LOCAL SPORTS CLUBS AWARDED CASH4CLUB GRANT TO HELP MANAGE IMPACT OF COVID-19

After receiving over 1,000 entries Cash 4 Clubs is pleased to award a grant of £2,500 to members of Auld Reekie Roller Derby.  Celebrating its 12^th annual campaign, Cash 4 Clubs is a grassroots sports scheme which provides clubs with grants to improve facilities, purchase new equipment, gain coaching qualifications and generally invest in the sustainability of their club.  Recognising the significant impact that Covid-19 has had on clubs’ finances, the maximum grant available has been increased to £5,000 and a total of £165,000 of grants have been allocated this year

The charitable scheme is open to all local sports clubs in the UK & Ireland and has given out more than £350k since its launch in 2008.

Given the financial hardship many clubs have faced during the Covid-19 crisis, grants have been allocated to clubs that need help to ensure they can continue the important work they do to keep their community active, beyond the pandemic.

Following their successful application via the Cash 4 Clubs website, members of Auld Reekie Roller Derby will be spending the well-deserved cash on much needed:

1. Safe training
   First Aid training, safety kits, social distancing reminder posters and new equipment so that people don’t have to share. 
2. Prepared and trained coaches
   Coach fund accessible to regular coach volunteers, to cover partial or full costs as needed, based on priority goals for the Club and for retention / coach development purposes. We’d access training such as: unconscious bias training, diversity, inclusivity, positive coaching methods.
3. Community Game Day
   Costs for a free public game to welcome audiences safely back to roller derby and rebuild our fanbase.
4. Membership Assistance Fund
   Roller derby can be an expensive sport to play (from the cost of the required equipment to the league membership fees). We’d like to be able to remove the barrier of membership cost to people whose livelihoods have been adversely affected by Covid-19.

 

Flora Henderson, Treasurer was delighted after receiving the news that their club was amongst the 2020 winners:

“We are so very pleased to receive support from Cash4Clubs at this uncertain time. This support will enable a safe return to training and ensure our members are able to sustain participation. It is a huge help to have help to manage the extra costs we face.”

 

For more details on Cash4Clubs and to stay up to date with 2021 grants, please visit: www.cash-4-clubs.com

LEAGUE STATEMENT – 16th March 2020

An update from us here at Auld Reekie regarding COVID-19: All in-person training and events have stopped with immediate effect until further notice. This is to assist with social distancing and to reduce and delay the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

This means there will be no new skater intake on March 29th, and we have cancelled the British Champs game we were hosting on April 4th. We have taken this decision to protect not only our league members, but their families, colleagues, friends, neighbours, and the wider community.

Our excellent coaches are working on a varied online training programme for us, that we are looking forward to participating in.

We wish all the best of health to all our friends and followers in this uncertain time. Look out for yourself and each other, and please don’t hesitate contact us with any queries.

Auld Reekie Roller Derby’s All Stars have stormed their way through this year’s season, ending on an absolute high: ranked 15 in Europe and 43 in the world, and with an invite to battle it out at this year’s European Continental Cup.

This is an enormous achievement for the All Stars, and they wouldn’t be there without the hard work and support of the entire league. Auld Reekie Roller Derby are a true community sports club – we are entirely not-for-profit, and entirely DIY – everything Auld Reekie is by our members for our members.

Through our training, coaching and by encouraging hundreds of people to participate and excel in our sport, we empower our members to better themselves physically and mentally, and to contribute to an inclusive and welcoming space. We strive to create fearless, formidable travel teams to compete locally and internationally at the highest levels. We are passionate individuals who work together as part of a positive, unique and revolutionary movement.

This year’s Continental Cup is in Helsinki, Finland – and it turns out, this is a pretty expensive place to get to!  For tournament registration, accommodation and flights for the whole team including bench crew, it is likely to cost us £5000.

Being not-for-profit means any income we generate from membership fees, games, merch sales and fundraising is ploughed straight back into the running of all levels of the league. Unfortunately, we do not have enough surplus to cover all the costs of getting the whole team to Helsinki. We believe in making our sport accessible and inclusive at all levels, which means we will never ask anyone to self-fund team travel.

We are asking for your help in raising £1000 of the £5000 needed for this trip, to allow all of the team to compete at the level we have worked so hard to reach.

In line with our ethical spending policy, we plan to ringfence money to offset the carbon emissions from our flights, which according to the Climate Care Carbon Calculator will be around £100.

Any donations will be very gratefully received. Thank you for your support!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

by Gaussian Retribution

In 2015, I lost the use of my hands. Constant neuropathic pain left me unable to type or write, limiting my ability to work. If that wasn’t enough, I had to give up every hobby: knitting, felting, origami, biking, and martial arts.

