Chick Dastardly

Adam (freelance illustrator) has just tweeted this amazing image from his latest project. Lawd knows what the storyline will entail, but I hear Hattie Flattener was in fits of giggles over it so it promises to be one to check out for the lolz :)

Kevin 70 is awesome and went and did me a Scott Pilgrim cover after this tweet conversation with Velizeraptor :D

Photo by Adam Gasson

Here’s a top tip for smoother inter-league coordination of bouts – using The Cloud to pass photos and documents between leagues.

Step 1.

Get a dropbox account for your league. 

Step 2.

Create folders for your team(s) and officials crew – and put ALL of your headshots in there.

Step 3.

Create folders for your bouts; put the bout contract, bout day schedule information, skater waivers, rosters and all other relevant documents for the day in there.

Step 4.

Use the “Share” function to share the documents with the relevant visiting/hosting leagues and referees.

Got an away bout?

Share the team and officials folder so that they instantly have access to the headshots they need to produce a bout programme. You can also put a text document in there that has all names and numbers correctly spelt. Once your roster for the bout has been done, you place it into your away bouts folder and share it with the host league (or upload it to their dropbox folder for the bout). They can choose to only show the rostered skaters in their programme if they wish (sometimes due to printing time constraints though they may have to go to print before a roster has been finalised – at least this way they have all of the team’s photos straight away).

Hosting a home bout?

Create a new folder specifically for that bout, and create a new contract from your bout contract template. Place the bout specific contract into the folder, along with any other relevant information for that bout (such as event schedule information etc.). Share that folder with the visiting team so that they have access to all the relevant information. They can also follow the same process and share their headshot folder with you, and upload their roster into the bout folder once they have it ready.

So why is this better than emailing the information back and forth?

Well, first of all – duh! You don’t have to go looking for files every single time you have a bout. They all sit in The Cloud waiting to be shared with other league’s dropbox accounts. You can give access to any of your league members who need it – the people who organise head shots may not be the same people who coordinate bouts. If someone goes on holiday or is unavailable for any reason others have access to the shared folder to view bout day schedules, contracts and rosters (so removing bottle necks from important information sitting in someone’s email account). Give the head referee access too and they can share rule clarifications and other relevant information that may be part of the captain’s meeting. Shall I go on and on or are you convinced yet?

Why Dropbox?

Three main points made it win for me (there’s a number of different Cloud storage offerings out there)

• You get a decent amount of free space (will definitely be more than enough for your profile pictures and documents),
• You get a desktop application (for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Mobile) which means you can work with files by just dropping them into a designated folder on your computer
• The web interface for when you don’t have the desktop application installed is simple and easy to use

Let me count the ways…

I moved to Bristol 3 years ago, and that was the first time I found it was possible to actually fall in love with a place. I’ve moved around quite a lot in my life, and I have a great fondness for all of those places, Merseyside in particular – especially for the people there. But I always figured I was one of those people who just doesn’t get attached to a place itself. Until I moved here.

Bristol is a bustling, lively, multi-cultural city that was immediately welcoming as soon as I arrived. I could go on about the music scene or other great points, but to be honest most cities I’ve been to also have that to offer. The thing that really stands out for me is the sheer overwhelming amount of grassroots movements and organisations that happen here.

Filthy Luker

The most obvious one is the street art scene. As you walk around Bristol you’ll find murals big and small, my favourites usually being the tiny ones found in hidden away corners and on grit bins.  Bristol is home to The Love of It – a team of people who enthusiastically promote stuff that’s simply FUN; whether it’s flash-mobs for cardboard tube sword fights in the town centre, yarn bombing, or pub games and indoor picnics. Groups of people get together to turn wasteland into temporary gardens and allotments, and Artspace Lifespace have been hugely successful in turning empty buildings into art venues. They took over The Island in the centre of town for a number of years, putting on hundreds of events great and small. Invisible Circus’ yearly extravaganza with Artspace Lifespace (Carny Ville) was simply superb. They’ve now teamed up with other similar people to form the Creative Common, that has set up a Big Top tent right by the station on some land that would otherwise have been an empty eyesore for years.

