Meet the GRD team: Maggles

What's your skate name and number?

Maggles 16

How long have you been playing roller derby?

Found Roller Derby 6 years ago and have been playing games for 5 years since passing mins.

What's your favourite thing about roller derby?

It's hard to pick one thing! I love the team aspect and getting to meet very cool people. I adore the friends I've made over the years. The rush of playing games and having such a cool hobby that makes me feel... A little badass!

Who is your derby hero, or favourite team?

I've always adored Lady Trample, the ease of their skating, the skills and the passion. I can almost forgive them for retiring... Cause they're awesome.

What’s your best derby moment?

I think I've still to have my best derby moment! I'm always learning and growing but there was this one time, this year, offence was coming for me playing in Liverpool and they smashed me while I was jamming, I didn't fall, I didn't stop. Smashed right on back and got their point 🥰

What do you like to do when you aren't playing derby?

I love being with my friends, going to the gym and building on my fitness, walking EVERYWHERE with my beautiful Doggo, making and eating amazing food and working towards my Mental Health Nursing degree.

Tell us an interesting fact about you.

I'm not that interesting 😅 but I am a bionic skater... Two plates and 12 screws in my wee gammy ankle!

Meet the GRD team: Mötley Brüise

What's your skate name and number?

Mötley Brüise 937

How long have you been playing roller derby?

9 years

What's your favourite thing about roller derby?

The community aspect. Making new pals all the time. Roller derby just feels like home to me.

Who is your derby hero, or favourite team?

My favourite team, apart from GRD of course, is Killahurtz from Essex. I started playing derby with the, now devastatingly disbanded, Seaside Sirens, and a lot of my Siren friends now play for/coach KH 💜

What’s your best derby moment?

Just one?! The first award I ever got in a game was cool, meeting Mutch Mayhem at the 2018 World Cup and fangirling embarrassingly was less cool but is definitely up there with my best derby moments.

What do you like to do when you aren't playing derby?

Either on stage, at dance class or fully asleep. There’s no in between.

Tell us an interesting fact about you.

I’ve got such bad “roller derpy” face that there is only one cool looking photo of me playing in existence. And my mum framed it and gave it to me for Christmas one year to commemorate the occasion!

Meet the GRD team: Pixie

What's your skate name and number?

Pixie 18

How long have you been playing roller derby?

A year and nine months

What's your favourite thing about roller derby?

Being part of such an inclusive and encouraging sport has helped me push myself more, and has let me feel like I can take on the rest of my life with the same determination as when I scrim. The people are great, the training is so compelling, and I always have a great time at training or games even if I'm not feeling so balanced when I arrive.

Who is your derby hero, or favourite team?

Probably I'd have to say it's the Irn Bruisers from GRD, if only cause I've seen them play more than other teams. But I might also be a little biased. Watching the Bruisers play always gets my psyched to push myself and improve my skills.

What’s your best derby moment?

Definitely has to be my first ever scrim, where I managed a 12 point power jam, had my bench yelling at me to call off the jam once the other jammer came on. Of course, by the time I heard the call, immediately I forgot where I was and ate the floor as I called off the jam. It hurt but it was and still is incredibly funny.

What do you like to do when you aren't playing derby?

I can never just be doing one thing, so I have multiple hobbies. I enjoy building dioramas and really creating a miniature world rather than just 'a building'. I also play in and run RPGs as I love storytelling and the insane solutions that come about from strange situations. I also like tinkering with things, seeing how I can make them look more interesting than as they come, while still able to work if it's device or gadget.

Tell us an interesting fact about you.

I often make decisions in the moment, and sometimes they're good and sometimes they're bad, but I always end up with a fantastical story out of them.

Meet the GRD team: Phoenix

What's your skate name and number?

Phoenix #507

How long have you been playing roller derby?

Over 11 years

What's your favourite thing about roller derby?

TACTICS

Who is your derby hero, or favourite team?

KWOO - K. Woodward - Arch Rival. She is life! She is one of the smartest and skilled blockers playing. I ❤️ her.

What’s your best derby moment?

I have loads! I think the games my daughter attends and cheers me on from the stand are the best 🙂

What do you like to do when you aren't playing derby?

Hanging out with my family, watching anime, baking, loads of things.

Tell us an interesting fact about you.

I used to own a cafe in the west end of Glasgow.

Do You Give Blood? We Do!

A while back we were challenged by Granite City Roller Derby, and then again by Dundee Roller Derby, and finally this month we managed to get ourselves along to a session at Nelson Mandela Place for Blood Donor Week!

We had some first time donors giving a pint of the good stuff, as well as some who’ve given their blood volume a few times over. There were nerves but no one who said they wouldn’t go again!

We all went for delicious Mexican food after as we were reliably informed by Devil that broccoli and beans were the post-donation meal of choice. Puma’s margarita came with medicinal chilli.

To sign up to donate blood, check out the rules (they’ve changed recently) or make an appointment, head to the SNBTS website.