I’ve always quite fancied doing a marathon; I like a challenge, I love sport and, according to my friends, I’m a little bit crackers.  So when some of my NRG teammates mentioned that on May 12^th they were going to skate a marathon to raise money for the charity Inspire Nottingham my immediate thought was ‘where do I sign up?’

New outdoor wheels were the first thing to sort (any excuse to shop!) and we bulk ordered matching green ones – team colours and all that.  Then training began in earnest.  We headed down the Embankment whenever the weather was nice and skated up and down the riverside path, putting in mile after mile and developing blisters on top of blisters.  The skating experience was very different to the smooth sports hall derby track (there were stones, twigs, dogs, and goose poo!) but I soon got used to it and started to enjoy a bit of alfresco skating. ‘This isn’t going to be too bad’ I thought to myself as I skated past people enjoying an afternoon walk and eating ice cream in the sunshine.

However, when lining up at the start line on a very wet and windy Sunday afternoon in Preston I began to think that maybe I’d underestimated what I’d agreed to do.  I also thought that my friends were probably right and that I was completely mad.  It certainly wasn’t the warm sunny spring afternoon I’d hoped for, plus I’d got a stinking cold and, thanks to a very short notice work trip, I’d had to get up at 3am that morning to fly back from Poland to make the race.  At that moment in time, skating 26.2 miles in torrential rain was the last thing I wanted to do, but I didn’t have time to worry about it for long as the starter horn honked and we were off.

We decided to work as a team to help each other – we’re Nottingham Roller Girls and Gringos, it’s what we do – so we formed a ‘skater train’.  The front skater set the pace and sheltered everyone behind them from the wind. After a lap (we were skating round a mile-long sports track) the leader would drop to the back of the line and the next skater would take over.  We took it in turns; mile after mile; our skates getting more waterlogged with every passing lap – whispers of ‘trench foot’ could be heard in the air.  But every time we passed through the start line we were cheered on by the NRG guys who had already completed the half-marathon.  They were stood in the pouring rain to support us, and they certainly kept me going.

As the miles rolled by the track seemed to get longer and the little hump-back bridge that had seemed so small at the start began to develop Mount Everest style qualities. Some of the NRG girls tackled it by ‘roaring’ and screaming up the hill.  I discovered that apparently I don’t roar, but rather I squeak and giggle.  As I crossed the finish line 2hours 40mins after we’d started my GPS said I’d skated 26.5 miles but Gem Aargh’s, who I’d skated the whole race with, only said 25.6 miles, so we somehow found the energy to skate another lap, just in case, just to be on the safe side – at the very worst we could call it a victory lap, and certainly to me completing the marathon was a victory.

Our marathon efforts have so far raised £1558.56 for Inspire Nottingham.

Find out more at http://www.justgiving.com/nottinghamrollergirls

Jo B-wan Kenobi

It seems I have become a little obsessed with putting my skate name and number on stuff. It’s easy, cheap and satisfies my crafty urges. Here’s how I do it…

What you will need:

• Printer.
• Scissors (sharp and preferably pointy at the end to cut out the centres of characters).
• Transfer paper.  Here is a link to the stuff I use: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007GUZKN4/
  It costs £3.99 +£1.95 delivery from Amazon for 5 sheets of A4. I’ve tried a few different transfer papers and this is the one I like at the mo. I always use the ‘for dark t-shirts’ paper because I find it lasts washing a lot better. I’ve also used Wilko’s transfer paper (dark fabrics) in the past.

1. Print your design onto the transfer paper, making sure the numbers are 4” for the back and 2” for the sleeves (remember everything not printed will come out white). For the paper I linked to above you just print it normally, but for some papers you have to print it back to front.

2. Carefully cut out your design (even the middle bits). TIP: If you do a big logo or just iron on the whole sheet, it is a lot more likely to start peeling off after washing.

3. Heat up the iron. TIP: It says to put it on the highest temperature in the instructions, but I find that it burns the paper so I put it just a smidge cooler (still on the cotton setting).

