Kent Roller Girls was formed in 2010, with their first practice taking place in July of that year. The league is currently the only one in the county of Kent and trainings are spread across the county to try to incorporate as many interested people as possible. We are a ‘by the skaters for the skaters’ league as most in the UK are, and we encourage all our members to be involved with molding the league and helping it to achieve its short and long term goals.
The league has steadily grown over the last year with the help of Team Captain Demi Lition’s expertise and knowledge gained during her time as a Leeds Roller Doll. The league also received huge support from the established derby community, something KRG is eternally grateful for, the help received allowed us to grow as a team and feel a part of the family that is UK derby.
KRG had their first public bout in September of 2011 hosted by the Seaside Sirens, this bout signified the end goal of all the leagues hard work over its first year, a difficult time for all leagues. Many KRG skaters have also been given the opportunity to guest skate with other leagues, which has been a great learning experience.
The league currently has 1 travel team but are hoping to form an A and a B team towards the end of 2012 thanks to our new intake. KRG is currently half way through our first ‘fresh meat’ program; which has proven to be hugely popular for both prospective players and referees.
We are hugely honored to become members of the UKRDA and we hope to work with them and the league members to promote Roller Derby across the United Kingdom. We also hope to support all leagues across the UK in the same way that we have been supported.
For more information please visit www.kentrollergirls.com

A referee from a Birmingham roller derby league has made UKRDA history by becoming the first man to represent his league at the organisation.

Major Travis T, who is affiliated to Central City Rollergirls, joins existing CCR reps Nancy Spinatra and Germaine Leer. He said, “Whilst I might not be a player, I think that it’s important that there is a voice present from the other side of the track. In order for UKRDA and UK roller derby to be successful, the standards of the officials working the games need to be of the highest quality.”

Although roller derby is a predominantly female sport, men’s derby has grown in popularity in the UK during 2011, and UKRDA is open to women’s, men’s, or co-ed adult leagues, and encourages diversity.

Nancy Spinatra, who is also the organisation’s president, said she is pleased to have Travis on board. “Roller derby is a sport for male and female skaters, refs and NSO’s, and Travis brings with him a wealth of ref, coaching and skating experience both from UK and International roller derby that can now be shared with all UKRDA members.”

Travis recently refereed at the first roller derby world cup in Toronto, and although the UKRDA encourages all women’s leagues in the UK to join WFTDA, he believes UK leagues also need their own official body. “Although WFTDA is driving the sport internationally, there are a lot of UK leagues that aren’t ready to become WFTDA apprentices yet, but still need the guidance of a national governing body to develop.”

“I hope to help progress the standard of officiating within the UKRDA, along with trying to assist on the other issues and challenges facing the organisation.”

On Sunday 27th November, representatives from UKRDA member leagues came together in Birmingham for the 2012 AGM.

The meeting was a great success, with by-laws updates agreed, projects for the next 5 years discussed, as well as the annual Board Elections.

The Board remains largely unchanged from last year, with 2 vacant positions filled and a full Board of seven Directors for the first time.
President – Nancy Spinatra, Central City Rollergirls
Vice President – Mistress Malicious, Glasgow Roller Girls
Secretary – Minx A’matosis, Lincolnshire Bombers Roller Girls
Directors – Slice Andice, London Rollergirls; Izzy Dauntless, Birmingham Blitz Dames; Phoenix in Flames, Romsey Town Rollerbillies; Yorkshire Tripper, Royal Windsor Rollergirls

Of the meeting, Nancy Spinatra (Sal Wright) said

“It was fantastic to see so many unanimous votes in favour of some of the changes we proposed to our working policies. It really shows that we are all on the same page and that UKRDA is truly representative of the current derby climate in the UK. I am especially excited about the mini expo tournament we are putting on at Tattoo Freeze next year – we did the draw at the meeting, and it has us all energised for the future of the sport in the UK”

Policy updates and news on new projects will be communicated to the general public via the UKRDA website as they are finalised.

The UKRDA is proud to support the two National Teams heading over to Toronto, Canada in a couple of weeks to represent England and Scotland at the Blood & Thunder Roller Derby World Cup. Both teams have been training hard over the past few months in preparation for the event.

