A FRINGE BENEFITToday’s game (they’re not called ‘bouts’ any more) is part of the Brighton Fringe. So we thought it proper to gather some derby-related sketches and prose to accompany a trio of BRIGHTON ROCKERS telling us that there really is an ‘art’ to this sport...Today’s game is part of the Fringe. What differing categories of arts and culture do you feel roller derby might fall under and why?

Anti-Gravetty: I’m not sure where roller derby fits into the whole ‘arts’ thing. It’s often a bit of a perform-ance and we do possess a few circus skills. It DEFI-NITELY doesn’t fall under the ‘dance’ category, despite our best efforts during the skate out, although Rose Bleed’s interpretive dance moves might come close. It’s great to be part of the Fringe. My personal hope is our participation will drag some fresh blood out of the galleries and theatres of Brighton. Women on roller skates hitting each other is WAY more cultural!

Hairy Fairy: I hope that it mainly falls under the sport category, because I think it’s important to make sure we are recognised as athletes. However, I’m aware that for audiences here in Brighton – and particularly at the Festival – some people are snooty about going to

watch sport, so in this case I think we can probably get categorised as a performance. I just hope people don’t think it’s a performance in the same way that Ameri-can professional wrestling (eg WWE) is, because that may put some people off!

Do any of the Rockers have a background in arts, culture or the various other things that Brighton Fringe encompasses? Any physical performance artists in your ranks?

HF: Rose Bleed and I met whilst at university stud-ying Drama and Theatre Arts so I guess we were part of that scene for a while. I think it’s certainly helped us to be body confident and particularly comfortable with a lot of the physical contact that derby involves. I definitely don’t mind playing the clown and falling over a lot, but that’s not just at derby!

Emma The Condemner: On the theme of perform-ance art, I have to say that my favourite Rockers skate out to date was our expressive dance routine, performed to an Enya track, before we got absolutely thrashed by Auld Reekie last year. We well and truly lost, going down by a couple of hundred points in front of what was a 99% Edinburgh home crowd, but we still managed to sell a shedload of Rockers T-shirts. I like to think that everyone bought our T-shirts because they really loved watching our skate out, and not because

they were feeling sorry for us!

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T L�BUNCH OF ARTSWho is behind the various elements of artwork associated with the Rockers and what have been your favourites?

AG: I’m not sure who designed the original Rock-ers logo. Hairy Fairy and Enyo Face take care of the bout programmes, and the fabulous John Hesse (and previously Richard Hanson) takes our headshots. I’m on the Art Committee with Emma and until very re-cently Mother Trucker. As a team we take care of the hall decoration on game day, and come up with new designs for T-shirts (we have some great new ones at the moment, so go check them out) and signs etc. I think that my favour-ite recently was the special one-off

T-shirt we made for our bench coach Mass Janeycide for the dinosaur-themed bout. She was pregnant so we designed an egg-sitting T-Rex extra large T-shirt for Janey, and a newly hatched T-Rex baby-grow for her baby to be, the now safely arrived Nicky.

HF: We have an amazing and almost silent Art Committee. We hardly hear about what they’re plan-ning on doing and then BOOM they turn up with some amazing stuff. I loved it when they did a huge selec-tion of royal caricatures for A Right Royal Rumble. They never go to waste afterwards either. Someone in the crowd always comes to ask if they can take them home. We had teachers fighting over the giant dino-saur cutouts from Terror-Track-Thrills.

Is there any particular Fringe festival performer or general celebrity that you’d like to see on the mic announcing a Rockers game?

HF: Imagine having Scroobious Pip announcing for us – that would be amazing! In the early days we did once invite Norman Cook AKA Fatboy Slim, but I think we scared him off with our enthusiasm... or perhaps he just couldn’t get a babysitter? Maybe he’d be more into it now we have matured? Hahaha.

ETC: It would be pretty cool to get the Hammer &

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Tongue and SlipJam crews to come and announce one of our games. In their last battle Poets-SLASH-MCs, part of the Fringe festival, they told people to expect “literate, lyrical, maybe literal blood” and be ready for “stereotype-smashing, fist-pumping, lyrically insane BRILLIANCE!” Sounds about right for derby!

