There is an excellent bout report over on Ante Ortus A Novus Lumen Ars for the long awaited rematch between Dundee Roller Girl's Silvery Tayzers and Fair City Roller's Fear Maidens.Comprehensively written as always by Aoanla with photographs by Laura MacDonald.

Photograph courtesy of Laura MacDonald

It's finally here,the first ever Roller Derby World Cup,thirteen national teams from across the world,two hundred and sixty skaters plus support staff.All gathered in Toronto on the eve of making Roller Derby history.Win or lose,each of these girls will go home to their respective countries as Derby royalty.

Just in case you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks,lets rewind to the Preliminary Groups draw..

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiAojvgLT_c]

So that gives us four Groups,three with three teams and the remaining Group with four, each team will play the other teams in their Group and the results will be used to sort out a seeding order for the elimination phase of the competition.The Groups look like this...

Group A

Brazil - Sweden - Canada - France

Group B

Australia - Finland - Germany

Group C

New Zealand - USA - Scotland

Group D

Argentina - Ireland - England

Here are the bout times for the first two days....please note these times are UK/GMT

Thursday 1st December

10 P.M., Track 1: Canada vs. France 10:30 P.M., Track 2: Australia vs. Germany 11:20 P.M., Track 1: Argentina vs. Ireland 11:50 P.M., Track 2: New Zealand vs. U.S.A. 12:40 A.M., Track 1: Brazil vs. Sweden 1:10 A.M., Track 2: Australia vs. Finland 2 A.M., Track 1: USA vs USA expo bout

Friday 2nd December

2:30 P.M., Track 1: England vs. Ireland 3 P.M., Track 2: New Zealand vs. Scotland 3:50 P.M., Track 1: Canada vs. Sweden 4:20 P.M., Track 2: Finland vs. Germany 5:10 P.M., Track 1: Brazil vs. France 5:40 P.M., Track 2: Scotland vs. U.S.A. 6:30 P.M., Track 1: Argentina vs. England 7 P.M., Track 2: France vs. Sweden 7:50 P.M., Track 1: Brazil vs. Canada 9 P.M. - 10:30: Welcome Ceremony: Parade of Nations 10:30 P.M. - 3 A.M.: Beginning of elimination round

And start/finish times for the elimination and placement phase,which takes up the remaining two days.

Saturday 3rd December

2:30 P.M. - 1:30 A.M.: Elimination and placement rounds

Sunday 4th December

3:30 P.M. - 11:30 P.M.: Elimination and placement rounds 11:30 P.M. - 3 A.M.: Closing celebration and awards

Finally,you can watch it all here

Image courtesy of Team Australia

Last,but by no means least in the World Cup team roundup we have Australia. Roller Derby is really well established in Australia,there are almost 80 leagues that are well supported by both fans and the media, many leagues regularly feature in their local press, radio and even on tv.There are regional competitions and many Australian skaters are no strangers to large scale bouts,having played at the likes of The Great Southern Slam.

Final Roster: Amykazee,Bambi Von Smasher,King Cam and Short Stop Canberra Roller Derby League Blockodile Dundee,Cookie Cutter,Lady-Killer,Muzzarati,Rose Rruin,Scully.Slawat Dawta and XL Sun State Roller Girls Fang Fiend and Juke Nukem Brisbane City Rollers Dodge & Bolt Coastal Assassins Roller Derby Haterade Sydney Roller Derby Ruby Rib Crusher and U Sooze U Lose Victorian Roller Derby League Susy Pow Newcastle Roller Derby League Tricksey Beltem Adelaide Roller Derby

Coaching Staff: Mark Madden from SSRG

The sheer size of the country and the cost involved in travel means that Team Australia have not played any warm up bouts or been able to have the entire team together for any practise time.However,many of their skaters are from experienced and well established leagues and may not need much time to gel as a team,plus they will be eager to show everyone that down under Derby is a force to be reckoned with.

CHRISTMAS FAYRE FUNDRAISER!

Head along to a festive Christmas fayre for a spot of last minute Christmas shopping. On sale will be handmade gifts, prize raffle, craft stalls as well the famous Dundee Roller Girls bake sale, so get yourself along and support your local roller derby girls!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=189608154459598

 

Image courtesy of Roller Derby Brazil

Roller Derby is a brand new thing in Brazil,all their leagues were formed in the last year or two and if you were to add up all the Brazilians involved in Derby,it would come to less than 200 people.Getting recognition for any sport that isn't Football in Brazil is like pushing custard uphill,as a result practise venues and sponsors are hard to come by and many of the Brazilian leagues practise outdoors.That is not their only difficulty,items like skates and wheels are another obstacle,due to high import taxes in Brazil,skaters can expect to pay up to three times the cost price to have them delivered from outside the country.Despite all this,there are already ten leagues across Brazil and i suspect the national team appearing at the World Cup will inspire others to start their own leagues or join the existing ones.

Team Roster Brazil have somewhat oddly opted not to have derby names,but among their skaters are Brazilian Bombshell of South Bay Derby Mizfitz Brazilian Nut of Gotham City Roller Derby Matadora of Stuttgart Valley Roller Girlz the rest of the squad come from Sugar Loathe Derby Girls , Ladies Of Hell Town , Gray City Rebels and Capital City Derby Dolls

Coaching staff Head Coach: Lyon Aragão-Sugar Loathe Derby Girls. Assistant Coaches: Denis Araki-Ladies Of Hell Town. and Ju Leal-Gray City Rebels.

