The Scottish Roller Derby community has traditionally comprised of female-only teams. Well, 2013 is the year where all that will change!

We gave you a sniff of Men's Roller Derby last year with the introduction of The Jakey Bites - Scotland's All Star Men's Team, and as seems to be the way with the sport, this single team has inspired other competitive skate-loving people to get involved! Four offspring leagues have now been born, covering Glasgow & the West; Edinburgh & the Lothians; the Forth Valley; and Tayside & the North East. We expect to see a lot more from each of these leagues over the coming year, so now is your chance to swat up on Who They Are and Where They Come From!

We caught up with reps from each league to learn a bit more about them and how you can contact them if you're interested in joining their ranks.

Capital City Roller Derby

An interview with Tequila Jammer

When was your league founded, and by whom?

Officially Capital City Roller Derby was launched in December 2012 (making us the newest men's league) but informally it's been around for a little longer. It was founded by a bunch of Jakey Bites players (Judder Jam, WKDeid, Genuine Miller Daft, Tequila Jammer, Duff McKegger and Panda). I guess the birth place of Capital City was in Deans Community High School car park on a cold Sunday morning after training, Bairns and Mean City were established and we thought... why not. All of us had skated for a long time with the Jakey Bites and were up for the challenge of starting our own regional league.

What area of Scotland do you cover?

We cover mainly the Edinburgh and the Lothians but we have some seriously committed skaters who travel from Fife, the Borders and the Falkirk area.

What made you decide to start up the league?

Men's Roller Derby in Scotland was beginning to take off in a big way with the formation of Mean City, Bairn City Rollers and The Tayminators - it made sense to have a league in Edinburgh. Edinburgh is already well established in the derby community and having strong links to other leagues is important to us. I guess we just want to be part of that spirit and prove we are a capable league who take the sport seriously but know how to have a good time as well. The founders have a clear passion for the sport and, honestly, we can't get enough of it!

Tell us about your plans for 2013, and where you would like to be by this time next year?

2013 looks to be a busy year for us. We have started regular training and are looking to recruit new members and Fresh Meat. From that we hope to gain new members and start to develop a seriously kick ass team as playing some hard hitting, epic men's derby is our ultimate goal.

Like we said before, building links with other leagues is very important to us as well as promoting men's derby. Hopefully this time next year Capital City will have gone from a small bunch of Jakeys to a cohesive team of awesome individuals. Also skating (and winning) a bout or two would be pretty sweet.

How can people contact you if they would like to join your league?

Potential awesome Fresh Meat can contact us through our Facebook Page, e-mail us directly (capitalcityrd@gmail.com) or if you see one of our friendly faces at local bouts don't be afraid to come up and say hi. Also, if people love men's derby but playing doesn't appeal to them, there are lots of ways of getting involved. Leagues wouldn't exist without an awesome NSO and Ref crew.

Bairn City Rollers

An interview with Mega Blocker

When was your league founded, and by whom?

Bairn City Rollers was founded in September 2012 by myself and iHorror (Anthony Sweeney). We were the first men’s league to be established outside of the Jakey Bites Scottish All-Stars.

What area of Scotland do you cover?

As the name suggests, we are based in Falkirk area but that stretches to all of Central Scotland. We have had some enquiries from Edinburgh and Glasgow but we tend to point these guys to Capital City or Mean City, and that has also been reciprocated.

What made you decide to start up the league?

I wanted a 'Fresh Meat'. I had went along to the Jakey Bites NEDS (non-experienced derby skaters) but I couldn't keep up. They are a great bunch but it wasn't what I needed. I had not long taken up skating and had heard great things about the FVRG Fresh Meat programme and thought that it sounded perfect for me, so BCR was born. iHorror and me had a few people interested – in the main people who had never skated so we set about getting things together. We held a launch party and had our Fresh Meat the week after. It’s been awesome!

Tell us about your plans for 2013, and where you would like to be by this time next year?

Well, our first bout – the first male league bout ever in Scotland – is happening on April 7th at Grangemouth Sports Complex, Skelpies against South Wales Silures. That is exciting and terrifying in equal measure but the help we have had from other leagues has been awesome. We also have another couple of bouts lined up but I’ll keep them close to my chest at the until they are signed up.

The other huge thing that happened very late last year was that we went co-ed. The girls in the league are awesome and they are going to have some big news very soon - they would kill me or at the very least flatten me on track if I told though!

The next 12 months are going to be very busy. We will be looking to grow our skating pool, we have Fresh Meat this Sunday (3rd February), and are busy getting the boys bout ready. We have a brilliant social night coming up at Stenhousemuir Cricket Club with Magic Pete on 1st March, new Skelpies t-shirts and then a big charity event in April.

