5 x 5 : 5th Blocker's 5th Birthday event! 19.11.16

It feels like it's been there forever but, if it were a person, it would just be starting school and would probably still need help tying its shoelaces. 5th Blocker Skates, run by our very own Marshall Lawless, came into being at the end of 2011 and is celebrating its 5th birthday in style this coming weekend!

Haberbashery & Marshall Lawless on the 5th Blocker steps waaaaaaay back at the start.

This Saturday, skaters from all over will be converging on the Arc in Glasgow for a day of scrimmages, followed by a karaoke party at Garnethill Multicultural Centre in the evening. There will be PRIZES and stalls, including a 5th Blocker one featuring sizing stock from many suppliers. For more details check out the event page here.

A Glasgow landmark for roller derby addicts, 5th Blocker also has an online shop for all your quad skate needs here. You can contact them for advice or information on stock, and if you pop into the store there's always someone on hand with knowledgeable advice on all things roller derby. As their leaflet says, you just can't be sad on rollerskates!

Stefanie Mainey of London Roller Girls popped in for a visit while she was up to run the GRD bootcamp earlier in the year.

If you've been inspired by all this talk of roller skates, and are looking for something new to do in the New Year, we've set the date for our next Glasgow Roller Recruits new skater intake: 8th January. Get it in your diaries, get those resolutions written, and we'll follow up sooooon with more information!

Game Report: Home Teams FINAL 2016!

Puma Thurman makes a dramatic leap up the inside line while Cara Viola gets low and digs in blocking McGettigan. 
Photo courtesy of Dave McAleavy of Boutday.com.

Saturday saw the exciting culmination of our 2016 Home Teams season with the mighty T-Wrecks taking on the brilliant Bad Omens for one final showdown. 

As you'll know if you read our game preview in their previous match up the dinosaurs took the win over the crazy crows with a commanding 50 point differential. While this was a promising start it was still all to play for going into this last home game.

In the green shirts, the T-WRECKS!

12 Killer Bee
14 Shona Mercy (c)
15 Lynsey O’Reilly
202 R2 Deck You - our Special Guest Skater from Ayrshire Roller Derby!
24 Puma Thurman
25 Phylocoraptor
3 Mad Natter
350 Devil’s Advoskate
5 Tequila SlamHer
7 Sarah McMillan
823 Cara Viola
97 Nitrojen
Bench manager: SubMarine

The 2016 TWrecks finalists!
Photo courtesy of Dave McAleavy of Boutday.com

And in the red, the Bad Omens!

03 Shorty McLightningpants
10 Sarah McGettigan
168 Janie Bones
20 Penny Pinch'er
2244 Tesla Recoil
311 Sadie O'Hades
413 Katie Toerag
55 Spin Diesel
59 Hadrian's Brawl
730 Fever
85 Stargrazer
93 Crash Test Barbie
Bench manager: Jodie

The Bad Omens in the 2016 final. 
Photo courtesy of Dave McAleavy of Boutday.com.

The game began with veteran skaters Shorty McLightningpants and Sarah McMillan on the jam line. Both teams fielding strong Bruisers showed that neither was afraid to put strong skates forward in this face off. After a few short sharp tactical call offs, the Bad Omens led 58-1 in the first half. The TWrecks were not giving up so easily though, even fielding long-time Dino and usual blocker Devil's Advoskate who grabbed lead to help them pinch back some points from the claws of the crows. Before long it's BO 89 - 31 TW thanks to some lovely apex jumps from McMillan, although it still wasn't enough to fend off the mighty Omens who ended the half with a sizeable lead, BO 144 - 64 TW.

The dinos came roaring back on track with ferocious determination, combining the might of established Bruisers, experienced Maidens and even some excellent newly bout ready skaters like Killer Bee, who skated hard and turned left with the best of them on this Saturday afternoon. However the Bad Omens' will would not be broken and before long they broke the 200 point mark with a score of BO 221 - 86 TW. Ahead of the final jams the Wrecks took another blow as Shona Mercy was sent to the penalty box for the seventh and final time, fouling out of the rest of the game. Despite their hard work and strong challenges the T-Wrecks just couldn't beat the defending champs, and so another final was won by the most dastardly Home Team of all, the Bad Omens!

Final score: BO 304 - 133 TW

Awards were given out for notable performances throughout the game in tried and tested fashion:

BAD OMENS
Best Jammer: Sarah McGettigan #10
Best Blocker: Janie Bones #168
Most Valuable Player: Spin Diesel #55

T-WRECKS
Best Jammer: Puma Thurman #24
Best Blocker: Cara Viola #823
MVP: Devil's Advoskate #350

GRD would like to thank all the skaters, officials, events staff and guests who made this Home Teams season possible. We'd also like to thank our wonderful sponsors EuroHostel and 5th Blocker Skates for their support throughout this season.

If you've been inspired by the action you saw on track during Home Teams this year, why not come along and learn to skate with the Glasgow Roller Recruits? Our next intake starts on Sunday 8th January 2017 at the Arc Sports Centre in Glasgow. All the details can be found here. See you there!