AG: Every time I’ve played so far I’ve been concen-trating so hard on the game that Spike Milligan could be announcing and I wouldn’t notice. I’m sure a good announcer adds hugely to the audience experience though. After all, roller derby isn’t known for its sim-plicity, so a friendly voice explaining some of the less obvious points can only be a good thing.

Any musically-minded Rockers? We understand a (rather sweary) rap dedicated to the B-team emerged on YouTube last year. And who picks the songs that play over the PA during a game?

HF: I’ll let you into a secret – the game playlist is ALWAYS THE SAME! Although it’s about seven hours long, so I think as long as we start in the middle we’ll never get round to the same song again. I loved Racey and Rae’s rap video. It came out of nowhere, no one knew it was happening. I loved that random girl who was just passing and offered to be their lovely sup-

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porting helper and remove her top. What a champ!AG: I’ve been in a minibus with everyone singing, so

I’m guessing most of us skipped the musical gene.

Any visual artists amongst Rockers ranks? And what would be your ideal Rockers-related sculp-ture, art installation or monument?

AG: I think derby attracts creative types. I’m a chil-dren’s book author and illustrator. I joined up because it seemed so different from my day to day life; I spend the majority of my time alone drawing bears. It’s great to get out and interact with real life human be-ings (well, Rockers anyway) a couple of times a week. What I didn’t realise is that I would soon be sucked straight into the Art Committee. Derby involves a sur-prising amount of drawing and making things!

ETC: My ideal Rockers-related sculpture would have to be a beautiful full size track with rows of gleaming spectator seating, featuring true to life ref lanes, team benches and penalty boxes. It would be a permanent installation in the heart of Brighton ;)

Are there any other Fringe or Festival events you’re going to? Or taking part in?

HF: Too many to say really. I love the atmosphere in the city around now. It’s just fun wandering around, watching all the street performances. Sometimes it’s hard to know what’s a performance and what’s just people living their lives. That’s what I like!

ETC: I’m involved in running and modelling for a few life drawing sessions with the Drawing Circus in the beautiful Spiegeltent. In the run up to the Fringe I’ve been designing and making lots of lovely circus-themed props and costumes in preparation for these drawing sessions. We’re even having an aerial artist

posing whilst suspended from silks. The sessions are being held from 6-7pm on the 14th, 21st and

28th of May. It costs £6 per session and all abilities are welcome!

AG: I’m appearing in an Illustrators Evening, part of 26 Letters, at the Sallis Benney Theatre on the day of this game, alongside the fabulous Mini Grey, Chris Riddell and John Lord [see brightonfestival.org for tickets]. I’m going to have to shoot off before any vic-tory laps – whoever’s they are – to get there in time.

GETTING MESSYToday sees the first Sussex visit of the second strongest (and highest UKRDA ranked) English derby league. Before we hear from the Milk Rollers, here’s SHAMBOLIC on arty Rockers and festival dreams... The Brighton festivals are in full swing. If the Rockers were to put on a non-derby event as part of the Fringe, what would it be? I think we would do well organising various flash mobs. My particular favourite would be a spontaneous water fight on Gard-ner Street, complete with water cannons, glitter-filled Super Soakers and catapult snipers up top. I’m also a big fan of powdered paint and tomatoes in fights. There may be a theme here. I think I like mess.

And if the Rockers were able to put on a festi-val of their own (be it an arts one or an outdoor music one) what would it involve? We’d be awe-some festival organisers! Some kind of all day village fete type affair would be best. The kind that’s family friendly until the cider is all gone. Then we put all the little people to bed in a lovely big tent and continue to dance the night away like a never-ending after-party. We could have all kinds of booths, including sock wrestling with Hairy Fairy, face painting from Emma, cheese puff eating with Bash... Derby McGee would have a jumble sale, while Kapow would make a bonfire for Sophia to force everyone to sing terribly around. Mass Janeycide DJs the rest. I’d definitely do a crockery shy. I’m actually quite excited about this now... can we really do it?

