Leeds Dolls on BBC

Leeds Roller Dolls out of England appeared on BBC News! Check it out:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7367333.stm

Final Scores: Beast of the East

 Here’s what you’ve been waiting for: from derbyluv.com

What you were all waiting for!
In game order:

01 Pool A - First Round 10:30
Hamilton - Steel Town Tank Girls (40) Toronto - Smoke City Betties (18 )
02 Pool A - First Round 11:00
Montreal - La Racaille (65) Ottawa - Bytown Blackhearts (29)
03 Pool A - First Round 11:30
Hamilton - Death Row Dames (17) Buffalo - Devil Dollies (54 )
04 Pool A - First Round 12:00
Montreal - Les Contrabanditas (50) Toronto - D-VAS (27)
05 Pool A - Quarter Final 12:30
Hamilton - Steel Town Tank Girls (30) Montreal - La Racaille (32)
06 Pool A - Quarter Final 13:00
Buffalo - Devil Dollies (16) Montreal - Les Contrabanditas (42)
07 Pool A - Semi Final 13:30
Montreal - La Racaille (39) Montreal - Les Contrabanditas (32)

08 Pool B - First Round 15:00
Hamilton - Harlots (52) Toronto - Gore-Gore Rollergirls (13)
09 Pool B - First Round 15:30
Toronto - Bay Street Bruisers (45) London - Thames Fatales (38 )
10 Pool B - First Round 16:00
Toronto - Chicks Ahoy! (65) London - Trashers (13)
11 Pool B - First Round 16:30
Montreal - Les Filles du Roi (37) Toronto - Death Track Dolls (23)
12 Pool B - Quarter Final 17:00
Hamilton - Harlots (53) Toronto - Bay Street Bruisers (15)
13 Pool B - Quarter Final 17:30
Toronto - Chicks Ahoy! (30) Montreal - Les Filles du Roi (38 )
14 Pool B - Semi Final 18:00
Hamilton - Harlots (58 ) Montreal - Les Filles du Roi (29)

15 3rd Place Game 20:00
Montreal - Les Contrabanditas vs. Montreal - Les Filles du Roi - Cancelled for time

16 Final Game 20:30
Montreal - La Racaille (18 ) Hamilton - Harlots (55)

Hamilton Harlots are the Beast of the East

See the gallery for more pics from the Beast of the East!

Photo Slideshow: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/galleries/ALM_08_0419_Beast/alm/index.html

 

Wild Rose Challenge Footage

NUTV footage from the Wild Rose Challenge last weekend. CRDA Hellion Rebellion VS Oil City Derby Girls.
http://www.nutv.ca/streaming/videoplayer.php?table=otherbroadcasts&id=14

VRDL: Slam Jam Thank Ya Ma’am Viral Ad

Love Hurts Video

Found a video from the aussies most recent bout:

Love Hurts Bout took Place on 16th of Feb at Puckhandlers Reservoir.

FIRST EUROPEAN INTERLEAGUE BOUT: SVRG vs LRR

Awsome video from the Stuttgart Valley Rollergirlz showing the highlights of their game with the London Rockin Rollers!

I’m Dreaming of Dry and Smooth Concrete

Challenges in the International Derby World

Aside from being cut off from the American roller derby world, there are a few challenges I’ve noticed that face an English roller derby league and their skaters. Along with learning how to build a league from the ground with virtually no help from outside sources, they then have to teach their skaters, find practice space, and raise awareness of their newly acquired sport, the likes of which the international world has never seen before. Roller Derby in past days was purely a North American phenomenon, and never reached the shores of England, Germany, Australia, and other places until now.

Coming from Canada, the hockey capital of the world, I’ve taken for granted the vast number of hockey arenas that sit open waiting for derby girls to fill them during the summer months. Not to mention there’s always ball hockey spaces, because Canadians will find any way to play hockey, even without skates! Here in England, where there is no or little snow or ice, hockey is just not a popular sport. Football (soccer) is the game here, but you cannot play roller derby on a football pitch! So finding practice space large enough to house at least a track has proved difficult. We have practiced in very small school gyms and halls, the largest being vast enough to hold a track, but only so much so that we are smashing each other up into the walls. This still leaves us the problem of finding bout venues! The London Roller Girls have found one of passable size, but still have to turn fans away due to lack of capacity. Which seems good, in terms of saying that your bout was sold out, but really, that could be that many more people whom could have seen roller derby!

Furthermore there is the sheer expense of paying for our practice space, in one of the most expensive and crowded cities in the world. Our league dues cover it, and we scrape by, but I can only think of how much more space leagues in the arenas of Canada for a fraction of the cost. Then we also have to pay outrageous transport fees for the tube (subway), train, or petrol if you are driving. London is a very large city and our skaters are dotted from one end of it to another. From where I stay (in a suburb of London called Staines) it costs me £10 to get a travelcard, which will get me both to and from practice. That’s $20 American! Every practice! And then it takes about an hour and a half to get there. Almost the same if you’re driving through London traffic.