REPRESENTING ENGLAND:
Dalai Harmer
Dee-mise
el VISIOUS
Feral Fairy
Fox Sake
Frightning Bolt
Grievous Bodily Charm
Hustle Her
Jack Attack
Juicy Lucy
Kamikaze Kitten
Metallikat
Missy Rascal
Ninjette
Raw Heidi
Rogue Runner
Shaolynn Scarlett (injured)
Stefanie Mainey
The Mighty Mighty Bash
Vagablonde
Violet Attack
Coaches: Ballistic Whistle, Barry Fight & Rollin’ StoneR.

You can follow Team England on Twitter (@TeamEnglandRD), facebook, or visit their website if you’re interested in helping contribute funds to individual skaters or all of Team England to help them get to the 2011 World Cup.

Rollin’ StoneR says:

Thanks for all the awesome messages of support you continue to send with your donations, please keep ‘em coming!  Every £ you can spare is very much appreciated!!!

REPRESENTING SCOTLAND:
Alma Geddon
Armed Bandit
Betty Gogo
Blazin’ Phoenix
Ciderella
Clinically Wasted
Crazylegs
Danger Mouth
Fight Cub
Lily Lethal
Marla Mayhem
Marshal Lawless
Minnie Riot
Mistress
Mo B Quick
Moxie Emerald
Velosidy
Viper
Whiskey Galore
Wild Oates
Coaches: Viper and Alma Geddon

From the team:

Team Scotland Roller Derby team and supporters have been working hard over the past 6 months to raise funds to get the team to the first ever Roller Derby World Cup.  All the leagues in Scotland have pitched in, and an amazing amount of money and sponsorship has been raised through fundraising events, merchandise and generous donations.

We have a honeyfund account where people can donate to us, and you can also hit the donate button on our website.

Keep up with the latest team news at the Team Scotland website: www.teamscotlandrollerderby.com, Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TeamScotlandRD or follow them on Twitter: twitter.com/TeamScotlandRD

Check back on the UKRDA website for the teams’ bout schedules/brackets.

The Newcastle Roller Girls (NRG) are the newest addition to the UKRDA family, forged when like minds, athletic ability and a desire to do something different collided with an imported all-girl American sport.

The team was founded in 2009 by four girls including Claire Byrne, the current team captain. NRG have been going for two years, in that time meeting and training with skaters from across the world, while teaching themselves the game, and progressing to a bouting squad that are ready to give back to the roller derby community.

Their first bout (away) was Hadrian’s Brawl on 11 April 2010, a real baptism of fire against the Auld Reekie Roller Girls‘ B team, and the 5th March 2011 saw their  first home bout, Flog on the Tyne, against Aberdeen’s Granite City Roller Girls at The Lightfoot Centre in Walker, Newcastle. Final score: 113 – 63 to NRG.

Kalamity James tells us a little about her league…

We’ve been part of the recent UK roller derby boom, with our ranks swelling more than we can believe and demand for our rookie course blowing us away with every intake. This interest and the hard work everyone puts into the league means we now have 3 teams:

• The Canny Belters – Our A team
• The Whippin’ Hinnies - Our B team
• Tyne & Fear – Our Merby team

As well as two full teams plus spares, we are a busting-at-the-seams after a recent intake of newbies who are just about to graduate their minimums.

During our first bouting year, we travelled the length and breadth of the UK to battle teams, make new friends, and maintain a positive vibe in the derby world. This year we aimed to build on that by bouting our two teams and getting as many of our newbies up to standard and out on track as soon as they’re ready to. Our aim is to get every girl and boy on skates, taking part, and joining in as often as possible. Having achieved all that, our goal for the future is to improve exponentially with every game we play, and aim to have match ups with teams we’ve admired from afar. Our calendar for next year is already full and we’re looking forward to taking on teams that will really challenge us.

Away from the track we’ve organised a newbie bootcamp to help skaters pass their minimums, and encourage new teams across the UK, we’ve agreed to send our coaches to other leagues to encourage a safe and fun start to the world of derby for areas where it’s new. We’ve taken part in community events and importantly we’ve worked hard to make sure we get lots of positive media coverage of bouts and events that we attend, to spread the word of derby and help the newer leagues or good causes that we’re working with.

At each of our home bouts we invite a local charity to come along and get donations – then we give them a donation from our league too.

Our league has a real sense of DIY. We promote from the beginning a feeling of “team” within the league.

We task new members with being “positive role models” for their group, asking them to pay at least one compliment per session to another skater, and giving themselves a compliment too. We have added to the end of our minimum skills that you must come and NSO, to further build on your knowledge of the sport, and also meet the full team. We request all skaters take part in extra-curricular activities together, helping the league, or a local cause – encouraging people to mix outside of their usual group of friends. Because of this, there is a strong sense of camaraderie within the NRG.