On to the arts. If one of the Rock-ers’ famous human pyramids was set up as an art installation in a gallery, how long would it last before it col-lapsed and who would be to blame? I think if we were trying to stay up for long enough for people to realise we’d done it, there would be a touch of cheating. I’d be tempted to Velcro knees to shoulders. We could even have a mini trampoline at the front and flip the Velcro-clad top tiers! If it does collapse, my money would be on Chaka Carnage or Chariot Sophia being the cause. If you put them next to each other, the pyramid would collapse for sure.

Which Rocker is the most arty? And the least? Well, we just so happen to have the best Art Commit-tee around, in case you hadn’t noticed! So that award goes to the famous children’s illustrator in our ranks. We also have a seamstress in the form of Emma The Condemner, who is creative enough to be making a certain Rocker’s wedding dress! But I can’t tell you who, you’ll have to guess… I can definitely say I’m in there with the ‘can’t draw a stickman’ crew and I will do pretty much anything to avoid a paintbrush.

Have you been to any events in previous Fringes yourself? Absolutely. I love going to see things in the Fringe, it’s such a gamble. I saw the worst show ever when Empress Stah painted herself gold and pulled a glitter-filled balloon from somewhere that neither balloons or glitter should go! Then I discovered the NoFit State Circus, who are unbelievable. Really, you should check them out next time they’re down here. Moving on to the game, do you know much about the Middlesbrough team? Any particular Milk Rollers that you’re wary of? I’m so excited to be playing in this game. Middlesbrough are an awesome team! I’ve only encountered a couple of their players at mixed scrims and Team England tryouts. They’ve

got a bit of everything in the skaters I have seen, but I don’t know much about their style. I’ll have to wait and see, but that’s part of the fun! I never pick out individual skaters, because at the end of the day you’re only as good as your team.

Any new Rockers tactics we should keep an eye out for today? We’ve been working on some

awesome top secret chaos! Guaranteed you’ll be out of your seat and shouting away, as is the Rockers style. You’re in for a good ’un!

Would you like to predict the result of the game? Or the afterparty? I don’t think any mathematician in the world could predict the outcome of one of our games. That’s the beauty of a Rockers match, any-thing can happen. Although no one has yet beaten Rose in a dance-off at the afterparty.

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TEES TIMEAs the Rockers meet Middlesbrough for the firsttime, we chat with MMR’s LITTLE GRR-MAID...

girls try out for Team England. Nine in fact. It was re-ally encouraged by the captaincy team because it was an opportunity to play with some of the most talented people in the country. Ella and Terri getting through is massive for us. Firstly, we are proud, it proves when people are driven and work hard they can achieve awesome things, and it also shows MMR grows good players! We are getting a lot more publicity, which is obviously great for recruitment, something that can be difficult for an obscure sport in a smallish town.

What’s the roller derby scene like in the North East in general? It’s thriving. We have our sister league Newcastle up the road. Durham now has two teams, and there’s also a few men’s teams round and about, namely our brothers Teesside Skate Invaders and Tyne And Fear. It’s a good time to be playing der-by in the North East – you don’t have to travel too far to find a scrimmage or practice you can attend.

Moving on to today’s game, do you know much about the Brighton Rockers team? Are there

any particular Rockers players you’re go-ing to be keeping any eye out for today?

Yeah, we always keep an eye on our opponents. We’ve heard a lot of good stuff, and we’re ex-

pecting a close and challenging game. Obviously we’ll be watching out for Bash, though I’m sure

she’ll make her presence known early on!

Are there any particular Middlesbrough players people in the crowd should watch out for? Oh, that’s a difficult one. Terri and Ella are the obvious choices – they didn’t get places on Team England for just being pretty faces. Otherwise, I’d say Moose is definitely one to watch.

Would you like to predict the result of the game? Or the afterparty? I don’t want to say what’s going to happen on track. You can never really know. I think it will be a real nail-biter. Afterparty predictions? That’s easy. We always win ;)

Finally, do you have a message for any MMR fans in the crowd today? We really appreciate you travel-ling down to come and see us. Please shout loud!