When I had had enough of audiobooks and drinking vodka through a straw, I had to learn to get back to work. I resumed my PhD program in informatics by learning to dictate code and papers. I even worked through math problems by dictating each equation using specialized scripts and a speech recognition program.  But getting my life back on track wasn’t just about finding a way to finish my PhD. I needed hobbies, ways to be active, and that had always meant martial arts. I had done Krav Maga, grappling, and Brazilian jujitsu at various times in my life. Now I couldn’t punch or grip, but I still craved a contact sport.

As a child, I would’ve laughed if anyone suggested that I would enjoy a team sport. I hated the pressure in school sports, I hated feeling judged for mistakes that affected teammates, I had no friends and struggled in social situations. I couldn’t catch a ball – in fact, I was terrified of projectiles of all sorts.  I would run from a badminton birdie! If that wasn’t enough, I’ve always thought of myself as a person with terrible balance. I’m lumbering and awkward, I look funny when I run. I can’t dance and I’m slow. Why would I ever put on skates, when I’m already so injury prone?

But in 2016, I was desperate to move my body and none of that seemed to matter. I knew one ball-free contact sport that could accommodate my limited use of hands: roller derby, where the rules severely limit hand use anyway. I registered to skate with Auld Reekie Roller Derby (or Girls, back then) and went shopping for gear.

Fresh meat was nothing like school team sports! When I was small, overwhelmed by the fear of potential monsters lurking in dark spaces, I moved all my bedding over to my closet and began to sleep there. For eight years, I slept fearlessly in the knowledge that I was the only monster in the cupboard. With my lifelong terror of all flying objects, I experienced the same transformation. So what if I couldn’t catch a ball? Jumping or flying around the track, nothing would catch me.

And what about socializing? Well, what about it? I was strange. So was everyone else! Every weirdo who ever put on skates was there with me, and any awkward silence was immediately filled with chatter about plate angles or the perfect trick to master a hockey stop.

As for my physical awkwardness, I had to change how I viewed my body. I’m not malcoordinated and unbalanced – I’m always working on my balance! I choose exercises that work on bursts of energy and agility. If it takes me a little longer to master some new footwork, if I’m a little faster to fall, I remember the things that I’ve learned faster than anyone else. My flexible hips made side-surfing easy for me from the start, making some transitions simple.

Hi! My name’s Ruby and I skate with the intermediate skaters at Auld Reekie. I have been with ARRD for two and a half years now, after moving to Edinburgh for university. At twenty-one, I’m one of the youngest skaters in the Inters group, having been first introduced to roller derby at sixteen through a junior league.

My story is something of an outlier amongst the skaters at ARRD. Whilst roller derby is definitely growing in popularity in the UK, it still remains a sport that many don’t discover until adulthood – I know that I must have spent hours trying to explain roller derby for the first time to bemused friends and family! Meanwhile, those who do discover roller derby as children or teenagers often find that junior leagues are few and far between.

In my case, I was very lucky. Like many other skaters I know, I first became interested in roller derby after watching the 2009 film Whip It. The story of Ellen Page’s character, Bliss, resonated with me – I too was bored in my small hometown and wanted to throw myself into a hobby I cared about. After watching the film, I gushed to my parents about it, and to my surprise my dad told me that a “really tough woman” in his office played for a team in our nearest city. I was thrilled – I wanted to be a “really tough woman” too!

Whilst I’m not sure I could describe myself as “really tough” – even after nearly five years of skating – roller derby has had a huge impact on my life in other ways. For example, skating provided me with a distraction when I wasn’t enjoying school. During exam season or petty arguments with classmates, I now had the opportunity to take a step away and channel my frustrations into something totally unrelated. Even though I’m much happier now I’m at university, roller derby still plays a similar role. Skating helps me sleep well the night before a big exam and I’ve had some of my best essay ideas whilst skating laps!

Another significant impact roller derby has had on my life is that it introduced me to a number of positive role models. At sixteen, I had just begun to navigate the tricky process of deciding what kind of adult I aspired to be. Being surrounded by cool, confident women and non-binary people undoubtedly shaped my decisions. My coaches were competitive and aggressive, they took up space and they weren’t afraid to raise their voice and be a leader. With their support, I began to imagine a new idea of what “grown-up Ruby” could be like. Today, even though I’m (hopefully!) a bit closer to being a real grown-up, the friends I skate with still serve as role models. I feel very lucky to be so close with people at different stages of their lives to me, who I can turn to for advice.

