Steam Rollers V Suffra Jets
Tottenham Green Leisure, Sat 6 Dec, 1 Philip Lane, Tottenham, London N15 4JA
The London Rollergirl's first full season is well underway, with our travel team, London Brawling, annihilating the Birmingham Bombshells 23-254 earlier this month.
But it's time for London's themed teams to go head to head again in the second round of the capital's championship tournament. The steampunk-themed Steam Rollers will be taking on the undefeated Suffra Jets for an hour of live, hard-hitting, fast-skating roller derby action.
The two all-female roller derby teams will be playing an exciting game that combines speed, teamwork and brutal violence to see who will emerge victorious, ready for the Championship Final in the spring.
Roller derby is a sport that originated in 1930s America but is enjoying a grassroots revival across the pond and here in the UK.
It involves four roller skaters ("blockers") from each team circling an elliptical track in tight formation, while each team's designated point score (the "jammer") attempts to fight their way through and lap the opposing team's players. Tripping and grabbing are both forbidden, but players can barge into each other or knock each other over with a well timed hip check.
The London Rollergirls is the UK's oldest, biggest and best derby league, and their three teams (Suffra Jets, Ultraviolent Femmes and Steam Rollers) will be competing throughout the rest of 2008 until the finals in Spring. A sell-out 500 capacity crowd is expected at each of the games, and there will be cupcakes, a raffle, afterparty and DJs playing during the bout.
You can expect to see the Suffra Jets wearing purple sashes proclaiming "To Equality, and Beyond!", while the Steam Rollers will be kitted out in neo-Victorian style with cogs, brass, goggles and ruffles.
Tickets for A Christmas Quarrel will soon be on sale at www.londonrollergirls.com
For more information, images, interviews or to arrange a special training session contact [email protected]
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EDITOR'S NOTES: WHO ARE THE LONDON ROLLERGIRLS?
"One of Britain's fastest-growing grassroots sports… the perfect pastime for feminists with attitude" The Guardian
"Rapidly becoming the next big thing" The Independent
"The most exciting sport on wheels" Time Out
"Exhilarating speed, hard hits and a DIY spirit" thelondonpaper
We're more than fifty women of all shapes, sizes, ages and nationalities who skate for and run a not-for-profit roller derby league, playing one of the most exciting new sports to hit the nation.
Roller derby involves two teams of four blockers skating round an elliptical track, while a point scorer from each team ("the jammer") tries to fight her way through, gaining a point for each opposing player she passes. Trips, grabs, elbows, headbutts and fist-fighting are all illegal – but spine-crunching shoulder barges, hip checks and booty blocks are totally legit.
The sport originated in Depression-era America, but it was reborn in Texas in 2001 as an all-female sport by a new generation of tough women. Now there are hundreds of leagues in the States, with new leagues springing up regularly all over Britain and Europe.
It's fast, fierce and fun, with die-hard crowds of up to 500 cheering the Rollergirls on and waving home-made banners. We train hard, plot tactics and keep ourselves at a top level of fitness, but there's also more going on at a roller derby bout than at your average sports event. We've got DJs playing punk, indie and electro, a bar selling beer, raffles with cool prizes, and an afterparty that's free to ticket holders.
With its fun, retro outfits (think fishnet tights, gold lamé hot pants, mini skirts, and stripy socks) and strong bunch of women sporting alter egos like 'Bonnie Boiler' and 'Fox Sake', roller derby was always going to capture the attention of the media.
And the fact that Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Juno star Ellen Page turned up at a roller derby match in LA shows how much this independent, grass-roots sport has hit the big time. Whip It!, a film directed by Drew about a young rollergirl played by Ellen is expected to hit cinema screens in 2009.