Hi there. Can you tell us a bit about the Milk Rollers’ history and achievements to date? MMR started back in 2007 after Germaine Leer (who now skates for Leicester’s Dolly Rockits) went to see the London Rollergirls’ first ever open bout. We were the first North East league and one of the first UK teams. Up until 2012 we had a track record of losing games but winning afterparties. Now we try to win both. Our achievements include winning the Great Yorkshire Showdown and Queens of the Sin Bin tournament, and climbing into the European Top Ten after having two really successful seasons.

You famously took a whole year off competitive games in 2011 to focus on training. What was the thinking behind that? We were in a position where we were struggling for numbers, hadn’t won a single game and had a big gap in skills between the older and newer girls. We had to go back to basics and that meant a big focus on recruitment and training. Shutting our doors meant we could concen-trate on the areas we were lacking, look at gameplay, look at what other leagues were doing and really invest in our skaters. So far it seems to have worked. I mean we ended up winning some games! Seriously, I feel the quality of training and skaters has improved. That year allowed us to forge the hive mind we were striving to create.

With the London Rollergirls not being part of the UKRDA rankings system, the Milk Rollers cur-rently place as the highest ranked English team. How important is that to MMR? You know, for most of us it’s more about the team, getting to play, meeting your idols and being challenged. Whether we win or lose we are always striving to improve. As we climb it becomes harder to hold our position and that’s a good feeling; it means UK derby is improving, and it keeps us on our toes. We have a lot to learn and every game gives us the chance to develop.

There were two MMR skaters (Ella Storey and Terri Sudron) in the most recent Team England fourteen. How important is that international recognition to you as a league? We had a lot of our

T L10MIDDLESBROUGH MILK ROLLERS

AN OUTSIDE LINE“MMR and Brighton should prove to be a

pretty close battle – these are both very physical teams with strong blockers and fast agile jammers. MMR may seem to have an obvious advantage

with Team England skaters Terri Sudron and Ella Sto-rey in their crew, but there’s no denying the skill and strength of Brighton’s skaters – notably The Mighty Mighty Bash, Shambolic and Chariot Sophia.”LIVID DOLL, Leeds Roller Dolls

“To be honest, we don’t know a great deal about the Middlesbrough league, other than through watching the rankings tables. MMR have steadily risen up them over the past two years, and now rank fourth in the UKRDA behind Welsh and Scottish leagues. The predictor at flattrackstats suggests the Teessiders have a 69% chance of taking the win. We should point out here how consistent Rockers scoring has become in Haywards Heath, ending within a cou-ple of points of 175 in all their last four home games. The Milk Rollers, meanwhile, ignoring their recent heavy loss against uncontainable Brawl Saints, aver-age just over 200 both home and away. This tallies well with flattrackstats’ predicted 21-17 points differential, which would equate to a 170-210 away win. We’ll see how accurate that turns out to be, but there would be no shame in Brighton surrendering their unbeaten home record to a team as strong as MMR. Should the mighty Rockers take the win, their clean sweep of the top four English UKRDA teams might mean looking abroad – to Germany or Scandinavia, most likely – to find another suitable home challenge.”MISTER ADAM, Turn Left editor

T L 11 GAME PREVIEW

ROCKERS RESULTS

UKRDA RANKINGS TABLE

18/6/11 v Seaside Siren Roller Girls 281-166/8/11 v ROMSEY TOWN RLRBILLIES 141-13215/10/11 v DUBLIN ROLLERGIRLS 158-11518/2/12 v LRG BATTER C POWER 223-19210/3/12 v Gent Go-Go Girls 169-14014/4/12 v Romsey Town Rollerbillies 304-6026/5/12 v DOLLY ROCKIT ROLLERS 224-69 15/9/12 v Dublin Rollergirls 351-84 17/11/12 v BIG BUCKS HIGH ROLLERS 357-1109/3/13 v LONDON ROCKIN’ ROLLERS 237-21020/4/13 v Glasgow Roller Derby 111-31025/5/13 v Kent Roller Girls* 207-12025/5/13 v LRG Brawl Saints* 101-22326/5/13 v Bristol Roller Derby* 175-25121/9/13 v LEEDS ROLLER DOLLS 176-14226/10/13 v Auld Reekie Roller Girls 89-34923/11/13 v CENTRAL CITY ROLLERGIRLS 170-15615/2/14 v RAINY CITY ROLLERGIRLS 174-16315/3/14 v PARIS ROLLERGIRLS 178-174Only first team open door games are listed. Brighton’s score is listed first for all games. Capital letters indicate Brightonwere at home, lower case away, * = neutral/tournament