As far as I’m concerned, there is only one downside to taking up roller derby as a junior skater – everyone expects you to be a child prodigy! Whilst my time playing junior derby definitely helped me through the Protostars programme when I joined ARRD, tactics and gameplay were as much of a learning curve to me as any new skater. If you’re reading this as an adult and you’re considering taking up derby, don’t be disheartened – it’s definitely not like football where you age out of the sport in your thirties!

Looking to the future, I hope that junior derby continues to grow and more children get the opportunity I did. That being said, I saw the Demonburgh junior skaters display their skills at a recent ARRD tournament and I am NOT looking forward to competing against them when they turn 18. Let’s just hope they choose to play for ARRD too!

We are delighted to announce that Auld Reekie’s coaches have completed mental health awareness training provided by SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health).

Thanks to this training, our coaches are able to:

• Explain the meaning of mental health and well-being and some of the key triggers for poor mental health
• Describe the signs and symptoms of common mental illnesses and how this can impact participation in physical activity
• Explain how to support someone with a mental illness in a physical activity setting
• Outline where to get further help and support around mental health and mental illness

Providing training for our coaches is part of our action plan as a signatory to SAMH’s Mental Health Charter for Physical Activity and Sport. The intention of providing training is not to turn our coaches into trained counsellors, but to make them feel more confident in providing a listening ear, and to know how to help our members find more help if they want it. 

For more information on how to support someone with their mental health, or advice on taking care of your own mental health, visit the SAMH website.

Boot camp experience by Stellar Fearformance

One of the most wonderful things about the roller derby is the spirit of community and communal learning that is is based on. We all learn together, grow together and teach each other. The small but enthusiastic group of Auld Reekie officials have been helping each other on the never-ending journey to the absolute rules knowledge, and in our thirst we realised – we need to call in an expert. There are some questions that only a person with experience can answer.  With more and more games happening, the demand for officials is only going to continue to grow, and we are not the only people looking to learn in the area.

The ever-supportive Crazylegs, who always is on the lookout for development opportunities, invited Jens Hotger to lead a ref-specific bootcamp in Edinburgh.

Keen new and more experienced refs from all over UK gathered in a cool, bright studio in Holyrood to learn, to refresh their knowledge and also feel part of the indispensable community of officials.

The theory sessions covered scoring (even without the infamous jammer lap point, there’s still plenty to learn!), impact assessment, in game communication and good communication flow in the crew, roles and responsibilities, priorities for each position, penalties and the new rules (e.g. new star pass rules). We also had an interesting discussion about the nature and extent of officials’ discretion. There’s a number of rules that are left at ref’s discretion, and for a new ref it’s both difficult to find the confidence and to understand the limits of discretion. Jens’ theory sessions are very well constructed, with good flow and excellent supportive materials (electronic derby whiteboard, folk, what a time to be alive!). He’s extremely knowledgeable and confident, provides clear and in-depth answers to any questions.

In-between the theory learning, we also had a great presentation and workshop from Auld Reekie’s DeeDee on confidence and efficacy – refficacy. We looked at elements that affect a referee’s efficacy positively and negatively and shared some of our own experiences. Definitely an area many of us would like to learn more about, and research further! Confidence is an elusive beast, and an essential part of officiating. One not only has to be confident in their own abilities and calls, but also project that confidence so everyone around them feel safe and in good hands. It’s great that the attendees now have a bit more guidance on how to work on that.

After the theory sessions, we had a chance to practice or observe some on-skates skills. Skate skills for referees are slightly different from those required of a competitive skater, because they (we!) have to able to move around quickly and very efficiently, be fluid and responsive to the change of speed in the pack/jammer, but more importantly, also economise on the number of moves and minimise the space you take up (it can get crowded!). Honestly, some of the on-skates skills felt like dancing, real ref magic! We also had a chance to practice our newly learned knowledge in a short scrim session, where on skates attendees were divided in full ref crews with each having a position to try out. Many thanks to Auld Reekie skaters who assisted with that (with no breaks, what extraordinary endurance!). The day finish too soon, and we all exited Holyrood into the damp Scottish evening inspired and buzzing from excitement.

This was both the first referee bootcamp I attended, and the first one I helped organise. I felt really happy to be part of this learning event, to welcome Jens and facilitate this experience. I hope everyone who attended enjoyed it as much as I did, at that we all will meet again, on track or in a makeshift classroom. That we will all promote safety, be fair, consistent, unbiased, approachable and open to feedback in our budding (or blossoming) reffing careers.