So it’s no surprise that roller derby is pretty popular here in Brizzle. It’s not only the “alternative” nature of the sport that appeals to so many Bristolites, but also the very nature of grassroots organisation that roller derby leagues have, and the buzz you get from being part of something greater.

Set up in early 2010, there were I think about 60 or 70 people who turned up to the very first BRD practise. Those numbers thinned out over the first few months, but as word spread a cap had to be put on new recruits and so intake closed. March 2011 saw more than 100 people register to say they were turning up for a Fresh Meat intake, and so we had to change an open intake into try outs, which obviously left some disappointed. But Bristol just isn’t the sort of place where people sit idly by and let their passions slip away from them. A group of girls took it upon themselves to form a new team – and Anarchic Die Hard Derby was born.

Friends right from the start, BRD and ADHD have always supported one another, whether that was through giving advice on league organisation, coaching, officiating at bouts or leg wrestling competitions at fundraisers!  Of course the talk of joining forces officially has also been around for a very long time. Over the summer those talks changed from “Wouldn’t it be great if…” to “Let’s do this!”. Today is the first day of the new Bristol Roller Derby – made up of skaters and non-skaters from ADHD and BRD.

ADHD Graduation Scrimmage - Photo by What The F4 Photography

Together we are a hard hitting, arse kicking, big partying, derby loving machine.

The Men’s European Roller Derby Championships this July was full of absolutely amazing derby action; each and every bout was edge-of-seat exciting to watch, but one guy did kind of steal the show.  So I decided to stalk track down the man behind the apex jumps and pirouettes to find out more about Mr Furieux. This is the English version, click here to read the Mr Furieux interview in French.

Photos: shamelessly stolen from Tyne & Fear’s facebook album, the Quad Guards facebook profile, and Roller Derby Toulouse website.
Translation: Daughter of Anarchy, Harbour Harlot and all round super star:  Adèle Linquent

***How/when did you first hear about roller derby? ***

The first time I heard about roller derby was when a friend recommended that I watch the film ‘Whip It’ in January 2011.

***The crowd at MERDC went *wild* at your skating skills (it was AWESOME to watch), we all were blown away to hear you’d only been skating a couple of years. Have you been athletic and playing sports all your life?***

Thank you for your encouragements. After watching the film, I wanted to play roller derby and I wanted to jam more than anything. I joined Roller Derby Toulouse in February 2011, when the men’s team was only a project back then. I first started skating with the Fresh Meats and also around town by myself. Then I upped my game by coaching the girls. So I’ve only been skating for 19 months.
Prior to this, I’ve always been quite athletic, but I had never practised any team sports. I had been cycling a lot, I had practised martial arts (French boxing, a.k.a. Savate) and some acrobatics (Tricking). Then, I discovered in-line skating, which I had been practising for 2 weeks before watching ‘Whip It’ and switching to quad skating.

***Tell us a bit more about the Quad Guards – when did the Toulouse men’s team start and how?***

Building a team was a project we had since January/February 2010 when Roller Derby Toulouse started as a league. Back then, our priority was to structure and get the female teams going and there were only 4 men who were interested in men’s derby anyway. After a few months, more men got interested and in February 2011, 4 men joined in at once, which sparked the decision to go ahead with building a men’s team. We started making plans for the future and our identity, the “Quad Guards”, came up one evening, both from a joke and from our desire not to take ourselves too seriously.  Then everything else followed: the colours, the uniform, the team’s icon – David Hasselhoff. Our key words were “fun” and “laid-back”, without taking anything away from the importance of athleticism and the sport. Then, we had our first game in London, more new recruits, etc… Currently, it looks like we may start the 2012/2013 season with 30 men. We’re dreaming about a B team and about organising intraleague men’s derby games.

***Here in England the men’s game is slowly gaining more popularity (though of course with far, far more women’s teams) – is it a similar situation in France?***

It is similar in France. After being the one and only men’s team in the country for over a year, it’s nice to see that new teams are starting up, of course not at such a fast rate as the girls’ teams since their development has started two years earlier than the one of men. Currently, there are 4 men’s derby teams: Toulouse, Montpellier, Paris and Bordeaux. I hope that others will get started because it does cost a lot to go to the United-Kingdom or the USA to play.