1 AULD REEKIE ROLLER GIRLS 731.72 TIGER BAY BRAWLERS 721.03 GLASGOW ROLLER DERBY 720.84 MIDDLESBROUGH MILK ROLLERS 676.55 RAINY CITY ROLLER GIRLS 674.76 CENTRAL CITY ROLLERGIRLS 666.57 LEEDS ROLLER DOLLS 652.68 HOT WHEEL ROLLER DERBY 650.29 HELLFIRE HARLOTS 648.710 BRIGHTON ROCKERS ROLLER DERBY 644.511 NEWCASTLE ROLLER GIRLS 639.312 ROYAL WINDSOR ROLLER GIRLS 637.513 HULLS ANGELS ROLLER DAMES 630.714 SEASIDE SIREN ROLLER GIRLS 610.515 BRISTOL ROLLER DERBY 603.216 PORTSMOUTH ROLLER WENCHES 595.8These rankings are correct as of 29th April 2014This table is based on UKRDA sanctioned games onlyFor up-to-date UK/European tables see flattrackstats.com

RECENT MMR RESULTS27/7/13 v Leeds Roller Dolls 175-1713/8/13 v London Rockin’ Rollers* 190-1213/8/13 v Hellfire Harlots* 232-1057/9/13 v Hot Wheel Roller Derby 222-1238/9/13 v COPENHAGEN ROLLER DERBY 187-13319/10/13 v NEWCASTLE ROLLER GIRLS 243-1051/3/14 v Royal Windsor Roller Girls 262-171 22/3/14 v LRG BRAWL SAINTS 74-300MMR’s score listed first for all games. Capital letters indicate MMR were at home, lower case away, * = neutral/tournament

PACK VS JAMMER

Absolutely, and it’s the same every time. Three hours of meditation followed by steak and steroids.

Shakira’s ‘Hips Don’t Lie’.

The whole team!

Not to be photographed in my typical landing on my arse pose.

I have Sure-Grip Isis with some Zombie wheels. They’re relatively new and I still can’t drive them.

Spinning around and then falling over, whether that’s while blocking another player or just on my own.

Receiving the league’s MVP award last year. I was proud as punch.

The sweet spot.

Under the bed with the cat.

The commitment.

It used to be fitting in small spaces, suitcase, bins etc. Now? Dancing like I haven’t got any rhythm.

See you on the track..

Do you have any special game day rituals or superstitions?

Is there any special song/music that motivates you for a game?

Is there anyone from today’s opponents you’re particularly wary of?

What are you personally hoping for from today’s game?

What skates/wheels do you play in and how long have you had them?

Do you have a particular ‘signature move’ you’re known for?

What’s your greatest achievement in roller derby?

What’s your favourite part of a derby track?

Where do you keep your MVP etc certificates?

What was the hardest part of learning to play roller derby?

Do you have a special afterparty skill/trick?

Do you have a message for your opposite number?

I don’t think I do personally, but as a team somebody always hits everyone’s knee pads. It was started by a former player called Finnish Her. We kept the ritual as a good luck thing that we do.

Last year Icona Pop’s ‘I love It’ was our skate out song. I love skating to it now as it reminds me of some of my favourite games.

I remember being at a boot camp a couple of years ago with Shambolic – she was crazy fast and had amazing footwork.

I’ve been working on different jamming techniques as sometimes you need to change how you play based on what the other team are like. I’m hoping to find a technique that works well against the Brighton blockers, score lots of points and have fun.

I have custom Antik AR1s which I’ve had for around a year and I’m currently skating on a mix of 89a and 95a Zombies.