4. Place your top over or on a hard surface ready to do the front logo first. TIP: I use a sheet of mount board card – an ironing board isn’t hard/smooth enough. If you haven’t got mount board you could probably use the card backed envelope the paper comes in (I haven’t used it, but it might be thick enough).

5. Peel off the backing of the logo and lay it out in the right position TIP: I like to put the top on before and hold the logo up to see where it looks best first.

6. Place the Teflon/greaseproof sheet over the design carefully (comes with the transfer paper).

7. Iron the design evenly for about 30 seconds to a minute (if it starts going brown then stop). TIP: Make sure you apply some pressure, but don’t try and force the iron through the floor.

8. Leave it to cool, before removing the Teflon/greaseproof sheet. Then do the same for the name/number on the back and the sleeves. TIP: Make sure you have card in between the fabric layers when doing the back so that you don’t melt the front logo again. et voilà.

Even when it goes wrong it looks kind of cool. The one on the left burnt so it went a bit brown. The one on the right went wrong because the design was too big, it was also done using ‘light t-shirt transfer paper’, which I now know doesn’t work as well.

You don’t just have to make t-shirts; I’ve done my number on shorts too.

Enjoy!

In my short roller derby career I’ve often found myself asking ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ and last Saturday afternoon was no different as I turned up at The Inhuman League’s mixed Co-ed scrimmage.

I’d had a taste of Co-ed three months earlier at the NRG tournament as line up manager and have, for a while, been keen to take my skating to the next level and earn a place on our own team. As I watched the other skaters warm up, however, I could have been forgiven for feeling a little out of my depth. NRG train mixed sex but you could tell by the atmosphere that something slightly more serious was about to go down.

The rules were simple:

• Three 30 min periods
• If you accrued 4 penalties in a period you fouled out for the remainder of that period
• At the end of each jam the penalty box would clear out allowing for a line up of five in the next jam

I started the first few jams like a rabbit in the headlights overwhelmed more by the rapid pace than any of the hits and, while ordinarily fairly disciplined, was soon in the box for blocking out of play, then soon after that for destruction of pack…

The line up was well managed with everyone seeming to get frequent track time while the breaks in between were a great opportunity to watch some of the UK roller derby greats go head to head; tempers were sometimes heated but it all made for great viewing from the bench and although I had never played alongside a lot of my team, I felt a trust when walling up next to them and also picked up a thing or two about communication during a jam.

In the closing minutes, with the assurance that we probably weren’t going to win I was persuaded to Jam and during that short time I learnt a lot about co-ed roller derby.

Firstly, I had no idea whether it was man, woman or beast hitting me at any given point; you see, skates are a great leveller and an affective and well executed hit is that regardless, something I became all to aware of when I was knocked clean of my feet and whacked my head. This brings me to my other point {fact}, jammers are insane and need to be extremely fit, agile and demonstrate expert skating skills.

A big girl like me can skate into blockers until the cows come home, as I found myself doing when we got a power jam, and I have to admit that I was chuffed with myself the times I took a hit and stayed standing. But co-ed jammers are the best of the best and a truly good jammer can get round a situation, can visualise various possible routes and can avoid those hits and more than anything, a truly good jammer has to be really bloody fit; this I am not and was delighted to see the opposing jammer skating back on to the track as it meant that I could call the whole thing off. Special mention to Boris Wrecker who very kindly pulled me up off the floor once I’d started to regain breath.

All in all an excellent afternoon with very good company and only £5 p.p; The Hillsborough Leisure Centre is a good venue with ample parking and a seated viewing gallery if your team want to come and heckle, I mean, support you.

Speaking of fitness, it’s time for a bit of riverside skating. Did we mention we’re doing a marathon in a few weeks..?

https://www.justgiving.com/nottinghamrollergirls/

Feartrix Rotter

Photo courtesy of Shirlaine Forrest

In January our Head Coach Jammie Dodger suggested that we should skate an endurance race. There was a mixed reaction to this announcement. Some chomping at the bit to take on a challenge. Some pensive, almost reticent. And some said, “hell no- this ain’t for me, not on your nelly, no sir-ee bob”.

