Don We Now Our Skate Apparel // 3 Dec 2016

Don We Now Our Skate Apparel event poster.

It seems like a long time ago that we hosted our charity fundraiser game (because it is - Ed.). Who knew that roller derby bloggers hibernated like bears? (that simply isn't true, you've just been distracted by other tasks and pictures of cats. My office, now. - Ed.)

Anyway. Cast your minds back to the start of December, when it was still all horrible and cold outside and it wasn't yet 2017 or even Christmas. Being the big-hearted types that we are, we decided to host a charity game to collect pet food, toys and donations for two well-deserving charities: SSPCA and the Community & Beyond Toy Bank.

Everyone knows who that the SSPCA are those wonderful humans who look after animal welfare in Scotland: rehoming pets, rescuing animals, preventing cruelty and investigating abuse. The Community & Beyond Toy Bank is probably lesser-known, but no less important. They collect toys and distribute them to families across Govan who might otherwise go without.

Santa, the Ref-Deers and some elf helpers! Photo courtesy of Sam Skipsey.

So, on to the roller derby! Our teams had both come up with excellent festive names, with the Naughty List facing up to the Slay Belles. Everyone had a great time, and even the refs were a bit less deadly serious than normal, with Santa hats, elves, reindeer and more! There was even entertainment through the day, with some fabulous dancers and a magician who danced with a table AND I STILL DON'T KNOW HOW HE DID IT.

This guy was absolutely using magic to float this table as he danced, no other explanation for it. Photo courtesy of Sam Skipsey.

It was a hard-fought game but eventually the Naughty List lived up to their name and stole the win from the Slay Belles.

Final score: Naughty List 233 - 129 Slay Belles.

Awards:

Naughty List
Best Blocker: Hardcore Jen 24
Best Jammer: Kami-Tazzy 360
MVP: Haberbashery 40

Slay Belles
Best Blocker: Un-Fairley 27
Best Jammer: Monifa The Bus 253
MVP: Nymphadora Bonks 2

Slay Belles in white, Naughty List in black plus bench staff in a super-dynamic shot, courtesy of Sam Skipsey.

The wonderful Sam Skipsey was on hand with his trusty camera to catch some action from the day, and you can watch it here.

The Magnificent Sevens! 21 Jan 2017

Poster image courtesy of Dave McAleavy boutday.com.

For our first event of 2017, we decided to do something a little bit different so after much thought, we settled on an alternative style derby sevens tournament. Lots of skating and lots of pals, what better way to start the year?!

The standard format of roller derby sevens was the idea of Xavier Bacon and Phoenix InFlames of Essex Men's Roller Derby a couple of years ago now. The aim was to create a faster-paced game similar to rugby sevens: seven skaters per team, a twenty-one minute game and no bench staff, no official reviews, no team time outs and only four penalties to foul out. Xavier has spent the last few years building this form of the game up and it's proved really successful.

For our purposes, we wanted to involve as many people as possible so Cara Viola & Janie Bones made some significant changes to this format: keeping seven skaters per team but reducing to seven minute games enabling us to squeeze more derby into the day. A derby sevens/sur5al mash-up if you will.

All our officials, plus sparkly hats. Image by Dave McAleavy of boutday.com.

With a Wild West theme to the day (and the excellent poster; image courtesy of Dave McAleavy of boutday.com), with some cracking team names and sparkly pink hats(!), we were bound to have a good time. With skaters in mostly co-ed teams from across Scotland, there was bound to be fierce competition and the day didn't disappoint.

After all TWENTY-ONE games were played (poor referees and NSOs; I think our sheriffs and deputies deserve a medal for officiating that many games in one day!), the victors were The Seven Deadly Spins! For anyone who missed out on the day or wants to relive the glory, the wonderful Sam Skipsey was on hand to catch all the action on video here.

The Seven Deadly Spins vs Soy Division. Image courtesy of Dave McAleavy, boutday.com.

And for anyone who wants the lowdown on the numbers, read on for all the gory numerical details!

The final team rankings for the day, showing the winners The Seven Deadly Spins.

The teams who turned up to the ultimate showdown

Schedule & game scores for the day.

Game Report: Dublin A vs Irn Bruisers 5.11.16

It would be safe to say that the Irn Bruisers found their game in Ireland on Saturday challenging. The prediction beforehand was for a Dublin win, and they stamped their mark on the game from the very start.

Devil's Advoskate tricked by a wily Dublin jammer; photo courtesy of Alastair McAleese.

Dublin A established a big lead early on, with the scoreline sitting at 63-0 in their favour early in the first half. Glasgow fought back to stick some points on the board but Dublin certainly didn't make it easy for them, 131-16. The Bruisers struggled onwards for every point, and ended the first half with the score 172-27 to the home team.

With their opponents sitting in a dominant position after the break, it was all uphill in the second half for the Bruisers. They dug in and managed to sneak some more points past Dublin A, but for every point the Bruisers squeezed out of them the Irish skaters piled on even more and early in the second half the scores were 228-49. Despite our skaters' best efforts, the home team pulled further and further ahead and won comfortably.

Sarah McMillan fighting through the Dublin blockers; photo courtesy of Alastair McAleese.

Final score: Dublin A 401 - 75 GRD Irn Bruisers

Irn Bruisers MVP: Lindsey Watson 40

This was the Irn Bruisers last game of the season, and they're now taking a month break from training before getting back on it in December to come back stronger in 2017. Watch this space for more news on planned events for next year.

For your next roller derby fix, why not come along to our Home Teams Final on Saturday? First-time finalists the T-Wrecks will be facing last year's winners the Bad Omens to see who will be crowned champions - go here for more information and to book your tickets!

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.