My teammates have given it the nickname ‘Lolly Matrix’. I bend in all sorts of odd ways to get through the pack or avoid a hit.

We played Leeds Roller Dolls last year. It was a very tough game,but we managed to beat them by four points. The last jam and waiting for the points to be confirmed was very intense – I’ve never seen our team more excited about a win.

As a jammer I’d say the apex. It’s the widest part of the track, which is always an advantage, and it’s generally where the pack is more likely to be split up and I can do some fun jukey jamming.

In a derby memories box with loads of programmes etc.

I think you feel you’ve achieved something when you’ve learned the rules, then you start scrimmaging and realise all the different tactics and strategies coming into play – that’s the hardest part.

Not sure it’s a skill, but for a small person I can eat an impressive amount of food. This happens a lot after games when I’m starving.

Your Mum called, you left your game at home ;)

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TRAINING TIMEWhat does a typical Rockers training session involve? And how do the first team prepare for a game? We caught up with one of the All Stars coaches ROSE BLEED for the inside track...How often do the Rockers train in an average week? We understand your schedule changed a lot when you lost Shoreham as a venue. Has that (and the change of venues in general) caused any difficulties and/or advantages? We have really tak-en a hit by losing our Shoreham training venue – it’s a real struggle to find places to practise on days/times that everyone can make and in venues that we can ac-tually fit a derby track in! However, we make the most of what we can get, and still manage to squeeze in up to five hours training every week. We also currently have our own dedicated weekly CrossFit sessions for off skates training.

How do first team training sessions differ from general league sessions? Does the focus on these change in the weeks running up to a game? The All Stars have two hours a week dedicated to their train-ing. In this session we really concentrate on working together as a team, practising line-ups and perfecting our awesome new tactics for upcoming games. We also practise certain tactics over and over again un-til they become so organic we don’t even realise we’re doing them! The week before we are playing a game, though, this session will primarily be dedicated to practising and fine-tuning our line-ups.

How many members of the Rockers squad also coach the league? Who are the coaches, and do you each have specific as-pects that you concentrate on coaching? We cur-rently have seven coaches: Myself, Bash, Shambolic, Sophia, Derby McGee, Mass Janeycide and Mistress. Bash is head coach, Mass Janeycide concentrates on tactics because she doesn’t skate herself, and Mistress trains up all of our Fresh Meat. The rest of us coach both the league and the All Stars.

When the league was first set up, did anyone but Bash have experience of roller derby? When and how do people make the transition into coach-ing? Bash was the only person who had previously played derby when we were first starting out, and so from the very beginning we were being trained to her really high standards! After that, a few of us offered to help as we took on more players, and we now tend to ask people to help out with coaching if we think they have skills that can benefit the league.

You occasionally have guest coach sessions. For instance, Team England captain Kid Block came along to coach the Rockers recently. What are the benefits of sessions such as these? We try our best to get in guest coaches every few months. They bring new ideas and gameplay that our coaches may not have spotted, and can also help us to troubleshoot problem areas that we’ve been struggling to correct.

In terms of an individual, how does someone’s training regime change as they make their way through Fresh Meat, rookiedom and into the A-team? As soon as you finish your Fresh Meat training, we start to introduce you to basic gameplay, packwork and our key formations. As you become a more con-fident player, we then start to teach you our tactics and get you to work with other members of the team. Although it’s important that blockers and jammers perform their roles the best they possibly can, we do insist that everyone undergoes jammer and blocker training equally. This is how we’ve discovered some of our best jammers; people often have hidden talents!

The Rockers are next in action on Saturday 7th June, when a non-All Stars (lower level) squad travels across the Channel to take on Lille Roller Girls. Eurostar re-turns from London start at around £100, although a very limited selection of trains still have tickets at that price (others can be as much as double). Tickets/tim-ings are sketchy at present, but we can recommend Les Trois Brasseurs brewpub opposite Lille Flandres station, and the hotel (Balladins) conveniently locat-ed right above it. For those not making the trip, the Dolphin hosts derby the same day with a Heartland Series double header featuring Eastbourne’s Bourne Bombshells alongside teams from Milton Keynes, Hertford and Bedford. The Rockers All Stars will be back in action later this year, although no dates have been officially confirmed at this stage.