***How is your league (Toulouse) structured? Are you all (men’s and women’s teams) all together in the same league or are the two teams more separate?***

Our league is a mixed league, we decided this right from the beginning and we do everything we can to keep it this way.  The men coach the women and the women coach the men. We have both male and female referees. Our league is running with a 10-people strong Board of Directors, which includes the board itself (with a president, a treasurer and a secretary) and 7 committees: PR, Training, Officials, Events, Logistics, Sponsorship and Merchandising. 75% of the league’s members are women and both men and women are represented proportionally at the Board of Directors. The gender issue is not predominant in our league; we focus on people’s abilities before anything else. However, the teams are not practising together, because of a lack of space, a lack of infrastructure and also because our coaches are all skaters themselves. It would be difficult to play and coach at the same time.

***How did the Quad Guards hear of MERDC? Did you fundraise to get the funds to come over or did all the skaters pay for their own expenses? (It must have cost quite a lot!)***

The Quad Guards had heard about MERDC when they met the Inhuman League from Sheffield, on the 5th May, which is MERDC organiser Jammie Dodger’s team. We didn’t want to miss such an opportunity to rub shoulders with the English teams and gauge our level within the European derby scene. Our league did everything they could to help us raise funds and make this happen. The benefits of all our home games, all the merchandising we sold and our fund-raising nights went into the pot. The outcome was that RDT ended up paying for half of our travel costs.

***What was your experience of coming over to England for MERDC?***
Coming over to Birmingham with my team has been the result of a lot of efforts and a lot practises together. To me, it is the ultimate recognition of my Derby life, the last 18 months, which gave me a concrete goal.
This epic trip and this intense sporting experience, which forced us to play our very best game, gave my team the recognition that it deserved and put our game and French men’s Derby in the spotlight and left a deep impression. I’m sure it’s the first of many times.

Want more men’s derby? Mr Furieux plus dozens of other roller derby guys are heading to Windsor THIS SATURDAY to take part in Sur5al for Boys! More info here, tickets here.

The Men’s European Roller Derby Championships this July was full of absolutely amazing derby action; each and every bout was edge-of-seat exciting to watch, but one guy did kind of steal the show.  So I decided to stalk track down the man behind the apex jumps and pirouettes to find out more about Mr Furieux. This is the French version, click here to read the Mr Furieux interview in English.

Photos: shamelessly stolen from Tyne & Fear’s facebook album, the Quad Guards facebook profile, and Roller Derby Toulouse website.
Translation: Daughter of Anarchy, Harbour Harlot and all round super star:  Adèle Linquent

***Quand et comment as-tu entendu parler de roller derby pour la première fois ? ***

J’ai entendu parler de roller derby pour la première fois en janvier 2011 grâce au film Bliss – Whip it, qu’un ami m’a conseillé de regarder.

***Le public présent au MERDC (Men’s European Roller Derby Championship – Championnat européen de roller derby masculin) était déchaîné quand il te voyait patiner (c’était GRANDIOSE à regarder). On était tous époustouflés d’apprendre que tu ne patinais que depuis deux ans. Est-ce que tu as toujours fait beaucoup de sport dans ta vie ? ***
Merci pour ces encouragements. En effet, après avoir vu le film, je me suis mis en tête de jouer au roller derby, je voulais jammer à tout prix. J’ai donc intégré l’association Roller Derby Toulouse en Février 2011, où l’équipe masculine était encore à l’état de projet. Je me suis donc mis à patiner, d’abord chez les fresh meats et de mon côté, dans la ville, puis j’ai étoffé mon jeu en entraînant les filles. Donc ça ne fait que 19 mois que je patine.
Avant cela, j’ai toujours été sportif, mais je n’avais jamais fait de sport d’équipe. Je faisais beaucoup de vélo, du combat (boxe française), de la gymnastique (trickz). J’ai ensuite découvert le roller en ligne, que j’ai pratiqué pendant deux semaines avant de voir Bliss et de me mettre au Quad.

