This weekend we are hosting our first bout with Stockholm Roller Derby marking the end of our fifth season of competitive roller derby.
Born in early 2007 at a time when roller derby was relatively unknown in the UK, the Rockin’ Rollers were one of the first leagues in Europe. Now, in 2012, roller derby is being played all over the world, and we are proud to say that the Rockin’ Rollers are still here, rolling with the punches, along with the best!
Here is a taste of what we’ve been doing these last five years…
We took part in the UK’s first inter-league scrimmage with the Birmingham Blitz Dames on 1 July 2007 and we met them again on the track, for a public bout in October that year. That was hot on the wheels of Europe’s first inter-league bout earlier that same October against the Stuttgart Valley Roller Girlz - a tradition we’ve returned to every year with the ‘Skate Wars’ bouts!
We hosted our first home bout season in 2009 and over the next few years saw roller derby explode across the UK. We formed our B team in 2010 and in 2011 got to excitedly wave off three of our A team stars as they headed over to Canada to take part in the first ever Roller Derby World Cup.
This last year has been a whirl-wind of activity! We hosted our first ever bootcamp, which was a great success, with skaters coming to train with us from all over the UK, and as far a field as Australia. We won the coveted Tattoo Freeze tournament, this year endorsed by UKRDA, which we’ve been supporting since it was first created.
Another tradition since the league was founded is taking part in the Ace Cafe Reunion charity fundraiser, collecting cash for a variety of causes. Charity fundraising has always been, and will continue to be, at the heart of the league and the Ace Cafe event is where our Fresh Meat get to mingle for the first time with the league members.
Our brand-new Wreck League is proving to be a hot bed of talent and fun times and we are now on to our second Fresh Meat programme of the year – we look forward to welcoming these new skaters to our recreational league, at the end of their 12 week training. We had an exciting summer when some of our skaters got to take part in the London Olympics opening ceremony (they wore their Rockin’ Rollers Y-fronts under their outfits for luck, obviously).
So what has kept us going these last few years, through all the hard work, the wins, the losses and the penalty box stints? Our love of derby has. The London Rockin’ Rollers are a family of passionate skaters, we aim to be the life and soul of roller derby and we’re proud of our grassroots heritage, training skaters from scratch and giving everyone the opportunity to play this wonderful sport.
And of course, let’s not forget the after parties. We always win the after party…
So if you fancy celebrating with us in style, come see us this Saturday for a night to remember – not only some cracking roller derby between two top 10 ranked European teams, but we’ll also be having a birthday party with league members old and new.
Whether you’ve been with us for five years or five minutes, welcome to the London Rockin’ Rollers – we hope you’ll join us this weekend in looking ahead to the next five years!