NSO Life by Critical Mash

Hi, I’m Critical Mash and I’m an NSO and learning reffing and skating here at Auld Reekie. Nearly two years ago I went to a roller derby taster session, I could barely stand but fell in love with skating.  I signed up straight away to join the next skate skills beginners programme. At that point I probably thought my roller derby heroes would look something like this:

A few weeks later I went to watch my first game, I loved the speed and the physicality. I also noticed there were quite a few referees, between the stripey shirts, whistling and loud shouting they are pretty noticeable. What I didn’t really notice were there were even more non-skating officials or NSOs doing all the other jobs that need doing to keep the game running safely, fairly and on time.

Shortly after starting skate skills we were invited along to try NSOing and to watch a scrimmage session, where the ARRD teams practise against each other under game conditions. I was taught the basics of penalty timing. I spent the evening sat in the penalty box watching derby and chatting with friendly people who explained a lot about derby. I enjoyed it so much I went back the next week, and the next… Before long I was being encouraged to apply to NSO at a game and I haven’t looked back.

I started learning by being taught by more experienced NSOs at scrim sessions, but roller derby is a DIY sport and excellent referees and NSOs from around the world have created training videos online to help others. I am now helping to organise meet ups before scrims where officials at Auld Reekie can get together to watch videos and discuss things so that we can learn and improve. Every time I officiate at a game I meet new people, make new friends and learn new techniques to make things easier. The tools of our trade are clipboards, paperwork, pencils, stopwatches and whistles. To be good at NSOing requires practice and experience.

If you’re wondering what do NSOs actually do. Well, it usually takes a minimum of 9 NSOs to crew a game. There are 3 people tracking scores and running the scoreboard so that the teams and audience know what’s happening. There are 3 people timing skaters in the penalty box, so that everyone is penalised the correct amount of time. At least 2 people are recording which skaters are on track and how many penalties they have accumulated. Finally, there is one NSO in charge of timing, to keep everything running as it should. All the information is recorded and after the game it is typed up to provide stats for the teams to analyse and learn from.

If you add 9 NSOs to the 7 referees, the team of officials needed for each game is bigger than the teams of skaters and so officials are in demand for roller derby games nationally and even internationally. Being an NSO can give great opportunities to travel and watch derby. I have travelled with the team to NSO around the UK and was selected as an NSO for the first Men’s Roller Derby Association tournament to be held in Scotland. Though I’m continuing to learn skating it turns out after a couple of years my actual derby heroes look like this:

So next time you go to a derby game keep an eye out for the NSOs dressed in black, like the team of highly skilled ninjas they are helping the game run smoothly.

Inspired by Critical Mash’s story? Tempted to give roller derby officiating a go? Do it! Email officials@auldreekierollerderby.com and they will give you all the information you need.

By Lindsey Watson

Urgh, the drama right? I know, I get it. I’m sure it seems like a ridiculous thing to say but it is no exaggeration I promise. Let me explain why.

I have struggled with my mental health since I was a teenager. I have had many highs and many lows and I understand that just as it is with 1 in 4 people in the UK who encounter mental health issues at some point in their life, my emotional state will always be a focus. It doesn’t consume my every waking moment, but I am aware of it.

One of my darkest moments happened around 2014. I had possibly the worst year of my life. I found myself very alone and turned to alcohol to make myself feel better. It was not a new feeling but this time it consumed my every waking moment. I couldn’t escape it and I felt like it was getting the better of me. I knew something was going to happen. But it was up to me what that something was going to be.

I went to my doctor and told them everything. They listened. They told me they understood. They asked me what things made me feel good and I told them dancing with my best friend and playing roller derby. They told me to do that more. haha simple right? not quite but they told me why this should be my focus. We worked out the right medication which would rely on me doing something that  would produce serotonin but it would help me keep hold of it. They told me about SAMH (Scottish Association of Mental Health) and their website that is full of helpful suggestions for not only people going through their own mental health issues but their friends and family. I started a ‘good times’ diary. I wrote 3 things that happened that day that made me feel grateful and happy. I threw myself into training. I had 100% attendance. There were days when I couldn’t even talk to people but I still stayed on track (and the roller derby track!) to make all 3 sessions each week. I started noticing that both my skating and my mental health were improving. I kept visiting my doctor along with a therapist and we all monitored my progress using a chart that asked questions about my plans. They went from suicidal plans to plans for the future. I wanted to be on the A team! I wanted to get to playoffs in America! I stopped thinking about the negative things that had been affecting my life and concentrated on different goals.