Information is a little hard to come by,but as far as i can find out Team Brazil have played no warm up games,in fact ,it would appear that no league in Brazil has actually bouted yet!So,playing at the World Cup will be their first bouts,international skaters aside.Those first two games will be against Sweden and Canada,which will make for a pretty steep learning curve for them. Team Brazil have seemed to have the most difficult journey to Toronto out of the participating teams and potentially are the team that will learn the most from the experience.

Congratulations, you've been selected to play for your league in your first bout.

It is nerve-wracking and exciting all at the same time. You've worked so hard to make it on to the team and you deserve it.

Hopefully you'll be lucky enough to have experienced skaters on your team with you, if not, then you are all in the same boat. Don't panic. Preparation is key. Read the rules, and ask questions about anything you are unsure of. It will save you penalties in the long run as you'll understand how to avoid then and if you do pick any up, why you got them in the first place. Watch other teams tactics at games then go and introduce them to your team. Every team does things slightly differently and it can help to see a more experienced team play.

Breathe.

It certainly is an exciting time, and now is definitely your time to prove yourself. All eyes will be on you, the opposition have never seen you skate before, they don't know what to expect. Be confident in your ability, you wouldn't of been picked for the team if your team captain didn't believe you could do it. If there is anything you are unsure of, anything at all, ask. Chances are captains have heard it all before so will be able to help, and if they don't, they'll find out. At training sessions, try and play all positions to get a feel for them. Line-up managers always start with a few line-ups thought out but they usually get binned depending on how the game is going and what the team needs. You need to be able to play with everyone on your team. Get to know them on and off track. It is a well known fact that teams that get on well away from training play well together on track.

Breathe.

Pay attention at training. Make notes if you need to afterwards and read them to get the theory of the tactic into your head, then when you go on track again, the knowledge of what to do will already be there. Make sure you understand why you do certain tactics depending on what is happening in the jam. Don't be afraid to ask questions, you aren't expected just to know these things without ever having been taught it.

And finally......

Enjoy it. Don't get too caught up in the nerves, self-doubt, fear of injury. You've prepared well for this day and so has your team. Go out there and play to the best of your ability. That's all anyone can ask. Get a good nights sleep the night before and pack your kit the night before with everything you think you might need. The basics you definitely need to pack, skates, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, helmet, mouthguard, skate tool, tape, scissors, water, fruit, team t-shirt, boutfit plus anything else you want to pack.

Have fun and hit them in the tit. I'll see you on the track.

Glasgow Roller Girls are running a bootcamp on Saturday, 10th December 2011 from 11:00am to 5:00pm,at The Arc,Cowcaddens Road,Glasgow This will be a chance to break down some of the strategies used in the recent WFTDA Championships and will feature none other than London Brawling captain ,Kamikazi Kitten and Stephanie Mainey of London Roller Girls fame. There will be 2 hours of watching footage and discussion,followed by four hours of on skates training,spaces are strictly limited to 35 skaters at a cost of £45 each,or £25 for non skating participants More details here including a map and ticket order form. Get in early,this one will be popular

While the Scottish Roller Derby Blog couldn't manage to fly anyone to Toronto to cover the World Cup in all its glory, Scottish fans are not going to be bereft of updates from Canada.

Glasgow Roller Girls' Mona Rampage and Sykes are planning on covering the World Cup themselves, with video interviews and other items posted to their YouTube channel, SquareWheelsTV.

Only 2 hours after their arrival in Toronto, there's already a first video up, so go ahead and follow them for more exciting updates.

At the moment, a poll is also open for viewers to select questions to put to the skaters that Mona and Sykes corral, so this is also an excellent time to make your voice heard!

(The Team Scotland Google+ page will also be linking to SquareWheelsTV videos as and when they are posted.)

Image courtesy of Team New Zealand

Roller Derby has been around quite a while in New Zealand, The Pirate City Rollers are the countries oldest league,founded back in 2006,they are quite possibly the oldest league in the world,outside of the USA and have recently been accepted onto the WFTDA Apprentice Program.The Pirate City girls are no strangers to international competition,they were the only NZ team to play at the Great Southern Slam,the first Asia/Pacific region Roller Derby tournament in 2010.As you can see from the team roster,close to half the squad is drawn from from Pirate City.

Team Roster Pieces of Hate (Pirate City Rollers) – Player/Coach Fia Fasi Oe? (Pirate City Rollers) – Player/Assistant Coach Hurricane Hori (Pirate City Rollers via Dead End Derby) Team NZ Captain Terror Satana (Pirate City Rollers) Perky Nah Nah (Pirate City Rollers via Wellington) Bad Jelly the Bitch (Pirate City Rollers) Skate the Muss (Pirate City Rollers) Pentakill (Pirate City Rollers) Big Mack (Pirate City Rollers) Axl-Slash-R (Northland Nightmares) Solid Sarge (Northland Nightmares) Poison Pixie (Mount Militia Derby Crew) Miss Metal Militia (Hellmilton Roller Ghouls) Poison Petal (Hellmilton Roller Ghouls) Evil K’Neevil (Dead End Derby) Black Panther (Dead End Derby) Lawless Mess (Dead End Derby) Miss Chevus Mynx (Dead End Derby) Tuff Bikkies (Richter City Roller Derby)

Elle Qaeda (Pirate City Rollers) – Manager

Team New Zealand have played a Probables Vs Possibles bout as a warm up,much like Team Scotland Vs Team 'Steve' and also held a fundraising Skate-A-Thon in an effort to fund their trip to Toronto. Given that there are national and international competitions in and around New Zealand,we can expect their skaters to be unfazed with a world stage,alongside Australia,they are something of an unknown on this side of the world,which is doubtless something they will wish to correct. New Zealand is a team to watch out for,they could well provide an upset or two in the World Cup and will be excellent opponents for Team Scotland's first bout of the competition.