So I don’t go to midweek practices. I can’t afford it and it’s much too far. I figure, I can skate outside during the week, its free, its local, and I don’t have to listen to a coach (I’m notorious for not listening to the coach, hehe). But wait, there’s problems there too! Again I have taken for granted something from my homeland of Canada: smooth and dry concrete! England is famous for its rain. Even in the winter whilst I think there is no snow and that’s a good thing skating wise, it rains almost every day. Or looks like its about to any minute. Or has earlier and the pavement is still wet. The days that it is dry enough to skate, there is another problem: the sidewalks, roads and parking lots are made of what looks like gravel stuck in cement. Very rocky, not smooth, and never, ever even. In a semi-smooth parking lot you will still find huge dips, bumps and mounds. And I’m not just making a mountain out of a molehill here, they are some seriously bad conditions!

Looking for local skating, my team-mate Margy Bargy and I did find a fairly nice path down by the river Thames. However, upon skating down it, we ran into patches that are nothing but large dips and bumps. Even further down the path we ran into a dirt path. End of the road. These are the conditions we have to skate in here.

Hyde Park seems to apparently be one of the only good places to skate in though, in the summer when its nice out. You can get the whole league out and have a picnic. I’ve never been there though, it’s too damn far and not worth the journey until the weather is a bit nicer.

However, they say what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. All the obsticles that derby girls here have to face never hinders them from their reason for being. More and more leagues are popping up all over the UK, and around the world, in places that have never seen derby in any form before. They each face unique roadblocks and isolation from experienced leagues to help them. And yet they pull though. Why do they do it? For the love of derby of course!

Still, I wish I could find some smooth, dry concrete!

Here’s a video I made about…pavement..yea thats right..pavement. 

Sydney RD on the News!

Check out the Sydney Roller Derby League on news.com.au! Very cool!

http://www.video.news.com.au/newsinteractive/videopage/videoplayer/?Channel=NEWS.com.au+video&ClipId=1094_228364&bitrate=300&Format=wmp

LRG’s New Years Retribution

 

Team Pink were out for revenge on Team Black in the London Roller Girls second bout ever. I was in attendance with my London Rockin Roller team-mates for the first UK bout of the year to a sold out crowd in Tottenham. When we arrived we were pleased to see that people from Central City Roller Girls, Bedford Bandits, Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames, Lincolnshire Roller Derby, and even the L.A. Derby Dolls were all in attendance!

Pink started off strong, taking a large lead early in the first period. I was delighted at how far the London Roller Girls had come since their last bout. This one was already more scrappy and fast, with girls being pummelled on every turn. Black tried hard to catch up, but luck was not on their side. In a lead jam by Black’s Missyle Elliott, she caught the loosened track rope on turn two with her skate. She went down, dragging the track with her, and forcing the refs to call off the jam to repair the track. To add injury to insult, Black player Ana Ki took a hard block, and crumpled to the ground. She laid on the track for a minute, then first aid rushed out to help her. She was later wheeled out on a stretcher to the cheers of the crowd support. The diagnosis: broken leg, in four places. Like a true roller warrior, she never uttered a groan or cry! Inter Derby wishes her a speedy recovery.

The second period saw Black back for vengeance. They we’re out for retribution for their injured team-mate, and were gaining lead jammer more and more. To make matters worse, Pink was racking up the penalties, almost getting more minors then points! Black clawed their way back to the top to take the lead by the end of the period.

Third period saw more action then the previous two periods combined (if that was even possible!) bodies we’re flying everywhere as both teams battled it out for the win. At some point two skaters flew into the crowd and didn’t stop at the first row, but went head over skates into the second row, knocking over beers and fans alike! I guess that’s why they call them suicide seats! The score was close, with each side gaining the win with each jam. Near the end saw Correctional Felicity jump right over two downed skaters, for the highlight of my night. Then Kitty DeCapitate came out to jam, scoring 12 points in a double grand slam! This gave pink the edge to take it all the way, winning the game 96-82.

*

Players who stuck out to me personally were Pink’s Captain Correctional Felicity, who jams like a freight train and blocks like a brick wall, her MVP award is well earned. Kitty DeCapitate, with amazing agility and speed, she won the Jammy Jammer award, and a Cute-as-Pie award in my books. Toughie N-Emma-Sis spent the most time in the sin bin, with 8 majors, everyone knows I love a penalty queen. And Poison Arrow is the newcomer to watch, with great determination, she jams with everything she’s got.

On Black, Captain Belle de Brawl is aptly named, she has amazing lateral ability and a solid booty block. Sky Rockit is one of the fastest out there, the star jammer of the team. I love an Essex girl, and Rose Hypnol was the most entertaining roller dame at the after party, I liked her immediately. And freshie Grievous Bodily Charm made a great first start, I would love to see her go toe to toe with Poison Arrow, it would be a close jam!

A wonderful way to start the new year, an entertaining game was played and a good time was had by all! Check out the London Roller Girls. You can also find pics from the bout in our gallery!

*Pictures stolen from various public forums, LRG website, FLICKR, etc, scoreboard shot from LRG myspace, taken by Mr. Slash. Teams shot taken from CCR blog. If you don’t want the free press of these pictures up on this blog, please contact me and I will gladly take them down