Welcome to the first DRG Newsletter!
From now on, we will be bringing all the latest news to your inbox every month. Since this is the first newsletter, and the DRG have been busy over the last few months, it’s a long one! First up is Get Your Hits Out! the most recent DRG fundraiser. As you will know if you’ve ever been to one, the DRG know how to throw a good fundraiser, and this was no exception! There’s also three different reports of the recent All-Ireland Training Day from Hannah in Belfast, Carol in Cork and our own Puppetmaster in Dublin. Graceless Jones writes about the trip to a recent bout in Glasgow. The DGR have also been training hard, with three sessions a week for full members, and you may also have seen them at the Kings of Concrete festival at Wood Quay a couple of weeks ago. There’s also still time to sign up to try Roller Derby at the next Fresh Meat session this Sunday, 18 July.
Get Your Hits Out! by Peppy Nephrine
Get Your Hits Out was a karaoke night organised by the Dublin Roller Girls to raise funds. Multi-talented skaters and supporters sang, danced and heckled their way through a Thursday evening in the Legal Eagle. From a sultry rendition of ‘Son of a Preacher Man’, to an impressive duet of Queen’s ‘Somebody to Love’ and on to a version of ‘I’m Too Sexy’ where even the singer couldn’t hold back her incredulity at the lyrics! The music was so infectious and fun that even the bartender couldn’t resist joining in and performing… twice.
Some brave performers submitted themselves to the chance of being forced off the stage in the name of the DRG (and of aural sanity). They chose their songs out of a hat, which meant that the occasional performer blasted out the chorus only to end up looking confused or getting creative for the verses. Anyone who couldn’t bear to hear a favourite song be mauled, or just wanted to get to their own turn as soon as possible, could donate money towards kicking the offending singer offstage. Our own Sue Killfester let the audience know their progress on our karaoke traffic light – green and the singer was in the clear, orange and only a little bit more dough was needed to get them to go and red meant an unceremonious end to the karaoke track and an escort offstage.
We didn’t starve our singers; a cake-stand manned and stocked by the DRG offered heaps of cupcakes, brownies, rocky road and even gingerbread rollergirls. Jelly shots were also given out free with every admission, mostly to help release the inner rockstar in reserved attendees.
In return for submitting themselves to stage fright and the beady little eyes of a judgmental audience, or perhaps as an extra incentive to get onstage and strut their stuff in front of captive fans, the best performers were awarded with prizes of hampers and a weekend stay in a B&B while there were (quite good) booby prizes of frisbees and water pistols for those whose courage and/or bravado helped to make Get Your Hits Out a successful fundraiser and night out.
Thanks to the Legal Eagle for hosting the night and all who came along and supported the DRGs!
All Ireland Training Day – June 20th 2010 by Puppetmaster
The idea of a joint session was something that had been kicking around my head for a while, but when Hannah from Belfast Roller Derby told me she’d had a similar idea, I decided it was about time we got something sorted!
So, on a hot Sunday in June, we had the first ever All-Ireland Roller Derby Day – the Dublin Roller Girls, the DRG freshmeat, 5 girls from Belfast and 2 from Cork. It was the first ever gathering of the people responsible for bringing Derby to these shores, and with several levels of skill and experience among the group that day, what better way to meet and greet everyone than by beating the hell out of each other?!
The session started with some warm-ups and endurance drills, and some whipping and falling practice. Before long though, we moved onto some checking drills, with many of the girls trying contact for the very first time.
We paired everyone off, and as has become our custom, the first thing to do on contact day is to punch your partner! We find this gets everyone fired up, and also means that you’ve already hit the girl you’re working with so it makes it clear that there will be no hurt feelings! And after a few minutes on feet, it was skates on, onto the track, and trying some moving contact. A few big hits and a few spills later, and suddenly everyone was looking like they’d been doing it their whole lives!
After the session, we headed for our HQ, the Thomas House, who had opened early especially for us that day. The beers certainly lessened the sting of any bruises. It was awesome to be able to sit down and share our thoughts and experiences about getting this amazing sport up and running in this country. I think we formed some great relations that day, and I can’t wait to be able to do it all over again.
Big thanks and massive respect to everyone who was a part of the day, particularly to Carol from RCR and Hannah from BRD who were kind enough to send me their thoughts on the whole day!
Hannah Whitall – Belfast Roller Derby on the All-Ireland Training Day
I headed down to Dublin for the “all Ireland” contact session with a bit of trepidation. It had been about 3 months since the DRG had joined us for a session with Lethal Lou Lou and Sarah McMillan and since then they had worked up to three practices while we still only had our one. I was kind of worried that we would be out of our depth and more importantly, that they wouldn’t notice any improvement in us ha ha.