One of our bouts fell through in May so this was the ideal opportunity to take on the Skate Mania organised race at the Preston Sports Arena. So on the 12th of May 2013 the Nottingham Roller Girls and Gringos will be hitting the tarmacadam and skating either a half, or full marathon.

We figured that if we are going to bust a gut and skate a marathon, we better raise some dosh for charity in the process. Unless you have been under a rock of late, you will have heard in the press about the current round of government cuts, particularly to support services. Not to mention the introduction of PIP (Personal Independent Payments) and ATOS disability assessments, that set to adversely affect many of the most vulnerable members of our society. This made our decision to support the local charity Inspire Nottingham all the more easy. Here’s a bit about them…

Inspire was set up in 1999 in response to unmet need for people with learning disabilities who were falling through the net of other provision. Inspire has a Trustee Board who are supported by a team of 10 part time staff who have experience of service delivery in a wide range of settings. Staff work with volunteers and students on placement to ensure that Inspire members have a great learning experience.

The organisation is located in the International Community Centre, which is close to Nottingham City Centre. The centre is open to a great variety of other community groups and is used as a training venue by different organisations allowing Inspire members to interact and be part of the community. Similarly the Inspire shop located at Shakespeare Street enables Inspire to be located in the community providing the opportunity for social inclusion.

The only thing to do now is to continue with the training preparations. The perpetual winter has started to lift, so the NRG massive may regularly be spotted down the Embankment for a bit of an alfresco skate sesh. With much trepidation we headed down to the Trent the other week on a match day. It was slightly surreal. I felt like I was in an advert for a feminine hygiene product, as directed by Ken Loach. Some of the girls are running, some of them are even doing extra lunges in the park whilst walking the pooch. I’ve no doubt we will get to the end, whether we will be able to walk afterwards is another matter.

So please, please, please, give what you can via our ‘Just Giving’ page. Dig deep; your donations will definitely make us go faster!

GemAargh

http://www.justgiving.com/nottinghamrollergirls

In line with our current beginners intake I thought I would take the opportunity to introduce myself and the other beginner’s coaches and explain a little about our programme. So first things first… Meet the coaches…

The Ruth Hurts (Ruth)

Ruth is a Wonder-woman at NRG; she co-coaches beginners, our intermediate members and the bout team, trains with the bout team and is currently NRG team captain. (Alongside running the show in the background and investing a lot of time in the team and creating some pretty spectacular looking spreadsheets, if I do say so myself!) She is invaluable to NRG and also a kickass roller derby player!

Jo B-wan Kenobi (Jo) and Cherry Revenge (Shelley, ME!)

Jo and myself are the newest recruits to the coaching team for beginners. Jo has been skating with NRG for 9 months and I have been skating with NRG for just over a year and a half. We are both on the bout team and also play a part in roles behind the scenes of the running of NRG. We put ourselves forward to coach beginners as we both feel we have skills and experience to pass on to new skaters and future NRG roller derby team members!

Our role as coaches is to deliver basic skating training, from standing up on roller skates through to minimum skills and minimum scrim skills (the components of what you need in order to play roller derby!) and to progress people from beginners, to intermediate, and beyond. We will be there for 1-1 advice, skating mentoring, tips and will act as ‘go to’ members for any information you may need. As well as the practical side, at the end of the 12 weeks we will give you the option to take the minimum skills test based on the full set of WFTDA rules; passing this will be the final step in your basic training and the first step in your journey towards gaining a place on an NRG bouting team.

Other members of the NRG training committee will also make appearances; Notts O’Gentle (Charlie) plays a big part in sessions across the whole training programme for NRG and you may also meet the our bout team coach Jammie Dodger (Dave). We also have new members of the coaching team Owl (Al) and Lemmy Atom (Tudor) who will be taking training sessions – so you’ll have a range of coaches with whole wealth of experience and ability to share.

Also, keep your eye out for other members of the team – who often attend to give advice and take part in the training sessions – from all different levels of skating ability.

