Merch Madness: Skate Like A Girl

Skate Like A Girl enamel pin, £7.

This week some of our excellent merchandise has featured on the pages of a prestigious feminist webzine, BUST. Not only were the brilliant I'm Not Sorry About Your Fragile Masculinity pins created by our great friends HandOverYourFairyCakes showcased, but so were our own Skate Like A Girl enamel pins! 

Skate Like A Girl is a phrase which Glasgow Roller Derby has stood by for quite a long time now, in fact we put it on some limited edition merch as early as 2010 which proved so popular we had to bring it back! We caught up with the designer of the shirts and Irn Bruisers stalwart Sarah McMillan to find out more about what it means to Skate Like A Girl. 

So Sarah, where did the idea for the GRD line of Skate Like A Girl shirts come from?
Hi! The first line of them was printed back in April 2010, we were still Glasgow Roller Girls at the time... It was a personal idea I had, but I thought since it sat well with GRD, that I'd make them up and donate the profits to the club. All our merch was black and white and I wanted to wear some colours so we had green, blue, hot pink, red and black. I wanted to offer racerback ribbed vests, cool bamboo (fairtrade) fabrics and a design that had a statement that many of us could feel empowered by.

What does the phrase 'Skate Like A Girl' mean to you? 
I've been involved in, and on the periphery of, action and traditional sports for decades... For whatever reason many of these activities are dominated by men and boys. I have also always been upset by the concept that to do something 'like a girl' is a negative thing. It's such a misogynistic term; traditionally to be like a girl is classed as a negative thing... (and note, it's not just some men who say it, I've heard it said by women more than I'd like to admit). To me it's not the 'girl' term that's offensive but just the fact that the phrase is saying; "if you're female, you're weaker/ less capable". So, being involved in roller derby, I was so excited to be a part of this sport that was completely dominated by women, where the women did everything of note at every level (obviously men have always been involved but they were very much in a respectful and supportive role from the beginning).
So, I guess the campaign was about reclaiming the whole "like a girl" thing - for once many of us had found ourselves in a world where to do something like a girl was pretty obviously a good thing but, in addition, it was a way of saying "I'm proud to be like this, I'm proud to be a part of a dynamic sport that has a place for people of all shapes and sizes, and I'm ultimately proud of my body and excited to focus on my strengths as a woman rather than feeling limited".

You mentioned that these vests were originally produced to raise funds for the league. In this age of crowdfunding and sponsorship, how important do you think it is for leagues to come up with creative ways to raise funds?
Oh, completely! Yes! It's so hard because we're a small sport with a limited and wonderfully supportive fan base, but we just can't be asking the same people for money over and over... It ends up being the skaters themselves (we pay dues every month as well as a large amount towards travel expenses) but on top of that, it's usually our friends and families that are paying to come and watch and sponsor us etc. We're very lucky to have a wonderful array of commercial sponsors which we hope is a real win:win situation and we're always trying to come up with fun ways of engaging other people for fundraising purposes but also so we can suck them in to the wonderful world of Roller Derby! ;)

Are there any other exciting fundraising efforts coming our way from GRD in the near future?
Oh my goodness! We have so much coming up - the whole of the GRD Charter has fundraising projects in the next year - everything from fun running events to derby fun to skate park demos and bootcamps... Watch this space for sure, there's something for everyone! 

Finally, you've been a member of GRD almost since the beginning - the heady days of GRG! We're sure our readers are dying to know the secret of your incredible longevity - who or what inspires you to Skate Like A Girl? 
Haha, well, I love GRD! I love the club, the sport and the wonderful group of people who I get to skate with. I'm inspired by veterans and newbies alike and I'm very lucky to have a supportive partner who supports me - and the club actually; it was Will who designed our GRD rebrand and has been the person behind a lot of our artwork, including all the Skate Like a Girl work (with my direction obvs). I also love that our daughter gets to grow up with this wonderful community, to have so many strong women as role models and friends.  

Thanks so much Sarah. We can't wait to see you get out there and skate (like a girl!) in the upcoming game against Newcastle! 

If you fancy checking out some of our brilliant merchandise you can find it here in our online store. Don't forget that we're still running a special offer where if you spend £40 you get a bonus free item worth at least £10. 