When we arrived in Dublin, we were really impressed by the size of the hall and it was great to get to skate a track that was very close to the size of the real thing. It was a new experience to have to skate with tights and leg warmers over our pads! It took us a while to get used to the floor as well and there were so many skaters! The practice soon started with Puppetmaster putting us through our warm-up paces and doing stretches on skates was also a new experience for us.
After going through some fall drills and the 5-minute challenge it was time for what we were all there for – big fat hits! It started with a demonstration of legal hit zones and what to avoid before we were paired up and told to punch our partner in the arm! We practiced some hip and shoulder checks off skates before putting our skates back on and practicing them while stationary on our skates. We were soon off onto the track to practice while moving. Eek!
It was great fun and I was knocked off my skates by my partner but I soon got her back bwahahaha! Towards the end we had a pace line drill involving hitting which was good to see how different people hit differently. After practice, we headed to The Thomas House and it was great to have a chat with everyone as we didn’t get the opportunity when we were together last.
We’re starting contact drills ourselves now and the DRG practice will form the basis for our training. Sharing skills and drills is how this sport is kept alive and it’s fantastic that we have found great partners in the DRG, especially since they get so many visitors from other leagues! They’re a fantastic bunch and hopefully it won’t be long until we’re all together again. I also can’t wait until we meet in a more competitive environment to knock each other to floor, in the nicest way possible of course!
Carol O’Sullivan – Rebel County Rollers on the All-Ireland Training Day
After a nice sleep on the 7am bus from Cork to Dublin, I grabbed coffee and a doughnut and deposited myself on the ground next to the Spire. It wasn’t long before Puppetmaster and Kitty came along. Cilla joined us and we headed for the bus. I still have my DRG pin, which I wear now as a souvenir.
At training I spotted a few new faces, including our cross-border visitors, but also plenty of people that I had met when I had come up a few months previously. I remember at that time I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to do roller derby or not, I had borrowed gear and even put the wrist-guards on before the elbow-pads. This time I was back with my own skates and able to dress myself in the right order!
Skates on, I wobbled around a bit ‘til I got used to them and joined the warm-ups. (Although I now had my own skates I’d been out in them a handful of weather-permitting times, as we hadn’t started training yet in Cork.) Anyway I tried my best and didn’t fall over, but did keep rolling off into the centre of the circle and trying to shuffle backwards into my place.
Roisin helped me out a lot and taught me some basic falls: we practiced these on each knee and both knees. I had put tape on my knee pads but it proved worse than useless and so a pair of socks was donated to me and cut up for pad covers. This really helped with the knee-slides, as well as protecting the floor in the sports hall.
Again I was reminded of the fact that I smoke too much and spend too many hours sitting on busses, as we timed each other doing as many laps as we could in 5 minutes. I believe the target was 25… I almost managed a dozen. (That was hindered by the rather amusing fact that I had problems taking corners without drifting away off the track.) The blocking exercises were quite good fun. I participated as much as I could and found everyone to be really helpful. I did put the earlier falling exercises to good use, and I managed to do some blocks and
still stay on my feet, so I was pleased.
After the training we all headed over to the Thomas House for pints. Good times were had and I was so busy chatting that I forgot to take photos. I didn’t get the time I would have liked to talk to everyone there, especially the people who made the journey all the way from Belfast. It was well worth the journey though and as usual I was delighted to share the derby love up in Dublin.
Central Belter, Glasgow, 26th June 2010 by Graceless Jones
If there is one sport that cannot be captured on screen, in all its manic and fast paced frenzy, it has to be Roller Derby. Accustomed to the screen of my laptop, a live game was much more exciting and immersive. I could actually follow the Jammer without losing track of the pack! A humorous MC and good music added to the atmosphere. Also not forgetting the pretty cakes, t-shirts and other merchandise up for sale, from which I bought myself a nice Auld Reekie Rollers Girls tee (an omen perhaps?).
First game of the Central Belter was between the two B teams, Maiden Grrders (Glasgow Roller Girls) and Cannon Belles (Auld Reekie Rollers Girls). GRG won comfortably in a fairly haphazard bout. Irn Bruisers (GRG) and Twisted Thistles (ARRG) faced each other in the headliner. The difference between the A and B games was pretty big in terms of pack tightness and game-play. Use of tactics was fascinating, and it was really helpful to see them played out in front of my eyes. How the pivot controlled the pack, how the Lead Jammer could manipulate the other Jammer, and so much more. I will definitely be paying attention to the play book, when the time comes! ARRG won the A game with only a few points to spare, so I was pretty pleased to be wearing the winning team shirt!
Seeing a live game definitely helped me to understand the play more and got me itching to put my skates on. Now the only thing I can think of is when I will have enough money to go see another bout.
Final Score:
Twisted Thistles 88 – Irn Bruisers 84
Cannon Belles 66 – 116 Maiden Grrders
