Another of my latest obsessions, is roller derby. If you live in/around Edinburgh, I highly recommend you get yourself along to the next bout which is on 19 January at Meadowbank. A great fun, fast paced full contact sport, I love how Scotland on Sunday describe it, it’s pretty apt:
It’s a hug disguised as a rib-splintering thump
I first heard about Roller Derby a few years back, when I noticed, via facebook, that a couple of my old flatmates were skating, Kat [Pixel Junkie] used to skate with ARRG [Auld Reekie Roller Girls] and Jen [Hitty Longstockings] skates with SWAT [South West Angels of Terror]. Then, back in July whilst off work with a dislocated knee, I watched Whip It. Maybe it was the fact that I could barely walk and was navigating the house using a desk chair as a kind of zimmer, but I totally got the urge that I wanted to skate.
As a kid I was constantly on skates [ice skates and quads, never blades]; I remember when I was five piecing together all my jigsaws and hard back books as a makeshift skate rink over the living room carpet so I could skate indoors (I think I might have been grounded). So I googled Edinburgh Roller Derby, found ARRG and bought tickets for the next bout.
It’s a fabulous Saturday afternoon out with a great crowd, really friendly and also totally suitable for kids. In fact I think seeing a group of highly skilled, dedicated, fit and strong skaters competing in a badass, yet friendly way is a fantastic role model for kids. This is a great post on the rules and an introduction to roller derby.
So, I’ve signed up to be on the fresh meat waiting list for the February intake. My physio had a wobble when I said I wanted to sign up for roller derby, having physio-ed me through said dislocated kneecap. However, I have been building up my quads, to hold my pesky kneecap in the right place, and even conquered my gym phobia/aversion. Getting into a size 8 has never made me want to go to the gym; being strong and fit enough to be able to skate with a group of awesome skaters totally does.
Like I said, next bout is 19 January at Meadowbank, get yourself some here
Check out their website here
And like ’em on Facebook here
How exciting! Good luck! (I tried out roller skating recently and going round and round in circle was tricky for me!) 😉
Ah thanks Zoe! I used to love skating, but having tried my new skates on and careering about my hall, I think I have a long way to go! I reckon it will be amazing fun though! x
Hi there, my latest obsession is Roller Derby too but I am down south near Oxford. If you are interested I am blogging about my journey into Roller Derby x
Hey Shazzie, just had a look at your blog, that’s really cool, it’s great you’re blogging about it so folk can know what to expect. Good on you! Hope it’s all going well. I can’t wait to get started, in a terrified but excited way! x
Thank you. My team, Oxford Wheels of Gory, have a busy year ahead. I am still getting my basics signed off so will be NSO’ing for the team, I have been told that this is a great way to learn all the rules and regs. I have a weak knee and our team coach suggested ‘gaskets’ as these support your knees and still fit under your pads, so you might want to take a look and get some ready for when you start. February is not that far away now. Let me know how it all goes Sharon Greenwood AKA Karma Comedian x
That’s great, good luck with it all. Great tip about the gaskets by the way! Had wondered what they were for 🙂
YES! I went to watch the Auld Reekie Roller Girls last year sometime at Meadowbank and totally loved it. Getting prepared in terms of understanding the rules would definitely have helped though – my only knowledge of what was happening was entirely based on Whip It! Good luck getting in to a team – it looks like so much fun if you’re up for the challenge. I bruise like a peach and am scared of falling over, so I’m not their ideal candidate, but I look forward to hearing tales of your training and potentially a whole new derby nickname?!
Same here! I kinda picked it up as I went along, having the rules on the fliers definitely helps. Ah, I’ll have a long way to go before I’m remotely team worthy, really looking forward to learning to skate (and learning to fall over!) though. Yep, I think bruises go with the territory, I shall have as much padding on as possible. Oh, the name! Have no idea, lets hope I get that far! They have a bout on tomorrow afternoon, its the first game of the home season, and you can get a bargaintastic season ticket for all the games from their site http://arrg.co.uk/events/ You should go! 🙂
It may have to depend on the hangover, but it would be fun… if so I’ll look out for you in the crowd! 😉