***Parle-nous un peu des Quad Guards. Quand et comment l’équipe masculine de Toulouse a-t-elle démarré ?***

Le projet de monter l’équipe existe depuis janvier/février 2010 quand la ligue Roller Derby Toulouse a été créée. La priorité à l’époque était de monter et structurer les équipes femmes et de toute façon nous n’avions que 4 hommes d’intéressés. Après quelques mois, les premiers hommes intéressés se sont faits plus nombreux et l’arrivée de 4 hommes d’un coup en Février 2011 à marqué la décision de lancer l’équipe homme. Nous avons commencé à faire des plans pour l’avenir et un soir on a décidé de donner notre identité “Quad Guards” qui au départ était vraiment une blague et une envie de ne pas se faire prendre trop au sérieux. Le reste est venu ensuite : les couleurs, la tenue, l’icône de l’équipe – David Hasselhoff, les maîtres-mots étant « plaisir » et « décontraction », sans enlever le sérieux du physique et du sport. Et puis il y a eu un premier match organisé à Londres, d’autres arrivées de nouveaux gars, etc… Aujourd’hui on pense commencer la saison 2012/2013 avec 30 hommes. On rêve d’une équipe B et de faire de l’intraligue homme.

***Ici, en Angleterre, le jeu masculin est peu à peu en train de gagner en popularité (tout en étant bien-sûr plus faiblement représenté que les équipes féminines). Est-ce la même situation en France ?***

C’est semblable en France. Après avoir été la seule équipe masculine du territoire pendant plus d’un an, nous voyons avec plaisir se développer peu à peu d’autres équipes, bien sûr moins vite que celles de filles puisque leur développement se fait avec deux ans d’avance sur celui des hommes. Aujourd’hui, on compte 4 équipes masculines : Toulouse, Montpellier, Paris et Bordeaux. D’autres, je l’espère, arriveront à se monter, car cela coûte cher de devoir aller au Royaume-Uni ou aux USA pour jouer.

***Quelle est la structure de ta ligue (Toulouse) ? Est-ce que les deux équipes (masculine et féminine) font partie de la même ligue ou est-ce qu’elles sont séparées ?***

Notre association est mixte, c’est un choix historique et nous faisons tout pour préserver cette mixité. Les hommes coachent les femmes et les femmes coachent les hommes. Nous avons des arbitres hommes et femmes. Nous fonctionnons avec un Conseil d’Administration (Board of directors) de 10 personnes. Ce conseil est composé d’un bureau (Board), président, trésorier, secrétaire et de 7 responsable de commission : Communication, entraînement, arbitrage, événement, logistique, sponsoring et merchandising. Il y a dans l’association 75% de femmes et elles sont proportionnellement représentées au Conseil d’Administration comme les hommes. La question du genre n’est pas prépondérante, ce sont les compétences qui priment avant toute chose. Les équipes cependant ne s’entraînent pas ensemble, par manque de place, d’infrastructure et puis les coachs sont chacun et chacune dans une équipe, donc il est difficile de jouer et coacher en même temps.

***Comment les Quad Guards ont-ils entendu parler du MERDC ? Est-ce que vous avez dû trouver des financements pour venir ou est-ce que les joueurs ont payé de leur poche ? (Ça a dû couter très cher !)***

Les Quad Guards ont entendu parler des MERDC lors de leur rencontre avec les Inhuman League de Sheffield, le 5 mai dernier, équipe de Jammie Dodger, l’organisateur de l’évènement. Nous avons décidé de ne pas laisser passer une pareille opportunité de se frotter à d’autres équipes anglaises et ainsi mesurer ce que nous valons sur la scène derby européenne. L’association a alors fait son possible pour récolter de l’argent pour nous aider à partir et réaliser ce projet. Elle y a donc dédié les recettes réalisées sur les entrées de nos matches à domicile, le merchandising de nos produits dérivés, et des entrées sur nos soirées de soutien.
Le résultat a été la prise en charge par RDT de la moitié de nos frais de déplacement.