We'll also have a case load of merch along with us at our away game against Newcastle Roller Girls on the 10th September. You can find more information on the event on Facebook or buy tickets online from Newcastle Roller Girls' website here. Come buy our stuff in person and give us a cheer while you're there! 

Musical Dinosaurs

I'm not referring to your dad's dodgy record collection or a jurassic party game, instead an event happening this very Saturday evening! If you pop along to Audio at 7pm, you'll be in for a treat as our T-Wrecks have organised a fundraising gig featuring Glaswegian nine-piece ska collective Esperanza, The Superlatives and solo acoustic punk Jonzip. For more info and ticket details, go here.

And if you're free earlier in the day why not come along for some more tense home teams action as last year's overall winners the Bad Omens take on the Death Stars to see who will get through to the Home Teams Season Final in November!  Check out our website for more details and to see the package deal we have for game+gig tickets!

Queeriosity & The Return Of The Human Pyramid

A few Saturdays ago, Glasgow was filled with rainbows. It wasn't a leprechaun infestation or an unfortunate incident in a paint factory - it was Pride! GRD played host to two games of roller derby: a mixed teams game (Magic vs Science) & Soy Division vs Vagine Regime UK. For those not in the know, VR are a pick-up team made up of LGBTQ people from across the country and so it seemed appropriate they come out to play on that particular weekend.

Human pyramid, obvs. 

After two quality roller derby games (game report here for those interested), everyone stripped off the safety gear, applied liberal amounts of glitter and got down to some serious partying at Queeriosity. Naturally, there was a human pyramid because why not? If you ever get the chance, you should ask our Sadie O'Hades for her top facts about human pyramids because she seems to know more than most.

Queeriosity is GRD's own club night, hosted at Garnethill Multicultural Centre. The brainchild of one of our skaters, Haberbashery, it's a fun, inclusive night out which also helps to raise funds for the league so we can keep doing what we do and put on more events as well.

Want to have as much fun as these guys? Come along next time & join in! 

If having a lovely time sounds like your kind of thing, keep an eye out for the next one which will be at the end of October for Halloween-based awesomeness.

GRR / LEAP Festival Fortnight

On a Tuesday evening way back at the start of June one of our referees, Feminist Killjoy, ran a special training session for GRR as part of the LEAP Festival Fortnight.

Our rookie skaters learning more about actual gameplay from self-confessed roller derby geek, Feminist Killjoy.

FK has been skating with GRD since 2013 and also works for LEAP Sports Scotland, whose mission is to break down the barriers preventing LGBTI people from participating in and excelling at sports. Every June, they organise the Festival Fortnight during which sports clubs across the country are invited to take part by running a taster session/quiz/film night etc.

Equality and promoting roller derby sounded right up our street, so when FK offered to open up a GRR session to the public as part of the event, we were all over it! And GRR were in for an absolute treat, with Feminist Killjoy giving them a masterclass in roller derby rules and tactics, allowing them to see where the basic skating skills they'd been learning in isolation would fit into the game as a whole.  

The introduction of the sock derby section of the event also coincided with the gun show, apparently. 

To get involved in GRD, check out our website for more information and if you want to know more about the excellent work of LEAP Sports Scotland then their website is also full of useful information. 

Game Report: Grrders graft against Granite

Penny Pinch'er getting low to take out the Smiling Assassin.
Photo courtesy of Dave McAleavy of Boutday.com

On Saturday 27th August our beloved Maiden Grrders travelled up to Aberdeen to take on Granite City Roller Derby's A Team, the Northern Fights. As the first away game with the current roster we were keen to put our best skates forward and test our mettle against the awesome talents of the Fights. Our friends at Scottish Roller Derby recently interviewed some of GCRD in the lead up to the game to hear all about their progress in what has been a busy year for the northern team, which you can catch up on here. As mentioned in the blog it has been three years since the two teams faced off against one other and a lot has changed for both leagues. While the Maidens have been doing some restructuring recently the Fights have been building on rock solid foundations and let me tell you, it really showed! 

The afternoon was a double header starting with GCRD's Fight Hawks playing against a mixed team going by the name of the Black Mambas. The Mambas featured guest skaters from Mean City RD, Doonhame Derby Dolls and Ayrshire Roller Derby, many of whom would be familiar to anyone who caught the Magic vs Science game in Glasgow last week!