Ps. NRG train mixed sex and welcome people from all age groups (18+) and backgrounds. You can join if you have skating experience, no skating experience, some skating experience (ya’know, from when you had a pair of skates when you were 10 years old)… and don’t worry, we have loan skates and equipment that you can use during training sessions.

See you on the track.

Love,

Cherry Revenge and the Beginners Coaches.

xxx

Missed this spring’s intake? Our next course will begin autumn 2013, register your interest in training, refereeing, becoming a non-skating official by emailing nottsrollergirls@gmail.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter.

When the wife and I first arrived at a pub one evening she saw a woman near the entrance sporting a Nottingham Roller Girls shirt. She pointed it out to me and I saw that inquisitive glint in her eyes that she gets. I could tell she wanted to find out more but was too shy to approach her. I encouraged her to say hello and ask about the team. She did and found out NRG were recruiting.

Trying a team sport was intimidating to my wife who’s only ever done individual sports.  It took her a few weeks to get the courage to actually go, and didn’t stick with it very long. Nevertheless, the derby seed was sown.

A couple months later, her friend, TaKill-Her Slammer, said she was going to try roller derby.  My wife was chuffed to have someone to join with, and THIS time she wasn’t going to stop,  this time I became a derby widower.

We used to practice our golf swings in the garden together. Instead I’m at the receiving end of multiple hip checks.  We used to watch punk videos on You Tube, but instead watch derby clips. When I go to the local for a beer, she’s there  talking about roller derby and coming up with a derby name with our mates;  Shock ‘N Awedrey.

I lose her for 4 hours a week or more when she goes to training. When she gets home she tells me what she’s learned or we talk tactics. I soon step up as her personal coach; being an ex-Rugby captain.

Now she’s got me chauffeuring for bouts. 1^st game, in Sheffield, I take the wife to support her, but 3 jams in I’m hooked.  NRG didn’t win but the girls showed real game. The next bout we go to, the Co-Ed tournament, I’m there simply because I support the team. They get 3^rd place. The third bout I attend I don’t need to chauffeur. Instead the NRG crew chips in for a coach down to Hereford for their first bout of 2013.

At the Hereford bout, there’s a chance for a swift one while the teams and officials are setting up. ‘’The Bob Riot’’, ‘‘Alan Back’’ and I, ‘‘Shock ‘N Davey’’ have some male bonding and form the H.A.Bs- Husbands And Boyfriends. We adopt the suicide seats, put up a sign and cheer the girls on as they give Hereford Horror Bulls a right rolling over. During a time-out the HABs start chanting ‘NRG! NRG! NRG!’ and when the team hear us they cheer us back!

From watching interviews’ on you tube and meeting derby girls I think that Roller Derby has a great community, the sport is empowering and they gain confidence. I’ve met the girls and gringos from NRG a few times, and everyone is so friendly and supportive. Although she has less time to hang out with me, I can’t imagine a better sport for Shock & Awedrey to be a part of. I’m so happy for her and best of all I feel a part of it too.

Ever tried getting on the team coach at a Nottingham Forest game? Do the players at Notts County cheer on the fans for cheering? No, because they’re not roller derby.  It’s confirmed, Roller Derby has taken my wife. And I admit it’s taken me as well.  I bleed green too!

Shock ‘N Davey

As a youngster I was quite sporty. Not as sporty as Sporty Spice mind, and I definitely wouldn’t be seen dead in snap off tracky-b’s! Then in school when I wasn’t doing dance routines to Buffalo Stance, or stuffing my face with Highland Toffee bars, I was always in one team or other. Hockey, football, netball, rounders, basketball; you name it, I joined it.

Upon leaving school things waned somewhat, and here began my 20 year sports sabbatical. For I had discovered the pleasures of snakebite, jazz cigarettes and partying.

Brief flirtations into keep fit could not hold my attentions. These forays would last no longer than three weeks at a time: Hi-lo aerobics, bums, tums and glide, street dance, yoga, power hour, step, boxercise, regular aerobics, pure glide; you name it, I tried it.