***Que retiens-tu de ta venue en Angleterre pour le MERDC ?***
Venir à Birmingham avec mon équipe a été le résultat de tous nos efforts, nos entrainements; et à mes yeux, la consécration de ma vie de derby, de ces derniers 18 mois, qui avaient enfin un objectif concret.
Vivre cet épique voyage, et cette expérience sportive intense, qui nous a poussé à donner le meilleur, a apporté à mon équipe la reconnaissance que nous méritions, et un coup de projecteur sur notre jeu, le derby masculin français, qui j’en suis sûr, n’a pas fini de marquer les esprits.
.

Want more men’s derby? Mr Furieux plus dozens of other roller derby guys are heading to Windsor THIS SATURDAY to take part in Sur5al for Boys! More info here, tickets here.

Name: El Toupée
Started Officiating: October 2009
Location: based in Leeds, but works everywhere
Home league: Unaffiliated

Derby Revolution © Ian Roofthooft (Piggy-Stardust)

*** How/when did you first hear about roller derby? ***

I kind of always knew about roller derby, but it took a long time to find it, living and breathing, in the UK (I grew up in the 70’s, so go figure).

*** What prompted you to first start off skates officiating? ***

When I first became involved in derby the pressure was on for me to become a referee.  However, I never felt comfortable with it, for a number of reasons.  Dedicated NSOs weren’t really an accepted part of UK derby at that point, so I kind of struck out on my own and developed a bit of a reputation, both as a mercenary and as a reliable NSO.

*** What’s your favourite part of being an NSO? ***

I get to travel to places I never dreamed I would see: I’ve been to Eindhoven (Netherlands), Berlin (Germany), LA (USA), Ghent (Belgium), and Trondheim (Norway) this year because of derby, and I’ve been invited to staff a tournament in Colorado next year as a direct result of my stay in Trondheim.  There are also places I’ve been invited to, sometimes more than once, that I’ve not been able to visit due to work and/or money… but they’re all still on the cards.

I’ve also experienced things I never thought I would: e.g. I spent a day working on a reality show as a result of my trip to LA.  Oh, and it also got my name and face known enough amongst the community that they let me have a microphone and announce at bouts now (where, needless to say, I always give props to the NSOs for the work they do).

*** Can you give a bit of advice to people who want to get involved as a roller derby NSO? ***

For anyone who wants to try their hand at NSOing, find a League who are looking for NSOs and then set out your stall early and plainly: download the NSO Manuals produced by Gravity Kills of Roc City (http://crazyraven.org/Crazy_Raven/Derby!.html), download the WFTDA rules and the various appendices (http://wftda.com/rules), and then be willing to attend and work every scrimmage and bout you can to gain experience.

If you’re willing to travel, introduce yourself to all the other ‘local’ Leagues and offer to help with NSO duties at their bouts too – in 2009/2010, there were so few bouts/bouting Leagues that I had to travel from Leeds to Glasgow, to London, to Birmingham, and elsewhere to get the experience I felt I needed to be an effective NSO.  But that’s something you have to decide for yourself – some people are happy NSOing for one League and one League only.

Set yourself goals too.  I always wanted to be a Head NSO, and gradually I think I’ve became a half decent one; other people want to work every NSO position at least once; some people only want to work one position until they are the masters of it.

Manchester Roller Derby’s Mistletoe and Grime © David Eagleton

You can get in touch with El Toupée via facebook if you have any questions or want to ask him to help officiate at your bout/tournament.

It’s only a few days now until the next Bristol roller derby bout. Once again we’re heading to the WISE Campus of SGS College to take over their sports hall and lay a track for some hard hits and speeding scores!

Doors open at 2pm and the first bout starts at 3pm. First Bristol’s Harbour Harlots B team will be taking on Wiltshire Roller Derby, and then the Harbour Harlots A team will meeting Croydon Roller Derby for the second bout of the afternoon.

There’s only a couple of days left to get reduced price tickets via Brown Paper Tickets (where we have also just been featured in this week’s UK Hot Tickets!) so grab them quick!
Oh, and as a personal favour to me – can you all tweet like mad during the bouts? I’m away at SK8 Heaven this weekend and am gutted to be missing the action! So special good luck and derby love to my team mates on the B team – SMASH THEM!!! (and give them some “chick checks” from me ;) )

It’s been almost 2 years since Bristol Roller Derby last had a Fresh Meat intake. Since then we’ve been training hard and all that work has seen our A team rise in the European rankings from to number 26! Now we’re opening our doors once more and want you to join us!

