Memories of Meadowbank – by Crazylegs

Cold, grey and pretty much falling apart.  It may not look like a palace of dreams, but this city centre sports centre has, for the last nine years, been filled with the most intense of emotions and exertions for Auld Reekie; first game nerves with shaking legs and dry mouths, the elated wins,  the dashed hopes, proud parents, adoring kids, the cheers, the tears and the ever present circle of friendly high fives.  The 3rd of December will mark the closure and demolition of Meadowbank as we know it, and the start of major redevelopment plans to create a new state-of-the-art sports centre.

Opened by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent on 2 May 1970, Meadowbank was the first stadium ever to host two Commonwealth Games (1970 and 1986), but more importantly, it was also the site of the first public Roller Derby bout in Edinburgh – Fishnet Burns – in January 2009.  Since then, Auld Reekie have made it our home venue, and hosted almost 100 games, boot camps and events there.

Hundreds of spectators experienced their first taste of roller derby in this building and thousands of people from around the globe have skated, officiated, DJ’d, announced, and volunteered in the huge, and familiar Hall 1 at Meadowbank.   It took a wee while to convince the Management at Meadowbank that our sport was legit, and our wheels wouldn’t damage the floor but finally they acquiesced and a beautiful and long standing relationship was formed.  Here are a few of our favourite memories from our times at the hallowed Hall 1.

Fishnet Burns Night

As was usual in 2009, we were short of skaters to make up two teams for our first home game, ‘Fishnet Burns Night’, so filled the gaps with guest skaters from London Rollergirls ‘ London Brawling’ team. Stef Mainey, Grievous Bodily Charm and Sinister Mary Clarence to name a few, gamely donned some tartan and chains (themes were the vogue) to skate for the Highland Heathens and Celtic Chaos and our first ever Home Teams were born.  Our Brawling guests helpfully pointed that we’d underestimated the hall size required for a full track and a short safety panic ensued, about the closeness of the track to the wall – to be resolved by the staff at Meadowbank supplying a pile of crash mats that we  duct taped to the walls! High tech safety feature in place, the game could go on! Fishnet Burns was the first outing of Celtic Chaos and Highland Heathens, and the first (and last) Auld Reekie game ever to be played in Hall 2 at Meadowbank was a success!

That’s Entertainment!

Following their debut, our team went from strength to strength, and played game after exciting game in the cavernous Hall 1 and as we grew, the number of teams and games exploded until we were hosting European teams, doubleheaders, and tournaments and boot camps. With each game came a new poster theme a new skate out song, and a new result. Half time entertainment went wild with pipers, drummers, choirs, jousting on giant space hoppers, audience races, egg and spoons, conga lines, chuck a duck, and so many more. Bonnie Burrito and the bARRG became a must for avid game goers and nothing could raise the heckles and bring a tear to our eyes more than hearing the familiar ‘Auld Reekie You’re so Fine’ chat combined with much clapping and stamping in the bleachers in support of our teams battling it out on track.

Home Season

After expanding our Home Season teams from two to three and rebranding them, Home Seasons at Meadowbank always created a huge buzz for our league and filled the hall to the brim with friends and family all fired up and ready to cheer the Cherry Bomber under dogs as was tradition.  Home Team themes and identities changed with the rosters over the years and planning the skate out took as much time as learning the game strategies; highlights include the cool and confident Cherry Bombers bursting through a huge sheet of paper held across the track, the Leithal Weapons epic Titanic themed intro complete with cardboard waves, and a majestic Jack and Rose and of course, the Skatefast Club brimming with 80’s attitude entering the hall through billows (thin wisps) of dry ice and awkwardly throwing sweets into the audience. Hands down the most exciting moment in Home Season history was the 2014 season final, when SFC jammer Kiki pulled out a tear inducing, heroic 1 point, last jam win over the reigning Home Season Champs Leithal Weapons.

School of ARRG Knocks

As our All Star team rose through the rankings, we used the halls and classrooms of Meadowbank to share our knowledge off skates and on, at the annual School of ARRG knocks -the boot camp of all boot camps.  For these, we took the ARRG quirkiness and just like our relentless use of a pun, we took it as far as we could push it.  Not content with hosting 60 skaters of different levels from all over Europe, we wanted to bring something extra, we had a Headmistress, classroom assistants, a school bell, school photographer, packed lunches and even a designated janitor to repair track and clean up spills – everyone dressed up and it was hilarious.  The year 2012 birthed the legendary School of ARRG Knocks warm up, to be bettered every year with Fame themed workouts, boyband dance routines (SOAK 5ive) to an elaborate weapons selecting cornucopia based HungARRG Games themed warm up.  Every boot camp should begin with absolute hilarity, we’ve loved every minute of delivering ours.