Then, on the day after my 35th birthday, I pootled down to my first fresh meat session with the Nottingham Roller Girls. I haven’t looked back since, (however I have fallen backwards plenty of times – ouchies!)

Roller Derby is so much fun! It’s highly addictive and, to top it off, it doesn’t feel like a chore – like exercise. So yay, more cake for me! In fact, Roller Derby is so much more than that; it’s camaraderie, it’s a challenge and it’s a way of life. I can’t recommend giving it a go enough. In the words of a certain sporting brand: Just do it!

Gem Aargh

Our girl The Reevenger gives us the low-down on our first victory of 2013 and how best to spend a Sunday morning hungover…

Whoever decided that roller derby bouts should be on a Sunday probably didn’t drink (or is far better on a hangover than I). However, when it’s your team playing a bout – even if that bout is in Hereford (a mere 100 miles away) well, who could say no to getting on a bus at 8.45 on a Sunday morning?

Last Sunday’s bout saw Nottingham Roller Girls given the honour of playing against Hereford Roller Girls, placed 148th in Europe to our 120th position. For the uninitiated that might seem like a mighty and cavernous difference but in a game where stats can go up or down by double digits each week, we were pretty evenly matched.

The skate out was much fun, as usual. After Nottingham’s recent ‘Harlem Shake’ YouTube hit, there was only one song that we could have chosen and we did it hard; yet it didn’t quite hit the right chords and a brilliantly strong kick off from Hereford saw them earn 17 points to NRG’s zero within minutes of the bout’s starting whistle.

Our Roller Girls rallied however; largely thanks to what were widely agreed to be the team’s best ever walling tactics, which proved so tight that breaking through the pack took more or less half of the jam – and our Atkins Riot was really packing a punch to boot. By the end of the first half we were up 135 points to
Hereford’s 87.

In the second period Hereford returned with a renewed vigour. NRG’s walls continued to be a mighty barrier, yet the Horror Bulls successfully got the back line time and time again with their jammers utilising well placed blockers to smash through NRG’s defence. Special mention must be given to Hereford’s Harm’her Sutra, and also The Plauhaus who, as the name suggests, was a force to be reckoned with.

During some jams, in fact, I’m pretty sure the assembled audience were shown the answer to that age old question ‘What happens when an immovable object collides with an unstoppable force.’ The answer, of course, is awesome roller derby.

In the end though, Hereford seemed to tire, while NRG kept pummelling away, increasing the gap in the score. A tense bout until the end; Hereford found a final burst of energy as the clock ran down, but alas by that point, the game was NRG’s. At the final whistle the score stood 187-283 to Nottingham.

Following the bout and a hearty round of congratulations certificates were awarded:

Hereford:
MVP – The Plauhaus
Best Jammer – Harm’her Sutra
Best Blocker – Gore Jess

NRG:
MVP – The Ruth Hurts
Best Jammer – Hell’n’Back
Best Blocker – Doodlebug

All very well deserved. Thanks as usual went to the fabulous refs and NSOs, without which, there would be no bouts.

After a long day, we all jumped back on the bus, with victory making the trip home much more fun than a Sunday afternoon coach journey should be; cue wine, piggybacks and pant loss. Would you expect anything less from rollergirls?

Photos courtesy of Scott Jones

On Sunday 24th February, NRG will be taking on Hereford Roller Girls in our first away bout of the 2013 season.

Online tickets are now available from http://www.herefordrollergirls.co.uk/shop-2/

Doors open:12.30pm
Bout Starts 1.30pm

Tickets are £5 in advance or £7 on the door. Children aged 5 and under get in for free.
Hereford Leisure Centre, Holmer Road, Hereford. HR4 9UD. (Venue has free parking)

After Party – Come and meet the teams afterwards at The Barrels, 69 St. Owen Street, Hereford. HR1 2JQ. (Car park charges a small fee)

Tickets are limited, book yours now to avoid missing out!

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/184224545035149/