Tesla Recoil and Killer Bee think you should join us at the new GRR intake in January and become the next generation of awesome skaters at GRD. See you there... OR ELSE!
Photo courtesy of Neil Mackinnon. 

Game Preview: Raaaawrs versus kakaaaaws!

It's a clash of the titans! It's the game to end all games (or at least our Home Teams Season)! It's green versus red, prehistoric versus supernatural, dinos versus crows, raaaawrs versus kakaaaaws.... 

In the green corner: the CHALLENGERS, The T-WRECKS! Headed up this year by captains Shona Mercy and Jeneral Strike, the green machines have had a stellar season winning against both other Home Teams in the tournament with a healthy score of 220-135 against the Bad Omens in June. This reporter caught up with fellow blogsmith and diehard dino Puma Thurman to discuss the Wrecks' chances of making mincemeat out of the opposition on Saturday:

There have been some changes in the squad since the first HT event this year, most notably the absence of our beloved co-captain Strike (off hopping around Europe as we speak)! But we've got determination, a good influx of new blood and momentum behind us. We may have tiny useless arms but that's an advantage for forearms penalties and we've already survived several million years so we're ready to make it three out of three wins and stomp those pesky crows! 

The T-Wrecks after defeating the Death Stars in June. Photo courtesy of Dave McAleavy of Boutday.com.

And in the red corner: the reigning CHAMPS, the BAD OMENS!

Having won five out of six of the previous Home Teams seasons here at Glasgow the buoyant crows are feeling cocky going into this final match up. Fever and Janie Bones have been leading the charge for the Omens this season; Bones had this to say when we asked for a few words before heading into Saturday's showdown:

We had a bit of a shaky start at the beginning of the season with a loss to the Wrecks, but the team have worked hard and smashed our way into the final. We're going to be strong and together and make the T-Wrecks extinct! KAKAW!

The Bad Omens crowing after winning their game against the Death Stars in October. Photo courtesy of Dave McAleavy of Boutday.com.

Two fierce teams. One last match up. Who will win? One thing's for sure, this is a game not to be missed! Tickets are a mere £6 in advance from our events page, or £8 on the door. 

When T-Wrecks met Bad Omens back in June the dinos won the day. But who will take home the trophy in the final?! Photo courtesy of Dave McAleavy of Boutday.com.

T-Wrecks Fundraiser

It may seem like a long time ago now but bloggers are much like squirrels and we've been mostly asleep/burying nuts under trees since the end of September. (This sounds like a lie - Ed).

Which is why you haven't seen a write-up of the fantastic fundraising gig organised by our very own T-Wrecks and hosted by Audio. Until now.

Event poster, created by Jess E Ska. 

First up was Jonzip, described on his website as a "solo acoustic punk". He was in 70s punk band, The Zips, and has recently struck out on his own with folk/punk/protest music and we were in for a treat.

Jonzip on stage with Jess E Ska. 

He was followed by The Superlatives, who are made up of three guys from Wetherby and play music with obvious punk/indie/alternatives influences. Full of energy, they grabbed the attention and didn't let it drop for a second!

The Superlatives. 

And last but not least were Glaswegian nine-piece ska collective, Esperanza. Featuring ex-GRD skater Jess E Ska, they soon had everyone up dancing and by the end no-one wanted it to be over. I'm fairly certain I've expended less energy during intense gym sessions than some of those skanking, pogoing and generally throwing themselves about!

Esperanza in action - for video, head on over to our Instagram @wearegrd

The event raised over £300. We would like to thank the venue, the bands, everyone who came along and had a wonderful time and everyone else involved in making it such a success!

If this has whetted your appetite for more Home Teams action, why not come along on 12th November to see the T-Wrecks face up to the Bad Omens in our Home Teams Final?! Tickets and more info here.

Dublin A vs Irn Bruisers - 5.11.16

Game poster for Dublin A vs Irn Bruisers; courtesy of Dublin Roller Derby.

Remember, remember the 5th of November (which isn't hard as it's only in two days time as I write this, and even my attention span isn't that short) - our Irn Bruisers are taking a short trip over the sea to face up to Dublin Roller Derby's A Team.

The teams last played each other two years ago, 8th November 2014, when the Bruisers dominated the game with the score 118-29 at half time, and the Irn Bruisers taking the win 249-82.

The Irn Bruisers about to face up to Dublin A back in 2014; image courtesy of Dave McAleavy boutday.com

Our team has seen a lot of change in recent times, with a number of notable departures but also plenty of new talent. Over at the Scottish Roller Derby blog, they're predicting an Irish victory and certainly that's what the current stats would support. They have eleven members on the Team Ireland training squad and have had a pretty strong season, but our Irn Bruisers won't make it easy for them. We've got plenty of fight and we're packing it all with our skates, safety gear and clean underwear ready for the weekend.

Some of the action from the last time GRD met DRD; photo courtesy of Dave McAleavy boutday.com 

The game starts at 1pm, and will be live-tweeted from @DRDscores so if you can't be there onthe day you can keep up to date with all the action. Hey ho GLASGOW!