British Championships

May 2015 saw us host our first British Champs Tier 1 tournament, and a determination to make it the biggest and the best atmosphere ever; we decked out Meadowbank in endless amounts of bunting, and posters, we baked more cakes than anyone should see in a lifetime, and we had the biggest crowd ever seen at any Scottish Roller Derby event – the bleachers were full, the noise was unbelievable, and for the first time ever, we had a Bar (or a bARRG)….the Glasgow/Edinburgh friendly rivalry, manifested through loud singing and chants and fueled with drink was a sight to behold. Sadly we lost that day to Glasgow, but we took the win over Rainy City and secured our first ever silver medal!

Graffiti Art

Our new C Team, the ASTROS (All Star Rookies), came into play for 2016 and it also saw our relationship with the Meadowbank staff tested to the max as we decided to pull in the crowds by grabbing some giant brightly coloured chalks and drawing all over the pavements outside, inviting people to ‘COME WATCH LIVE ROLLER DERBY!!’  Unbeknownst to us, there was a very official fireworks event at Meadowbank planned for that evening, and the duty manager was understandably upset about the state of their frontage. After profusely apologising and spending forever washing the chalk off with buckets of soapy water, imagine our delight when it started to rain so heavily that the fireworks display was eventually called off as well…

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Hands down our most cherished memories are full of chilled out times with our team-mates in the gigantic ‘home’ changing room, when one by one, we gathered on game day – focused, nervous, happy, determined.  Carrying out familiar activities, chattering with nervous energy, chilling out with headphones on, fastidiously laying out equipment and checking lists over and over again.  The changing room became a place for bonding, meditation, visualisation, strategic talks and inspirational speeches; we wrote down our fears and hopes and dreams.  We shouted our values and celebrated our strengths and we dared to dream of triumphs and success, but most importantly, we knew that as long as we had each other we could take on the world.

 

At some point, over the next few months, the walls will get torn down and the roof will crumple and our  beautiful wooden floor will be gone.  It’s the end of an era and our future is uncertain as we continue with our search to find a venue available for us to host home games.  Meadowbank, we will miss you – thanks for an amazing decade.

Here’s a wee video of all our programmes from the years…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following on from the Twisted Thistles’ success at the ECDX tournament in Philadelphia last year, the entire league pulled together again this year to organise and fundraise for a return visit to the USA: this time, to the cheekily-named Big O tournament in Eugene, Oregon (1st – 3rd May 2014). A valuable chance to watch the highest-ranked teams play and to check out new tactics and strategies, it also gave the Twisted Thistles the opportunity to go head to head against some tough opponents and see how we compared against teams ranked higher than ourselves.

Having all successfully made our way to Portland, Oregon with skates and kit intact, we kicked off our trip with an unofficial game before the tournament against the Rose City B team Axles of Annihilation. This gave us the opportunity to get our heads back into the game, and also to practice skating on a sports-cork floor, slightly more slippery and unpredictable than the wooden floor we usually practice on.

As the only European team in attendance, we were asked to sing O Flower of Scotland at the opening ceremony: having done some frantic last-minute practicing in a hotel room the night before, we decided to go a cappella and belt it out in finest Scottish tradition without musical accompaniment. It was quite a contrast to the respectful and beautifully-sung Canadian and USA anthems which preceded it!

Once the tournament kicked off, we realised we were up against some tough competition: nearly all the team we were scheduled to play against were ranked significantly above us in the WFTDA worldwide rankings. Our first game was against Arizona (ranked number 54), whose line-up included Team USA skater Atomatrix. ARRG put up a respectable fight, but the final result was a win for Arizona of 333-174. Saturday saw two games in one day, and two surprise wins for ARRG against number 42-ranked Tuscon (177-141) and number 39-ranked Sac City (169-151). Tournaments usually bring out the best in ARRG, and it was clear that all the hard work in the previous months – working on our strength, endurance and the ARRG ‘hive mind’ – were paying off. Our final game was against Emerald City, the hosts of the Big O tournament. Near us in the rankings, it was clear from the start that it would be a closely-matched game. Despite skating our hearts out, we lost to a solid and tightly-knit Emerald 193 – 142. Happy but knackered, we then headed to the bleachers to watch our own Admiral Attackbar skate as one of ‘Team MVP’ vs Team America. When Admiral pushed through the pack as the first jammer to put points on the board for Team MVP, her ARRG supporters went wild!