COMING DERBY GAMES

COACHING SESSIONS1�T L

FIT FOR DERBYAs if several skating training sessions a week isn’t enough, Brighton have an off skates workout schedule too, as RACEY explains...

The Rockers, like many roller derby leagues, seem to do a lot more off skates training these days. Why is that? After our heavy losses to Auld Reekie and Glasgow last year we really realised just how important off skates training is. Those teams were more skilled than us, but what stood out most was just how much stronger and fitter they were. So after that our Coaching Committee decided that it was something we needed to put more focus on, and since then we have partnered up with CrossFit Con-nect who hold special derby-specific sessions for us. At the moment CrossFit is the only off skates sessions we do as a league, but on top of that most of our skat-ers have their own off skates regimes which generally involve outdoor running, cycling and work in the gym. I’m not going to snitch on the slack-ers, but Carnage and Bash both have a pretty full-on routine.

What kind of off skates work is good for derby? I find cycling really useful. It’s cardiovascular exercise and also uses all the thigh and butt muscles, which are essential for derby. And then there are squats – many squats – we focus on weighted squats a lot at CrossFit. Generally I find it helps to have muscle all over. I do a lot of upper body stuff because it helps to have a bit of muscular padding when you are taking hits!

LRG-penned training book ‘The Roller Derby Athlete’ focuses a lot on exercises like planks. Do these provide benefits on track, or is it just an ex-cuse to torture people? I think it’s 50/50 ;) But, yes, this stuff works wonders for derby. Plyometrics, for example, isn’t something people would necessarily associate with derby, but it works wonders for agility and keeping jammers nippy and jumpy.

Cross-training is a big thing in derby now. What exactly is it? Cross-training is basically doing other different training aside from derby. It helps to make

sure that your whole body is being worked and not just the same muscles and systems all the time. We started our partnership with CrossFit at the beginning of the year and it’s going really well. We get to do all sorts of fun things like tyre flips, sledge pushing, wall balls and Tabata sit-ups. It’s surprising how beneficial it has been; obviously there is the fitness and strength side of things, but it is also good for team building and getting to know your teammates and new skaters in a different environment. It must be working – I can hardly get out of bed two days later!

A number of Rockers, yourself included, recently took part in a muddy obstacle course race called

Warrior Run. What was that like? Any plans for more of the same? The Warrior Run was

so much fun, and we actually finished it in a respectable time! I loved all the climbing obstacles – that stuff is right up my alley. We are inspired now and are looking into taking on the even harder Tough Mud-der later in the year, possibly in Europe as the water might be less icy there!

Is the primary focus of off skates work improving your skating, build-

ing on teamwork or muscle memory and injury prevention? It’s really a mix of

all of those. For me, it’s mainly about build-ing strength, which I think I need to focus on

as it suits my style of skating. Others might find the dynamic agility stuff more useful for their style. Finally, to anyone out there who might be at the point of starting to take up roller derby, is there any particular type of off skates work or general exercise regime you can recommend? If you are fit when you start, you will have a HUGE advantage and progress much quicker, as well as being less likely to get injured. I would recommend cycling as much as possible; to work, to the shops, to Uni, wherever. There is also a lot you can do at home if you don’t want to cough up for a gym membership. Strength and core strength training like sit-ups, squats and lifting weights – bricks, food tins, cats and skates all make good hand weights!

WORKING OUT T L1�

We don’t know of any other derby leagues with their own ‘home pub’. How did The Cornerstone’s relationship with the Rockers first come about? Mistress Von Über Vixen had been a customer for a while and we’d been chatting a lot about derby. The team were looking for more sponsors and I thought ‘football teams have home pubs, as do Uni sports teams, so why not a roller derby league?’

What kind of things have developed through the Rockers’ involvement with The Cornerstone? For example, did you play a part in the Downlands Brewery making a special beer for the derby league? Yes we did. It was my partner Ryan’s idea to create an ale for the Rockers as so many of the team drink real ale. So we approached our friend Widdi, the head brewer at Downlands, and he loved the idea. The first ale we created was a ruby bitter, but after feedback from the Rockers, Widdi was able to cre-ate their very own vegan ale! It sells out very quickly whenever we have it on the pumps...