Final score: Fight Hawks 253 - 152 Black Mambas.

The start of the second game was slightly delayed due to an injury in the last jam of the previous match. Unfortunately Firefoxx of Doonhame Derby Dolls took a nasty fall in which both her ankle and head were hurt and so all precautions were taken by the excellent EMTs and Officials to make sure she was properly taken care of before play resumed in the hall. GRD send our love and good thoughts to Firefoxx and all of Doonhame. It's really tough when accidents happen in roller derby and we all wish her a speedy recovery! 

It wasn't long before our Maidens took to the track to face up against the Northern Fights. Granite's Rock N Riot took lead jammer status soon after the first whistle and the Maidens had to hustle hard to try to regain some ground. A few power jams early on gave Glasgow a chance to claim back an advantage but the Fights walls were formidable and held strong against the Maidens' offence.

Despite the tough opponents Glasgow kept their heads up and rallied again and again, but it just wasn't enough to hold off the strength of the Fights' jammers. We dealt blows but they absorbed them all and hopped, skipped and jumped right along the track boundaries to rack up the points with some particularly fancy footwork from Clinically Wasted and Udder Mayhem. 

Udder Mayhem showing off some awesome balance mid-jam
Photo courtesy of Dave McAleavy of Boutday.com

Glasgow jammers Spin Diesel and Bruise Missile were both successful in getting lead jammer status in the first half,  making tactical calls that shut down the opposition before they could score. Our walls were pulling together and offence going in hard, but by the half time whistle Granite held a convincing lead.

Half time: GCRD 212 - 34 GRD

The Maidens were down but not out! With a commanding pep talk from Captain Penny Pinch'er the Maidens returned to track in good spirits all ready to roll.

Lead jammer goes to Bruise who swoops through, grabs points and casually calls it like nbd @WeAreGRD @GRDLive

— GCRD (@GraniteCity_RD) August 27, 2016

The second half was well underway and it seemed that the Maidens had found their feet with more offence being dealt and more tactics being deployed. There was some great chasing at the front of the pack from Raptor and beautiful blocks from Penny, as well as new Maiden jammer Fury L Spark giving everything she had to try to break through the opposing blockers. We fought hard in every jam but the Fights were relentless and their points rained down on that sunny afternoon.

Final score: GCRD 463 - 61 GRD

Northern Fights Best Blocker: Clinically Wasted
Northern Fights Best Jammer: Udder Mayhem
Northern Fights MVP: Kami-Tazzy

Maiden Grrders Best Blocker: Sadie O'Hades
Maiden Grrders Best Jammer: Spin Diesel
Maiden Grrders MVP: Bruise Missile

In a recent game report I wrote about how no matter what happens on track - especially in a country as small as Scotland - other leagues become like family and we can be pleased for our opponents. The same can be said about the Maidens defeat in Granite City. We took a thorough beating but our spirits were not broken; we made the Fights work for their scoring passes and are proud of ourselves for playing against such a tough team. Even more so we were impressed by the level of gameplay that the Northern Fights brought to the game and are proud of them for the amazing progress they've made over the past few years. When our competitors up their game it raises the level of play across the country. We learned a lot from Granite this weekend and are really excited to get back into training to put some of those lessons to good use! 

We'd like to thank Granite City Roller Derby for inviting us to play, and the Fight Hawks, Black Mambas and Northern Fights for two excellent games of roller derby. We'd also like to thank all their events staff, EMTs, announcers, and of course Mr Dave McAleavy of Boutday.com for the amazing chronicling of events through his brilliant photography. 

Hard as nails. GCRD Northern Fights and GRD Maiden Grrders.
Photo courtesy of Dave McAleavy, Boutday.com

If all this talk of competition and camaraderie is warming the cockles of your heart then you won't want to miss our next display of healthy sportspersonship at our second Home Teams game of the season! Join us on the 24th of September to see reigning champs the Bad Omens take on the Death Stars as they face off for a place in the final. Tickets are cheaper in advance and you can also get a special offer on a combo for game and our fundraising gig on the same night for a mere £9!