We had a couple of days in Portland after the tournament to decompress: a process that involved multiple visits to Whole Foods, hours soaking in the small pool in the basement of our hotel and a not inconsiderable number of cocktails. Returning to Edinburgh tired but happy, we’ve got plenty to work on to make our league stronger and better than ever.

 

 

Results:
ARRG vs Arizona: 174-333
ARRG vs Tuscon: 177 – 141
ARRG vs Sac City: 169 – 151
ARRG vs Emerald City: 142 – 193

What a fantastically jammed packed Fringe of joy! There was just so much going on I don’t even know where to begin. First we had one heck of a Fringe bout on the 10^th of August when the Twisted Thistles took to the track at Meadowbank Sports Centre to knock about in #DieARRG fashion against the Stockholm Roller Derby All-Stars.

They went back and forth, and for a while it seemed close, with both teams playing well with excellent jamming and impenetrable walls, but in the second half the Twisted Thistles pulled through and came out with a well-deserved 194 to 104 WIN!

But ARRG never rests, especially not in August. Just a few short weeks later (August 24^th) in a closed home bout against the Helsinki All-Star Ninja Turtles, the Twisted Thistles again worked together and slammed the turtles, Shredder style, racking up a final score of 218 to 133.

If that wasn’t enough excitement for one day, the doors of Meadowbank were thrown open and the Fringe crowds streamed in for the second of the Edinburgh Fringe bouts: Die ARRG With a Vengeance! Which featured the Helsinki Queen Bs and ARRG’s Cannon Belles. In this bout the Belles debuted some new skaters and exploded right out of the gate. Powerful hits and power jams kept the Belles’ score going up, with a final tally of 322 to 69.

After the fringe bouts, in true ARRG style, we partied ARRG with Helsinki and remembered how nice it is to be nice.

But, but, but! That’s not all we have going on at ARRG!

Starting up on September 1^st, we have the latest round of Fresh Meat strapping on their skates and pads to give derby a go. Learn how to give it a go by emailing newskaters@auldreekierollerderby.com.

On September 28^th, the Cannon Belles, fresh off of their win against Helsinki,  will be back working closely together and bouting against the Middlesborough Milk Rollers B Team at Meadowbank. Doors open at 2pm. Tickets will go on sale soon.

Then, on October 26^th, the Twisted Thistles will be kitting up for their next home bout against the Brighton Rockers.

There’s LOADS more coming up too: European travel bouts and lots of off-skates fun for everyone to get involved with. Want to learn how? Give us a shout here. You know you want to be a part of ARRG.

Plus, In top secret news: there are plans afoot for another amazing ARRG bootcamp! Keep your ears to the ground and you eyes on Twitter (@auldreekierg) and Facebook for more details.

Home Team Affiliation: Leithal Weapons!

Joined ARRG in: 2009

Favourite position to play: Pivot

Best ARRG memory: Listening to Crotch Lightening and Crazylegs on the radio with Mo B Quick, Fay Bentos, Coco Carnage and Coco’s baby. Crazylegs tried to explain to the world that roller derby is indeed a *real sport*. We texted into the show as ‘listeners’ to ask about their favorite athletic snacks, so they could get prawns and avocados into the interview. Then when the host was being a sexist fool we texted in to ask whether they were sick of sexist fools. He didn’t get it – but it didn’t matter because they did and we did and it’s all about us anyway. Like most of roller derby. (Also that baby’s gonna grow up pretty awesome.)

Favourite after skate drink/snack: A spinach, banana, flax and protein powder smoothie. I add avocado on special occasions (i.e. when I have one).

Worst Derby injury: Broken ankle/sanity/spirit.

Best Derby advice: Don’t let what you love about derby be how ‘good’ you were at any given practice. Love something more consistent and worthwhile than that.

Any funny/embarrassing derby stories? The part where I prioritize skating around lots over my PhD, partners, job, politics, body… life? Is that embarrassing?

Derby Hero: I’m not into heroes. Or maybe I’m into everyone in ARRG being a hero as well as most people I know. When I started skating I was inspired by Sarah MacMillon from Glasgow, though. She’s good at everything, super athletic, close to home and also a vegan!

What do you do outside of derby: I try to find, learn about, develop, practice and write about radical methods for learning and teaching politics. Sometimes this is with Indigenous people in the Canadian Arctic. Sometimes it is at the University of Edinburgh. (= I’m a PhD student, tutor, lecturer, curriculum developer and research consultant).

 Bruise Leigh is not only a key member of ARRG, she is also the captain of the Cannon Belles for their first outing of 2013, when they will be taking on Austria’s first and only roller derby team: the Vienna Rollergirls at Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh.