If you live in or around Bristol and want to learn how to play roller derby (or know someone who does) then head over to the Bristol Roller Derby website for information on how to register for the try-outs. You don’t have to be able to skate already (“try-outs” sometimes sounds a bit like you’re being asked to do tricks on skates – it’s sooooo not like that!), it’s far more about having a “give it a go” attitude and a chance for us to explain more about the league, the sport and what it all entails.

So what are you waiting for? This is open to all guys and gals who are over 18 (we want you all!), register now and I’ll see you on the track soon!

Fried Wheely

Name: Fried Wheely
Started Officiating: January, 8th, 2012
Location: Paris, France (Not Texas!)
Home league: Lutèce Destroyeuses

*** How/when did you first hear about roller derby? ***

I first heard about Roller Derby in 2004. A LiveJournal friend of mine (Lux Nightmare) joined the Gotham Girls and blogged about it quite a lot.
Then I forgot…
… Until June 2011, when two Parisian Girls told me about this “brand new sport on Roller Skates”. Roller Derby getting French? I was hooked.

*** What prompted you to first start off skates officiating? ***

Jeerleading! I attended my first Bout (Paris Rollergirls Vs. Crime City Rollers – June, 18th, 2011) as a Jeerleader. I didn’t know a sh*t about the rules then… But, since I was able to scream and wave pom-poms, I did it.
I might have been a Jeerleader or a Mascot but… French Roller Derby was in “desperate” need of Officials.
I was not a skater (It got better!) and found out I really enjoyed reading the rules, Q&A and Publications (Did you say “Geek!”?). So, Off Skates Officiating was only logical.
In January 2012, the Lutèce Destroyeuses (Which are to Paris what the London Rockin’ Rollers are to London) let me attend the “Week-End de Brutes” (A Freshmeat Bootcamp) as a bystander. It felt like home… And they asked me to join the “family” as an Official. I jumped on the opportunity.

It turned out to be a life changing opportunity. I’m now part of the Roller Derby community – To, me, Community (Capital C!) matters a lot.

So, a “desperate” need, geekiness and community feeling prompted me to first start Off Skates officiating.

Track Monkey

*** What’s your favourite part of being an NSO? ***

The rush.
I often say, “From the Track to the Sheets, the story goes” (It’s the NSO Credo?!!).
And it goes fast.
You have to be there (Focus and NSO positioning are über important!). People on skates, the audience, … They all count on you.
Infield (Yes, I like Penalty Tracking a lot), the rhythm is almost frantic. It’s like a beehive (Or a stock exchange?). People are skating, sometimes running, hushing/yelling things, weaving their hands… And you have to process all of it – It’s what I call the rush.
But, despite the rush, you have to remain cold blooded, be “the eye of the storm” and double check your sheets… Because what is on your sheets (The Score, the Penalties, the Lineups) is the truth.
Being a NSO is addictive.

I sometimes say, a Bout is like a book. The Skaters are the characters, the Referees are the writers and the NSO are the printers.

Of course, another favourite part of mine is the After Party – Forget about the Pink and dance like a Flamingo (And watch your mouth because, to most of the Skaters, you’re still an official)!

*** Can you give a bit of advice to people who want to get involved as a roller derby NSO? ***

First, don’t get frustrated. If you’re into skating, be a Referee or play Roller Derby (We have Women, Men and Co-Ed Roller Derby, now!)… You’ll most certainly get back to NSO’ing from time to time when you’ll realise how important it is.

Then, learn, learn and LEARN! Travel (Bouts, Clinics, …), read, ask (And listen to!) Roller Derby people a.k.a. the Community… There’s always something to learn out there. Not just NSO stuff. The rules, strategies, Roller Derby history (And gossips?!!)… These things will make you a better NSO.
And when you’ve learned something, teach it.

Finally, don’t be a douchebag and… LOVE Pink – Please.

On The Job

You can get in touch with Fried Wheely via facebook if you have any questions or want to ask him to help officiate at your bout.