVENT]
• The Hague, Netherlands: Parliament of Pain B hosts Arnhem Fallen Angels [FTS][EVENT]
• Gothenburg, Sweden sees Gothenburg B host Växjö and Uppsala B for a triple-header round robin [FTS 1,2,3] [EVENT]
• Sunday, Milan, Italy: Harpies Roller Derby Milano host Bordeaux Roller Derby Club [FTS][EVENT]
• Sunday in Paris, France: La Boucherie des Paris host a double header: La Barbaque playing Rouen [FTS], and Le Carcass taking on Les Gueuses de Pigalle B [FTS][EVENT]
• In Marseille, France on Sunday, there's a triple header, with Marseille Men versus Le Raclée of Dijon [FTS], Marseille A facing Barcelona [FTS] and Marseille B taking on the Rabbit Skulls of Avignon [FTS][EVENT]
• Le Havre, France sees a double header, as Le Havre A take on both Cherbourg's Cherboobs [FTS] and Amiens B [FTS] [EVENT]
• Sarreguemines, France also has a Sunday double header, as the Mechanical Dolls host and play Roller Derby Luxembourg [FTS], whilst Roller Derby Metz Club B play Nancy Wheel Spirit B [FTS] [EVENT]
• and finally for France and Sunday: Lyon hosts a triple header, as hosts Lyon Roller Derby play the Unnamed Bitches [FTS], Lyon B compete against Roller Derby Pays d'Aix B (Les Amazones) [FTS] and men's team Mon Cherrry bout the Unnamed Basterds [FTS] [EVENT]

Pacific

In Australia and New Zealand, it’s pretty busy, but with little on FTS:

• Dunedin, New Zealand: and Dunedin Roller Derby host a double header against Christchurch's Dead End Derby,  B v B  [FTS] and A v A [FTS][EVENT]

• Gosford, NSW, Australia sees Central Coast Derby United host the East Coast Invitational 2017, a two division tournament featuring...Victorian Roller Derby League (C), Varsity Derby League, Canberra Roller Derby League, Sydney Roller Derby League (B,C), Inner West Roller Derby League, Kingston City Rollers, NorthSide Rollers, Brisbane City Rollers, South Side Derby Dolls & hosts Central Coast Roller Derby! With no public schedule this isn't on FTS yet - although a livestream is promised.[EVENT]

• Wauchope, NSW sees Port Macquarie Roller Derby host a Saturday open scrim [EVENT]

• Adelaide Roller Derby's home season continues with the Road Train Rollers taking on the Wild Hearses [EVENT]

• and in Tasmania, Convict City Roller Derby League are hosting a recruitment day [EVENT]

Latin America

In Latin America, it seems quite quiet…

• Bogotá, Colombia and the 4th District Tournament continues, this round hosted by Combativos, and sees Combativas Revoltosas playing Central Derby D.C, and Fugitivas playing Bogotá Bone Breakers in the women's tier, and Rock N Roller Kings taking on Maquina del Mal in the men's [FTS Tournament][EVENT]

• In Blumenau, Brazil, the Iron Ladies are hosting their second recruitment day of the year [EVENT]

• and Monterrey, Mexico, and Monterrey Roller Derby host Fairy Dust of Ciudad Victoria [FTS][EVENT]

• This Sunday, São Paulo, Brazil sees the start of a series of introductory derby days run by Ladies of Helltown to promote and grow Roller Derby in the region[EVENT]

• Also Sunday, Mendoza, Argentina sees the Sarcasticats host a fundraiser and mixed scrim (including both rookies and experienced skaters). Money raised helps the Sarcasticats attend the "Torneo Valletano" tournament in July. [EVENT]

• And also on Sunday, La Plata, Buenos Aires sees Chat Noir host a double header - Chat Noir playing Wonderclan C [FTS] and Alianza Rebelde v Wonderclan B [FTS]  [EVENT]

Africa and Middle East

This section is quiet again.

Upcoming Events

Our upcoming event this week is that Argentinian tournament mentioned above: Torneo Valletano. Not much is public yet, but this is the third edition of the event, and previous events have included teams from across Latin America.

• 8-9 July Torneo Valletano https://www.facebook.com/Valletano-Derby-entre-Bardas-1487820991524174/

 

British Champs is back in Grangemouth as BCR host Mens North T3 this Saturday 13th of May at  Grangemouth Sports Complex. Doors open at 14:45 for this Round 2 double header that will see Teesside Skate Invaders v Men Behaving Derby in Game 1 and Bairn City Rollers' Skelpies v Glasgow Men's Roller Derby in Game 2.

The first round of the tier took place in Dublin during the Easter weekend and saw GMRD take a win over Teeside 234 to 167, whilst a depleted Skelpies team were beaten by Men Behaving Derby 235 to 131.  Those results left GMRD and Men Behaving derby Joint top on points, but Men Behaving Derby top thanks to score difference.

Standings after first round

Pos	Team	P	W	L	F	A	+/-	T Pts
1	Men Behaving Derby	1	1	0	235	131	104	3
2	Glasgow Men's Roller Derby	1	1	0	234	167	67	3
3	Teesside Skate Invaders	1	0	1	167	234	-67	0
4	Bairn City Skelpies	1	0	1	131	235	-104	0

Unfortunately for BCR's Skelpies, they have picked up a few more injuries at their first game. This has left them with an even smaller roster than they had in Dublin; due to this they have decided to forfeit their game with GMRD, awarding GMRD the win.