They’ve bouted in Europe and even on a boat, and now the Vienna Rollergirls they are coming all the way to Edinburgh to play against the Cannon Belles in their travel team’s FIRST EVER UK bout.

You’ll see pitiless hitting, speedy sprinting and awesome strategic play all the while our announcers explain the teams’ tactics and commentate on the action.

Come along at 2pm on Saturday 18th May to witness roller derby in all its fast-paced glory as Auld Reekie’s Cannon Belles take on the opposition, coming all the way from Vienna to play!

We can promise you cakes, thrills, spills, and plenty of awesome merchandise and bargains from Edinburgh’s craftiest ladies and gents so don’t forget your pennies.

And after the bout, come with us to PARTY ARRG at the after party at Fiddler’s Elbow, in York Place from 7PM. Entry is free, but there will be a donations bucket on the door for our ECDX Travel Fund!

 AlbaRoma will be playing! They are an Edinburgh band that combines swing, Balkan and jazz melodies with punk speed and energy, accompanied by left wing ranting, raving and roaring. You can check them out here: https://www.facebook.com/albaroma

Get your bout tickets now and we’ll see you there!

 

 

 

Saturday 16^th February saw the second bout in the Auld Reekie Roller Girls 2013 home season, when the Skatefast Club (SFC) took on the Cherry Bombers (CB) at Meadowbank. It was the debut bout of the season for the Skatefast Club, and the debut game for some of SFC’s new skaters – from the SFC: LUruk-Hai, Slamboyance, and Pope John Brawl;

The Bombers were defeated in bout 1 when they took on The Leithal Weapons, so they were all set to kick some SFC ass. As the bout started, in her debut SFC bout, Zillah stepped up to jam against CB Caitlin. Zillah fired off the line to take lead, scored two points and called off the jam.

Jam 2 saw SFC field Lilo and Stitches as jammer, whilst the Bombers sent in Circuit Breaker. Stitches shot through the pack and scored the first 4 points for the SFC before calling the jam. Jam 3 saw Skinner Alive jamming for SFC, and she was held back spectacularly by Grrsula, Demon Speeding and Et Tu Brutal, but Skinner managed to break the pack and scored another 3 points.

Both teams fought hard throughout the first half, and the Bombers saw some incredible jamming from Teenie Bash, who fought hard and scored well. Caitlin was also a stand out jammer in the first period, getting lead and scoring high. Zillah gained even more points for the Bombers during an amazing powerjam which saw her clear 15 points in a minute and a half!

A few jams later and the SFC was in a powerjam. The wall that Velosidy, Grrrsula and ParaBeat’emAll made was a sight to behold and had to be intimidating to the SFC jammer. But, Mo B Quick made it through though with some offensive help from Bint Imperial, and expertly called the jam off just as Circuit Breaker was released from the bin.

The first period ended with the score at SFC 112 – 22 CB, though not before a tremendous display of ‘how to knock out a whole team’ by Crazylegs.

As we entered the second period, the Bombers were brutalised by Mallory Powers as she landed some serious hits. Jam 25 was another powerjam to the SFC, and Fanny Thunders showed just how good her blocking was as she held Mo B Quick back singlehandedly for long enough to allow Teenie Bash back on track.

Some amazing skating skills followed – Zillah avoided hits with insanely low body swerves, Tartan Tearaway put in some hard slams, Debris Harry caught jammers as they sped away and Slamboyance, Apocalypse Cow and LUruk-Hai made super tight walls.

Towards the end we saw an amazing jamming debut from Pope John Brawl who was given the most stupendous cheer from the crowd as she took lead! Some jammer on jammer action ensued and no points were scored in that jam, and she headed back on for another go.

It all got very exciting as she was sent off, leaving the Bombers in a powerjam…and within 10 seconds, Zillah was sent off and Pope returned to change the powerjam in favour of the SFC. Two more jams saw more points for both teams, but the clock was ticking and as the final whistle blew, the score was set at SFC 251 – 72 CB.

The Bombers fought hard and played well, but the SFC were just too formidable on the day and they took an early lead and kept building points. Both teams were a dream to watch.

The Skatefast Club will next play the Leithal Weapons on March 9th, and then the HOME SEASON FINAL will take place on April 6^th where all three teams will be skating: the top two battle it out for the coveted accolade of being Home Season Champions of 2013, while the third placed team will get to play a still unknown yet rumoured particularly interesting Scottish team.

 

 

 

 

It has been all hands on deck since the last ARRG roundup, so let’s catch you up on the latest.