You’re actually leaving your job at the pub prior to today’s game. Will The Cornerstone’s relation-ship with the Rockers be continuing under the new management? The pub will always support the Rockers. You’ll have to see what happens next. There are lots of ideas in the pipeline.

We understand the first derby game you attend-ed was the Rockers match against Central City in February. That game had quite an impact on you, and we hear you got your own skates shortly afterwards. Yes. It was my birthday a week or so af-ter that game, so I saw the opportunity to get skates

quicker than I would have been able to afford them myself. I have the best mum! After that it was just a case of changing my pub’s rota to enable me to make derby training sessions.

You’re now midway through Fresh Meat with the Portsmouth Roller Wenches. What does that in-volve? Why Portsmouth rather than Brighton? What does it involve? Lots of aching muscles! I’m now six weeks into Fresh Meat with the Wenches. They have been really supportive and I’ve progressed further and quicker than I could have expected. I chose Portsmouth because I’m moving down there this summer. It’s my hometown. I came to Brighton for University, graduated and then (like quite a lot of people) never got round to leaving!

Do you have much of a background in skating (be it on quads or inlines)? Anything else sport or exercise related that you think is helping you learn derby? I played about on skates as a child. I even had those Fisher Price skates that would strap on to your trainers, but I hadn’t skated for years when I started Fresh Meat. I do snowboard, though, which I’ve found definitely helps with my balance.

Are you getting much chance to practice your skating away from training? Where and what does that involve? I practice when I can, even if it’s just grapevining [a side-stepping dance move] on skates in my kitchen. When I’m a bit more confident I want to go out on my skates with my husky Sparky, but I’m not there yet.

Finally, what are your plans going forward, both generally (after leaving your job at the pub) and in terms of roller derby? I have an incredibly busy summer ahead. I run high volume bars for the Work-ers Beer Company at the Glastonbury, Latitude and Reading Festivals. Aside from that, I will also be prac-tising my skating every chance I get!

Departing Cornerstone manager FIONA MACKENZIE tells Turn Left all about the Rockers pub and her own derby dreams.

PUB EXITTHE CORNERSTONE17T L

INTERESTED IN TAKING UP DERBY?The latest Brighton Rockers Fresh Meat programme is now already in progress, having started at the end of April, but you can be amongst the first to hear about any future FM intakes. Drop the league an e-mail at info@brightonrockers.com and ask to be put on their mailing list. The league are always on the look out for referees and NSOs (Non-Skating Officials) – get in touch via the same address to find out more.

RANDOM QUESTIONS T L18

How many laps of a derby track can you do in five minutes? Thirty is my best.

Which of your Rockers teammates has the strangest pre-game ritual and what is it? Having only played one game for the Rockers I can’t say for sure. We have a team breakfast and a good night’s sleep before, and it’s all quite healthy and wholesome. Racey takes a very long time to put her kit on.

A team of cats is taking on a team of dogs at roller derby. Which of the sides do you think will win the game and why? Cats will win easily. Dogs are really stupid creatures – they would just follow the refs around and try to go for walks every time a whistle was blown. Cats are clever and would have strong derby brains, as well as being nimble and agile.

What’s the biggest thing you reckon you could jump over on skates? An apex.

When and where was the biggest roller derby bruise you have ever received, and did you give it a name? I had one that was kind of black on my hip. I think it was just from training. I didn’t actually

name it but I did love it. Oh, and I did have to go to hospital with concussion once too.

What’s your favourite current-ly in use derby name and why? Agent Cooper (of Croydon Roller Derby). Because Twin Peaks.

Where and when is the drunk-est you’ve ever been at a roller derby afterparty? Well, I know you’re all expecting me to say the

time after the Rainy City game a couple of months ago, when I may have had a small trip to A&E with Conspicuous Banger, and it probably was. Also I did wake up the day after another game still wearing all my kit; shoes, socks, sports shorts, team top, etc...