Just wow

I’m a little bit in love.

"Very cool pictures of Detroit decay."

—

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2011/jan/02/photography-detroit?intcmp=239#/?picture=370173054&index=0

Roller Derby: Girls just wanna have fun and wear their pants on the outside

Until October last year, I had never even heard of Roller Derby. The first mention of it was when I met my friend while out and about in town and she told me she’d been to a game the previous weekend. She used the words; skates, women, mild violence and beer but was not much more informative than that. She tried desperately to remember the name of a film with Juliette Lewis in that had been made about it, but failed. She text me in the early hours of the next morning with ‘Whip it!’ That was the film and apparently it had been doing her nut in trying to remember it.

To be honest, I didn’t give much more thought to the whole thing until a few weeks ago when the same friend put a link on my Facebook for a Roller Derby bout that was coming up, home team Brighton Rockers vs. London team Batter C Power. After conducting some research by playing some videos on Youtube, from what I could surmise it was a bunch of women, on skates, wearing not very much but often their pants over their tights, skating very fast and occasionally knocking each other over. I was suddenly interested, very interested.

So, it came to be that we were on the train to Shoreham yesterday afternoon, all quite pleased with ourselves that we were actually doing something more productive on a Saturday afternoon than lying in bed with a hideous hangover. If truth be told, I did have a hideous hangover but I was nursing it with a Ribena and the promise of a beer as soon as we got to a pub.

After said beer and a bowl of chips, we made our way to the venue, which turned out to be a 1980’s-style gym in a warehouse, complete with tuck shop and bar. The bout was sold-out and the place was packed out with an eclectic mix of people, young and old, families and obvious die-hard fans. We settled down in what I believe are called the ‘Suicide Seats’ by the edge of the track (and by ‘seats’ please read ‘very hard and cold floor’), cracked open a beer and waited for the action to start.

It didn’t disappoint.

To begin, the opposing team, Batter C Power, were introduced and did circuits of the track as their names were called out, then the Brighton Rockers and then the referees, all of whom were blokes and looked quite pleased with themselves. Every team member and referee has their own Derby name and there were some crackers in there including Rose Bleed, The Mighty Mighty Bash, Grim Rita and the Dalai Harmer. There were sequins, gold helmets, ra-ra skirts, stripy tights and of course, pants over said tights.

The teams took to the floor for the first Jam and when it started, it took me all of 0.0001 nanoseconds to get into it. It did take me slightly longer to get a grip on the rules, however. I was going to try and explain them but it was too long and wordy so here is a helpful Youtube video instead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=P2W2b1WBmm4

To a soundtrack of Salt n Pepa, Push it; Intergalactic by the Beastie Boys; and Justice’s Genesis, we watched amazing dodges, breakthroughs and skate-bys from the Jammers and then goggled as they picked up quite an incredible speed zooming round to meet the Blockers again and get the points. The Blockers used all kinds of formations and tactics to try and stop the Jammers getting through and often there was a bit of a scrum with about 4 or 5 women all jostling and barging each other. Needless to say, there were thrills and spills, collisions, and of course, falling over, though not as much as you would expect. The only serious-looking injury was someone hurting their ankle and it was all very respectful as the music was stopped and all the players sat down while she was taken off.

That’s the other great thing about Roller Derby. The opposing teams were ever so nice to each other and while winning was the obvious goal, it was respectful and essentially they were all there to have a laugh. You could see opposing team members having a boogie together in between Jams and it was just very good-natured and democratic. The same can be said for the crowd as well, everyone was loving it and both teams were cheered on and supported.

Brighton Rockers led by quite a large margin all the way through the first half, however Batter C Power gained a lot of ground in the second. It did get a bit tense when the London team were only trailing by 30 points and suddenly there were quite a lot of people sitting in the Sin Bin for penalties, mainly Brighton Rockers it seemed. But the Rockers cinched it and everyone was jubilant. The whole thing ended by the crowd pouring onto the track, and forming a big circle for the skaters and the refs to skate round and high-five the expectant spectators. It was that kind of light-heartedness that coloured the whole event. There was also a raffle and a poster competition, however unfortunately my friend’s friend’s effort of a disembowled skater with the guts artfully spelling ‘Brighton Rockers’ did not win. It was a very good effort though.

We didn’t stay for the Roller Disco afterwards and I was disappointed it was all over. I felt both highly entertained and inspired by the whole thing. So much so, that I came back, albeit quite drunk, and ordered myself a pair of skates on the internet.

So, if you see a girl wobbling and skittering her way along the promenade with her pants over her tights next weekend, it’ll probably, most likely, be me. I’m chasing the 4-wheeled glory of Roller Derby, it’s going to be a long and arduous road but through sheer grit and determination, I’ll get there. I might enlist some help and film a montage. Everyone loves a good montage.

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Django Django

- Brightening up job hunting since 2012.

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