On 25 March, the Cannon Belles went to Perth to play the Fair City Rollers‘ Fear Maidens. Despite the exceptionally nice Scottish weather, ARRG fans were many and the atmosphere was lovely. The Belles played a strong game, and though the Maidens fought hard, the final score ended up 324 to 65 for the Belles.

Home Season Draws to a close

Shortly after, the Cherry Bombers played against the Skatefast Club to find the opponent for the Leithal Weapons in the final of ARRG’s first home season. We saw formidable skating from both sides, but the Skatefast Club won with 186 to 155. What a great bout!

The final then consisted of a delectable double header. The Cherry Bombers started the evening by playing GRG’s Hell’s Belles, and both sides showed excellent sportswomanship. The final score was 214 to 38 for the Hell’s Belles.

And, finally, it was time for the Skatefast Club to play the Leithal Weapons. The bout was spectacular and had the audience at the edge of their seats more than once. In the end the Leithal Weapons were victorious, despite a skate malfunction from Leithal’s jammer, Admiral Attackbar. The final score was Leithal Weapons 159, and Skatefast Club 126.

The after party was just as memorable as the first home season it celebrated, not least thanks to our hosts at Elbow.

The Home Season awards, voted for by all three teams, went to :

Admiral Attackbar: Best Jammer
Alma Geddon: Best Blocker
Stefanie Skinner: MVP

Eurocrash

Unfortunately, The Skatefast Club’s Crazylegs missed out on the season final fun, but showed her support in a yellow outfit while playing as part of the European All-Stars Invitational Team at ‘Anarchy: Euro Crash‘ in London. The event saw a team made up of the best skaters around Europe, including skaters from Stockholm Roller Derby, Glasgow Roller Derby, Bear City Roller Girls and Stuttgart Vallery Roller Girls.
Crazylegs said about the weekend: ‚‘it was an enjoyable, tough hard fought bout and a pleasure to skate with so many skaters from Euro teams‘.

COWABUNGArrg!

Next on the busy ARRG schedule was an away game against Helsinki Roller Derby‘s All-Star Ninja Turtles. The Twisted Thistles travelled to Helsinki en masse to bout and followed it up by running a boot camp for members of HRD the next day.This was a huge benchmark for the team, as it was the first bootcamp ARRG have ever run, and to great success. The Helsinki girls were massively welcoming and gave us lots of lovely feedback from the weekend, which included a day of of drills, covering agility, packwork, strategy, and a scrimmage.
Watch this space for more news about ARRG bootcamps closer to home!

London Calling!

On 19 May the Thistles were on the road again, this time heading south to London to play the Suffra Jets. The game was great to watch – and the Suffra Jets came away with the win. The final score clocked in at 221 – 103 to the Suffra Jets. However, the weekend was far from over. The Thistles took it easy at the afterparty, because the next day, they played in a WFTDA sanctioned closed-door bout against London’s all star travel team, London Brawling. Brawling, a mighty opponent, fielded their strongest lineup, but ARRG fought for every point and the score ended up 667-18 to Brawling. Though the score differential may have been record breaking, the Thistles rose to the challenge and used the game as a chance to learn and grow as a team. We can’t wait to play them again!

The Belles bout Kent

Just the weekend after, the Cannon Belles played the Kent Roller Girls. The bout was excellent to watch as the scoreline stayed tight throughout the game, but in the end, the Belles came out on top with a win of 216-150.
Awards for ARRG were:
Best Blocker: Bint Imperial
Best Jammer: Lilo & Stitches
MVP: Circuit Breaker

10 to go to Berlin!

This weekend, the Thistles are on the road yet again, travelling to Berlin for a WFTDA sanctioned game on 16 June. The short roster will see a number of newer skaters make their debut, but we are sure they will fit right in and give the Berlin Bombshells all they’ve got!

This won’t be the last time we see Berlin this year, however, as the Twisted Thistles have been accepted to attend the first ever WFTDA sanctioned tournament for European WFTDA teams this November in Berlin. We’ll keep you abreast of any developments with this, but for now, the dates are 16-18 November 2012.

Last but not least…

As always, ARRG will be at the Fringe Festival this year! Catch the Twisted Thistles playing Cardiff’s Tiger Bay Brawlers on 4 August, and witness the Cannon Belles taking on the Dublin Roller Girls on 18 August. Watch this space for more information and to find out where you can find tickets to these unmissable bouts.

Are you addicted to ARRG and want to know the latest first? Then follow us on Twitter or Facebook and always be the first to know! You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/auldreekierollergirls and on Twitter at @AuldReekieRG.

Fancy photographing our bouts? Just drop us on an email here.

It is exciting derby times we live in! Don’t miss any of it! – ARRG xx