We also encourage all skaters to strive to achieve excellence. We take each skater as an individual and help her on her journey. Our drop-out rate is low, so we know we’re doing pretty well at this.

We’re excited to see what the future holds for NRG and we can work closely with the UKRDA to double derby audience figures in the next 12 months!

For more information on Newcastle Roller Girls, check out their website

In conjunction with Central City Rollergirls, UKRDA will be putting on an exhibition tournament that experiments with how a rankings system for the UK could work. The positioning and rankings of teams for this event is purely for exhibition purposes but will herald the start of an exciting new chapter for UK Roller Derby!

An internal vote of qualifying leagues took place amongst member leagues and the top 8 ranked UKRDA leagues taking part in Tattoo Freeze 2012 are (in alphabetical order) Auld Reekie Roller Girls, Birmingham Blitz Dames, Central City Rollergirls, Dolly Rockit Rollers, Glasgow Roller Girls, Lincolnshire Bomber Roller Girls, London Rockin’ Rollers, and London Rollergirls (C-Team) – congratulations all!

Tattoo Freeze will take place on 15th January 2012 at The International Centre Telford TF3 4JH http://www.tattoofreeze.com/artists.

Thanks to all UKRDA leagues for your support with the planning so far, and keep and eye on our site and members forum for futher announcements on how you can get involved.

Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Formed: April 2008
Number of Members: 85

How many teams do you have?
Two travel teams, the Twisted Thistles, our All Star travel team who comprise our WFTDA charter skaters, and the Cannon Belles, our up-and-coming All Star reserves. We also just announced our first ever Home Season, starting January 2012! We are dead excited about it and the teams battling it out will be the Cherry Bombers, the Leithal Weapons and the Skatefast Club.

Last, but not least, our most recent addition to the ARRG family are the newly christened Wrecking Balls, our awesome recreational team. Less than a month old, they already kick rec butt!

How will your season be structured with all this change?
Our new home season will run from January to the end of April, and then our travel team games will make up the rest of the year and will include our WFTDA sanctioned games for the year!

What have you got coming up?
On 10th December our Cannon Belles are heading south to play Newcastle and then it’s straight into our new home season come January, where a lot of new faces will be making their bout debuts – we’ve got some great new talent up and coming. The Thistles are very excited about heading down to London later on in 2012 to play the Suffra Jets too!

Do you have any particular leagues who have helped you out?
London Rollergirls have been a huge help in advising us about progressing through the WFTDA Apprentice Program and graduating to a full member league. In addition, Montreal Roller Derby helped us out last year by coming up and playing us in a closed bout last April, on our third birthday no less!

What has been your proudest moment?
Being accepted into the Womens Flat Track Derby Association as a full member league has obviously meant a great deal to us, but there has been so much! In the past year alone, we have played against internationally ranked teams, developed and launched three new intraleague teams and started up a recreational team! This has been a huge year for ARRG!

Where next, then?
Our aims as we move forward are to develop skills across the league through our home season, play internationally for our WFTDA rankings and continue to push to be the best we can be!

What makes your league tick?
ARRG are dedicated to creating a place to skate for anyone who wants to, be they Fresh Meat who have never skated before, someone who chooses to skate non-competitively or one of our extremely determined travel team members. We run our league entirely democratically with a ‘for the skaters, by the skaters’ approach, so we depend on the people involved to keep us going. We also maintain our favourite saying in everything that we do; it’s nice to be nice!

What is your wish for UK Derby?
A European WFTDA Region and a UK rankings system for all UKRDA member leagues!

For more information about Auld Reekie Roller Girls, upcoming bouts or
getting invoved, please see their Facebook Page page or follow them on Twitter.

UKRDA are pleased to welcome our latest member league to the fold, the Dolly Rockit Rollers.

The Dolly Rockit Rollers (DRR) had their first practice in January 2010, and grew very quickly as a league, with the assistance of Central City Roller Girls and Lincolnshire Bomber Roller Girls. They began bouting in July 2010, holding their first home bout in September 2010. Throughout the past year the league has expanded to incorporate a travel team, an A and B team and 2 intraleague teams, with more Baby Dolls on their way up to bouting level. Proudly, they have two league members who will be representing their respective Countries at the Roller Derby World Cup in Toronto this December; “Rogue Runner”, for Team England, and “Holly Sheet” for Team Ireland.
 