We've had brilliant support from the derby community and will hopefully repay that by supporting other leagues as they bout, so you can expect to see us at bouts supporting FVRG, DRG, GRD, ARRG & Mean City to name but a few!

How can people contact you if they would like to join your league?

Via our Facebook Page or Twitter is the easiest. If people are interested, it doesn't matter if you can skate - all that matters is that you want to join the most awesome sport and bunch of people ever!

Mean City Roller Derby

An interview with BruiseDog

When was your league founded, and by whom?

August 2012 by BruiseDog 6 (Jason Crawford) & Stan Lee Knife 7 (Colin Selfridge)

What area of Scotland do you cover?

Glasgow and the West of Scotland.

What made you decide to start up the league?

I had always wanted to play Roller Derby, however there were not options for men to play in Scotland at the time. So I became a referee as Partick Skateman for the then Glasgow Roller Girls (now Glasgow Roller Derby). I met Three Majors (Colin) whilst reffing and he mentioned that there was interest from many referees and derby widows in setting up a men's league, perhaps not enough to cover Glasgow but on a wider scale across Scotland.

We both became founding members of The Jakey Bites (Scottish All Stars); we always had the intention to form a Glasgow Men's league but we realise it may take a little longer to raise the profile of Men's Roller Derby in Scotland. We knew that there were a lot of misconceptions regarding men in the sport and we needed to let the female leagues know we were serious about this and we were going to treat the sport with the respect it deserves.

After The Jakey Bites had grown, we had gained a lot of bout experience and players - a lot of whom could not face the long drives to Perth where The Jakey Bites trained. We decided it was time to start the first regional league and formed Mean City Roller Derby with some of our teammates from the Glasgow area.

We now have 10 skating members and 1 non skating member due to injury, but that has not put him off. We have regular hall space and three 2 hour practices per week. We are very active in the derby community and often visit other leagues to train, and we also host co-ed skating skills sessions.

Tell us about your plans for 2013, and where you would like to be by this time next year?

2012 was very much about the foundation of the league. 2013 will mostly be about growth. We had our first Fresh Meat intake on the 26th of January at the ARC - a familiar location for those attending Scottish roller derby bouts. We will take on new skaters at any level of skating experience and give them an introduction to roller derby, plus teach them some of the basic skills needed to play the sport. This will be followed by a full newbie intake program for those that would like to stay on and learn the sport.

We hope to have some bouts scheduled in later in the year, starting with some of the local Scottish men's leagues which have recently formed.

How can people contact you if they would like to join your league?

Anyone that is interested in skating with us can drop us a line at meancityrollerderby@gmail.com, or get in touch via our Facebook Page.

The Tayminators

An interview with Danimal

When was your league founded, and by whom?

The league is still in the process of starting up. It was founded by me, then shortly afterwards I had Phil (Optimus Grime) on board to get things going.

What area of Scotland do you cover?

We aim to cover all areas in the Tayside region and we are most likely going to be based in Perth and/or Dundee - although we have a few skaters wishing to be part of The Tayminators from as far as Aberdeen! So I guess we're mostly the North East of Scotland.

What made you decide to start up the league?

The idea actually came from Stan Lee Knife (aka 3 Majors/Skol Krusher - a man of many names!), Bruise Dog of Mean City RD, and my Jakey Bites teammates. They suggested that I put the wheels in motion for a team to cover my area now that the local teams are coming together in Glasgow, Falkirk and Edinburgh.

Up until now there has only been one team in Scotland, the Jakey Bites. When we started a year ago we had to pull together from across the country to form the numbers and to bring the men's game to the table. Now we are looking to expand and the local teams will most certainly do that. It doesn't mean the end of the Jakey's though! It's just the beginning for Scottish Men's Derby in general!

Tell us about your plans for 2013, and where you would like to be by this time next year?

2013 is definitely the year for Scottish Men's Derby to step up and be counted!

For The Tayminators, 2013 is the year we are going to put in the legwork to form a dedicated team and train hard to be ready to take on all challenges presented to us! I'm excited to get going! This time next year we hope to have a bouting team, possibly with a game or two under our belts! (As well as the after parties!)

How can people contact you if they would like to join your league?

The most convenient way to get in touch is on our Facebook Page. If anyone is interested, we'd love to hear from them! We are going to have our first meetings and training sessions very soon.

Although we are a men's team, all are welcome to train with us (male and female) so if anyone from any league fancies an extra chance to skate, they are welcome to join us to train and learn. Of course, we welcome anyone that can share their experience too.