However, BCR will be drafting in a few guests to fill in the gaps in their squad thus allowing a game to be played and the event to remain a double header. The game will not count towards Champs, of course, but will still be great derby!

Teeside vs Men Behaving Derby will be a great fight. Teeside will be looking to to get their first points on the board, whilst Men Behaving Derby will be looking to take another win to consolidate their place at the top of the table.

To find out more about game day 2 North Tier 3 visit BCR's Event page

One of the hot topics in Roller Derby, always, is Coaching. In recent times, since the Derby Stance Coaching Summit, we've seen even more collaboration and discussion in the area of UK Coaching - with Rule56's Coaching Webinars a direct follow on from this. However, there's initiatives happening even in the furthest reaches of the UK's geography... as our guest writer, and founder of Derby Form Check, Ronie Walters (of Orkney ViQueens) explains:

One of the great things about roller derby is the grassroots ethos. We all know the ethos: "by the skaters for the skaters". You don’t need to jump through a lot of hoops and regulations to set up a roller derby league, you can just have the idea and get going.

This is exactly what we did in Orkney. Orkney is a small group of islands, off the North coast of Scotland. To get to us you need to get either a plane or a ferry. Obviously travelling to train with a local league is not really an option in this situation, so when we wanted to get started, we had to start from scratch.

The Roller Derby Community is lovely. Everyone is really supportive and I’ve made some great contacts whom I consider friends I’ve just not met yet, which has been awesome. But... it kind of feels like everyone is re-inventing the wheel. Every single league I’ve encountered is using the WFTDA min-skills in some form as their standard for knowing when a skater is safe to play. Every single league runs some form of “fresh meat” training program to get their skaters through those min skills. Yet trying to find a training program to use as a template has been almost impossible.

We went to join the UKRDA to use that as a resource, yet, at present, you have to have been skating for 6 months as a team to be eligible to join – leaving you alone to muddle through until that point.

We were lucky enough to manage to get a couple of people to do the BRSF [British Roller Sports Federation] level 2 coaching course recently in Luton (from what I can gather, it’s not been run for a while) so that was amazing for us, and we learnt a lot from it in terms of coaching cues and coaching skills. We also attended the Rule 56 online coaching pilot, and are excited for the next sessions coming up.

Rule 56, like us, are looking for more joined up approaches to Roller Derby Coaching. They also believe we have some incredibly awesome coaches and skaters amongst us, we just need a more effective way to share them. The more we can share resources and skills, the faster we can progress as a sport, and the better the experience for those coming into the sport as new skaters.

It would be nice if, one day, new leagues starting in the UK could simply go to one place, and find all the information they needed. This could be something as simple as UKRDA offering an associate membership so leagues can have access to the resources they need for that six month waiting period. This could then offer things like policies and constitutions, a clearly laid out min skills program, information on how to test a min skill and tell if your skater has mastered it, a resource for learning how to coach effectively, and access to a library of videos of real skaters complete with feedback on where they can improve, as well as video of ideal form to know what you are looking to get your skaters to. The latter part of this has taken a step forward recently, with the introduction of WFTDA Ed min skills videos. For the first time, there is some standardised indication of what a skill should look like.

However, how do you get from where you are now, to that perfect form? Something I read recently in PEAK, when it was being discussed in the roller derby book club, was the notion of deliberate practice. Peak posits that there is no such thing as people with innate talent or ability. Even the likes of Beethoven or Tiger Woods are great because they have put in a lot of practice. But this is not just about spending time; it’s about deliberate practice. Taking a skill and breaking it down into its elements, then practicing the elements making use of effective feedback to help you master the different parts.

As a new club, we are learning together. We have some skilled skaters, but no-one with roller derby experience, or with experience in how to observe a skater and break the skill down for them with feedback to allow them to practice the elements and build it back up. It occurred to me that if we as a wider roller derby community could share video footage of us skating, we could all benefit from the feedback experienced skaters could provide. We are all individual, and we all learn differently. Sometimes the way someone explains something just clicks for you and, all of a sudden, you master that tricky bit you have been stuck on for a while.

Roller Derby Form Check aims to provide this opportunity. As a new Facebook group, it only has a few videos at present, but with over 370 members, it has the potential to be a very powerful resource. The hope is that gradually people will start to post a video of themselves doing a skill they are struggling with. So rather than a written post of how you're struggling with your 27/5 or you just can’t get transitions but don’t know why, you can film yourself. You will then get personalised feedback, rather than generic answers, or written descriptions which can be hard to visualise.

Our dream for the group is that over time we build a library of people demonstrating common issues with the minimum skills, with a whole range of ways of explaining how they can work to improve from different people. Some of those explanations will hopefully also come with a video of them demonstrating the techniques they are suggesting. Using this, coupled with the “perfect” examples from WFTDA Ed, will really allow for some really powerful coaching resources to develop. We can already see that coaches are finding it helpful to learn additional ways to explain things and break skills down.

So if you are stuck on a skill you just can’t seem to master, no matter how often your coach explains it, post a video. Maybe someone else’s tips will help you. If you are a coach and you have one skater that you just can’t figure out how to help, ask them if they are OK with posting a video and see if other people’s explanations can help them break through.

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Derby Form Check is a (closed) Facebook Group, open for registration: https://www.facebook.com/groups/403911146657994/