A firm believer in the ethos “By the skater, for the skater”, DRR are fully committed to promoting the sport of Roller Derby in the UK in a positive, friendly way and are keen to encourage each member to continually learn and improve themselves, both physically and technically. Kelly “Koko Kabama” Scott, a founding member says “We are very excited to be accepted as members by UKRDA and will work our hardest to help promote Roller Derby as a sport within the UK, and further afield. We are very proud of all our League members for their positive attitudes and desire to continue pushing themselves and each other further; the sky’s the limit for Roller Derby and we are so honoured to be able to be a part of it.”
 
Visit the Dolly Rockit Rollers at www.dollyrockitrollers.co.uk

We have received some enquiries about references from current member leagues to support applications to join UKRDA.

Please note, that referee leagues must have had direct contact with the applying league and at least one of these will have attended a training session of the applicant. So applicants can request a reference from one league they may have bouted against, and one they have invited coaches from or hosted a mixed session with.

Why?
UKRDA feels it is important for leagues to reach out and collaborate – this is a huge benefit to newer leagues (such as by having experienced coaches visit and lead training sessions), and this collaboration is also a big part of what makes our community such a great and close knit one.

It also ensures that the referee league has observed your league first hand.

Current UKRDA Members who can provide references are listed here: Current Members

Location: Birmingham, England
Formed: November 2007
Number of Members: 70 Regular Members and 25 soon to be regulars – we’ll get to the 100 mark pretty soon!

How is your season structured? Historically when we were establishing ourselves we always had a quiet time attendance wise in the summer months (June, July & August) so structured our season Sept to mid June. Our Intra League season is – Oct, Jan, Apr, final June – – just completed full season 1, congrats to Disco Beaters!

How often do you practice? 4 times a week

Tells us about your coaching structure: We have a dedicated coaching team who look after each group of skaters – Newbies, Rookies, Intermediates and Advanced skaters. Additionally, we have a number of Travel Team girls who pitch in with the weekly Newbie Basic Skills Sessions. Weekend sessions we often buddy up Rookies with Travel team girls to give them 1-2-1 tuition. All in all it’s a massive team effort – skaters are encouraged to own their own development and that’s supported by an excellent network of coaches.

Any sister leagues or leagues you have a special bond with? We have close links with many teams. LRG helped us out a lot in the early days with advise and coaching, Romsey Town Roller Billies stepped in with our first ever bout lending us the lovely Mollie Cosh and Hermaphrodite. We also are really close to MMR and ARRG who we’ve now played 5 times but have yet to beat! We’re very proud to have supported and guided DRR when Noush and Slam decided to move from CCR and start their own league in Leicester. We were able to supply advice, kit and coaches to help them on their way.

Who are your biggest rivals and why? ARRG? See above!

What has been your proudest moment? The past 3 ½ years have been amazing as we’ve gone from strength to strength. Perhaps the defining moment was beating Leeds so closely in January 2010; that seemed to spur us on to a victorious season that just keeps going. Also being part of Roll Brittania , our success against LRR this season after losing to them at Tattoo Freeze and finally becoming a WFTDA Apprentice League!!!!!

What makes your league tick? CCR has always been inclusive – everyone is equally important to the league regardless of skill level or role. We strongly encourage and enable league contribution and this has blessed us with an army of volunteers that make all our training, bouts, fund raisers, and parties such a massive success. We also have very clear admin and organisation structure that gives us the strong foundation to grow and succeed

What is the on track wish for CCR? We intend to continue to grow as a league, offering some serious UK competition to LRG and to constantly move UK Derby forward. We also intend to keep our mantra of ‘CCR – spreading the love’ going strong!

What is your wish for UK Derby? A structured competition – 2012 has got to be time for a WFTDA style UK Regionals! Roll Britannia 2 anyone?

Best thing about Derby? Watching women realise that they can become superheroes and make friends at the same time, the totally stupid things you laugh about and make rituals of on a road trip,

Worst thing about Derby? when a downed skater doesn’t get straight back up, pad stink, injuries that take you out of the game and Roller Derby ‘meh’

Some parting words? Warning – roller derby will change your life. Get involved NOW!

For more information about CCR and getting involved as a skater or volunteer, check out their website: http://centralcityrollergirls.co.uk/
Twitter/FB: http://twitter.com/#!/The_CCR , http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000172185325