Now I am not saying that if you feel terrible and are having mental health issues you should play roller derby and everything will get magically better. I took the first step. I spoke to someone. The hardest but bravest thing that I have ever done is admitting to someone that I didn’t know that I felt weak and I could feel that a dark cloud had gathered above my head. The combination of medication, therapy and exercise brought me out of the black hole but a sense of belonging and value came 100% from roller derby. I understood that I was worthy. My team mates needed me as much as I needed them. I know that I wouldn’t be here today, now medication free, writing this with my laptop in the corner of a large sports hall, in between watching roller derby games, surrounded by the community that I love and that supports me if it wasn’t for this beautiful, powerful, empowering, tough and glorious sport.

 

 

 

Why Rebrand?

We’re not the first league to do this, and I’m pretty sure we won’t be the last, but we’re finally (the vote was a while ago!), officially, publicly rebranding from ‘Auld Reekie Roller Girls’ (ARRG) to Auld Reekie Roller Derby (ARRD).

The reasons behind the change are simple – our members wanted a name to reflect our diverse membership and support our ethos around equality and inclusion.

All Star skater and Equalities Team member Mallory Powers shared thoughts on the rebrand: “We believe in the power of sport to change lives – roller derby can help improve physical and mental wellbeing, boost self-esteem and give people a sense of belonging – and we want more people to have the opportunity to experience this for themselves. By rebranding, and through promotion and outreach, we hope that more people will see a place for themselves in Auld Reekie Roller Derby”.

From now on, we’d like to be referred to as Auld Reekie, and our acronym is ARRD.

The choosing of the name was surprisingly painless, a simple discussion and almost unanimous vote, and as summed up by skater, Lady Scrapnell, “It‘s a win for inclusivity, equality and humanity, but it’s a sad loss for punnage”.  

Anyone who’s been through this process will know that organising a wholesale change of name, logo and brand takes a lot of work on top of keeping a Roller Derby League running smoothly. With around 120 members, 3 travel teams and a host of new recruits, it’s also not cheap to rebrand!  Thanks to some amazing support from the community who voted for our pitch to access National Lottery ‘People’s Project’ funding this year, we were awarded a runners up prize of £5,000 and finally had the money, people resource and time to get things organised. 

Through the exposure with the campaign, we were contacted by a local designer Emily Horgan who loved the values and ethos of our league and generously offered her services for free! So began the process to really look at our values, our aspirations and our vision and to get ideas from our members to build some concepts. If you’re going to rebrand why not go the whole hog and design a whole new look, we thought.

Building Concepts

Our league members sent in all of their thoughts and ideas about the look and feel of the logo, team shirts, design concepts, branding and we gathered up some keywords to focus us:

• Strong
• Powerful
• Bold
• Inclusive
• Fun
• Community
• Pride
• Progressive
• DIY
• Pioneers
• Accessible
• Versatile
• Respected
• Character

Revealing the New Look!

The Main Logo – It’s super adaptable; we wanted to be able to pull it apart to create recognisable mini marks.

The three entities represent our community (the three travel teams, and the three different paths you can take to become a skater, official and volunteers).

The look and feel really reflects the galaxy vibe we’ve been using on our game poster designs for the last couple of years, and sits really well with our travel team names – the All Stars, All Star Reserves and Astros. We also loved the idea of unexplored territory, taking bold steps and reaching for the stars.

Font Version – We love the boldness of this, it’s simple and recognisable.

The Mini Marks – Our logo was carefully designed to be structured enough to be recognisable and bold, but flexible enough to live in multiple different formats.

We dramatically revealed the new logo, with awkward tabletop drum rolls and much build up at the league AGM in September and never has anyone been as nervous, excited and shaky knee’d as the rebrand team on that day!  Thankfully everyone has been enthusiastic (apart from newborn baby Scrapnell who burst into tears at the moment of revelation – we’ll take that as tears of joy) and we cannot wait to see our new team shirts, due to be ready for the 2019 season.

Astro Bench Coach Jodie tells us “Now we have a look and branding that represents the professionalism and fun we live on a daily basis as a league.It represents us, and the element of fun which is vital to keep our motivation high. It’s a strong and professional branding. It’s revolutionising our approach to our image and the message we send out to potential team members, officials and audience. It’s fit for purpose in terms of bringing us together as one unit ready to take on the world.”

What happens next?  We’re holding an exciting 5 team tournament on November 17th with 3 teams coming from mainland Europe to play our All Stars and Astros in a giant celebration of our new league branding – what better way to celebrate than by playing roller derby?

We’d like to take this opportunity to say a huge thanks to our designer pal Emily Horgan for creating such a wonderful look and feel to our new branding, and we can’t wait to get our hands on the amazing new look Auld Reekie merchandise.