We’re finishing off 2015’s featured ARRG members with a special entry – the amazing brand new baby referee, Owen! Affectionately known as Beardylocks on account of his wonderfully hirsute look, he’s now a fully fledged member of our officials team, both on and off skates. 

So, even if skating doesn’t look appealing to you, but you love roller derby, there’s something for everyone! If you do think skating sounds like your cup of tea, why not try out our taster day? You don’t need your own kit or anything! The next event is on January 17th, and is only £5. Email newskaters@auldreekierollerderby.com to book your slot, and you might even meet the famous Beardylocks!

Let’s hear a bit more about his story:

Joined ARRG in: March 2015

Role in ARRG: Baby Zebra

Favourite position to officiate: Penalty Tracker/Jam Ref

Your Derby story – why are you here?:In a land before time (Inverness) I worked with a very good friend of mine who ended up as a referee through in Aberdeen, he decided to make it his life work to get me into a pair of skates. Rewinding slightly before that, I’d been involved in Roller Derby on and off since I’d lived New Zealand and got a chance to see the positive impact it can have on peoples lives and as such I wanted to become more involved and try to give back to the sport. While it took a few years from Wookies initial badgering to actually start trying to skate ( and about another 3-4 years on top of that of starting fresh meat then moving cities, lets just say I wasn’t a natural ) it’s been a great journey, with lots of opportunities to NSO and make a fool of myself in new and unexpected ways.

Best official-related advice: Try every role. Every time I’ve tried a new role it’s given me something I can take back to my preferred positions and given me a better insight of how the crew fits together and the different pressures at play.

What you do for the league aside from officiating: Sadly not much! At the time of writing I’ve just made it through Fresh Meat and am beginning to look at what I can do to help.

Any funny/embarrassing officiating stories: Nope. None. I definitely did not wipe out on the Jack Kane dead body multiple times during home team scrims

Derby Hero: I’m going to cop out of this and say I can’t name just one.  Outside of just the simple fact that anyone who gives up their time to take part be it as skaters/officials or volunteers  is awesome; I’ve also had so many great personal experiences. The number of skaters who have supported me in learning the basic skills ( in particular plough stops ), officials who have helped me when ever I’ve tried a new position ( a special mention to Jane Eerie for putting up with me decapitating her cup cake )  and just generally great people who’ve frantically directed me towards the nearest vending machine for my twice hourly caffeine fix is huge.  I do have to mention Mags though, for helping me find my ref voice ( to everyone else’s misfortune).

What do you do outside of derby: I work as a Systems Engineer so when I’m not at derby I tend to either be commuting and staring at a laptop or sitting at a desk and staring at a laptop. I also occasionally do long distance runs barefoot for charity.

Fun fact about you: I own a worrying array of stuffed and inflatable dinosaurs

Last night saw the whole league embark upon 28 York Place for our second Annual Awards Ball.

Everyone arrived to a welcome glass of Prosecco, and made their way downstairs for some food before things got underway. The ever-excellent Stephen Tawking was our compere for the evening, and he did not disappoint. The awards got under way, with a whole load of skating awards to start the night off. We took a wee break to draw the golden ticket winner – Congratulations Rich on winning that box of tape (and thank you for distributing it out to us all!) and then we drew some incredible raffle prizes, including a hoodie from Interplanetary Print Syndicate, dinner for two at Pinto, tickets for Camera Obscura, a Wikko skates voucher, a set of amazing books, a Surf Lesson, a go at Alien Rock, A Walkers Shortbread hamper and tickets to Edinburghs Hogmanay!

After some more awards were announced, we had a wee fun game, where the winners won passes for Westwoods Health Club, then we commenced the auction – some of the prizes included hand made cushion from End of Terrace Trading, Zorbing with Rolling Haggis, a pair of Wikko Skates, a Tattoo voucher from Red Hot and Blue, hair styling voucher from Miss Dixiebelle, ticket for the Silver Tour at The Scotch Whisky Experience, , a shot at Go Ape… it was incredible! So many amazing things, and we definitely want to extend a massive thank you to all the companies who donated prizes.

Then, it was time for the dancing. With a cracking DJ set from the amazing Harlot Bronte, everyone was on the floor all night until closing – and