mzawf.org

What a wonderfull time I had. I spent the evening with these guys.
http://www.facebook.com/PortsmouthRollerWenches.



They say ......
"Portsmouth Roller Wenches are currently holding weekly Fresh Meat sessions! These will involve basic skating and roller derby skills. We welcome you to send us a message via our Contact page!


As well as skaters, we are looking for referees, non-skating officials, coaches and people who can support us in any way! So PLEASE get in touch via our contact form or Facebook page if you would like to be involved with Hampshire’s first roller derby league!

-Referee Information Page

-Non-Skating Official Information Page

Requirements to join:


Skating experience is an advantage, but not essential, most of us were total beginners!! So long as you have the passion and dedication, and are tough enough to take a few falls, you can be a Wench. In order to compete, you must be 18+. The Wenches are an all female league, but guys can join us as referees & Non Skating Officials.

Skaters & Referees will need to get their own pair of quad skates, and full protective gear (helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards and mouth guard.) Talk to any member of the team for recommendations as to what skates & gear are going to be best for you, and which skate shops we love!

If you don’t have your own equipment and want to give it a go before getting your own skates, we have spare skates & protective gear to hire out at a very small cost!

Dues

You are welcome to come along and watch us practice and meet the team before committing to joining. Thereafter to train with us you can have your first skate for free, then you can pay £5 per week until you become a full team member. Full team members are required to pay £20 dues per month, which is used for hall hire, insurance and securing the future of Portsmouth’s Roller Derby League!

Practices

We currently have three sessions per week in the Portsmouth area, one of which is a Fresh Meat session! Please contact us via Facebook or the e-mail form to find out our practice times and venues and let us know if you’d like to come along!".
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I've only just got back so I've lots more to post, but for now, my feeble attempt (Nevis).....

Love it Nevis keep up the good work

We haven't got anything official just yet but one of our directors, Germaine Leer from MMR, wrote this guide which covers the main points. If you need any more information just let us know.
Good luck!
Mia
UKRDA Rep
How to start a roller derby league (from MMR experience)
Research!
Familiarise yourself with what the game is about, how it works, what practises involve etc info is out there on derby…there are 35+ teams in the UK – info on em here : http://www.middlesbroughmilkrollers.co. ... opic=496.0
The basics of rollerderby in 2 minutes

It’s worth asking more experienced leagues for info on drills and how to teach
Find your tribe
Find other women (to skate) and men (they can’t skate but CAN ref, coach and NSO) who fancy doing it. You can do this by starting a facebook page and harassing people in your local area with it.
You can also make posters and pop them in shops and pubs and leisure centres, and also pop some rollerskates on and flier in your town centre on a busy day (check you don’t need a permit with your council first like).
Set a date for your first meet up, either in the pub to discuss setting up a first practise date, or get straight in there like we did and hire a hall and split the cost with who turns up (until you have a league formed – more on that below), or if you can’t find a space yet, meet in your local park/smooth pavements.
You can also find out if there are any leagues close to you and contact them to go skate with them too.
Starting the hard work
Being a roller derby league involves lots of hard work on and off track. On track, you need to practise regularly and get used to falling, stopping and getting close to other people whilst on skates. Then comes the contact!
Off track, you need to find a regular practise space, and deal with two of the most arduous but vitally important aspects of derby off track - fundraising/sponsorship and recruitment as without money and players you have no league.
Finding a practise space
Leisure centres and universities and schools often have good spaces – and get people together – we practise twice a week for 3 hours or at various spaces in the Boro.
Don’t be afraid to haggle on price and use your DIY status and having student members to your advantage. Councils love the idea of getting women who don’t normally exercise into their spaces so use it and ask for money off.
Some councils will refuse you as they are worried about marking their floors. Some will be won over if you tell them that the wheels won’t mark due to being soft. Some will ask if you are a recognised sport, thanks to UKRDA Roller Derby is now a recognised sport in the UK.
How to pay for practises
If you find out how much your practise space costs, you need to meet them as a group. We pay for ours through monthly dues (paid for by direct debit into the team bank account) - full MMR members pay monthly dues by direct debit and until a skater is a full member she pays £6 per practise.
It’s also vital to fundraise for your league – we’ve done this by doing all sorts of things including roller waitressing for local businesses, asking for sponsorship, jelly wrestling, putting gigs on (and being cheeky and asking people to play for free), cake sales in nightclubs, frock exchanges.
League Organisation – off track
All members need to be as active off-track as they are on-track to ensure fairness. We found that until we had a committee the founder and the Captain did all the work. Not good!
We have a steering committee of captain (voted in yearly), founder plus three section heads who have been voted in, and meet separately from the rest of the league.
We also have a monthly all members meeting for any league business where each section head gives an update.
The section heads run each section with assistance from other members. Sections at MMR include:
• Budgeting/Financial management
• Training/Coaching
• Administration
• Sponsorship/grants/bursary
• Newbie greeter/Legal Aspects
• Bout Organisation
• Minimum Skills
• Publicity/press
• Communication/Recruitment (liaising with other teams and developing relationships)
• Purchasing/Merchandise (finding out/working out what the team needs and doesn’t need)
• Project management/organising events
• Fundraising
Money
You need a bank account to pay dues into – we went to HSBC and asked for a community bank account. You need a treasurer to look after this plus we have 2 people who monitor this too, to ensure security.
League Organisation – on track
Coaching
MMR started their practises with drills kindly donated by Birmingham Blitz Dames and London Rollergirls. We now have our head ref and training section head coach our sessions, but all members are encouraged to be pro-active and contribute ideas for drills and skills sessions.
You can also learn and progress by playing with other leagues – you can visit a nearby league or have more experienced leagues come to you and teach you what they know and learn to scrimmage as a team. It is good form to pay for their travel if they are giving up their free time to come and teach you but don’t pay for anything else (there are some unscrupulous people out there!).
Once you have 14 skaters who have passed the minimum skills levels set by the WFTDA –http://wftda.com/rules– it’s time to bout! Most leagues start off slowly – holding intraleague bouts behind closed doors, or playing another league of similar skill level behind closed doors, and then once you feel like your team have some experience, you can book public bouts and hit the bouting scene.
Promote your league!
Get posters and paper the town. Do recruitment pub crawls and fundraisers. Get in the local press. Harass local businesses for sponsorship. You can hold fundraisers, take donations and generate revenue with ticket sales. Also consider merchandising and public appearances.
Road trip!
The best way to see how to play and understand the game and the tactics behind it is by getting track side and supporting other derby leagues by going to see them play.
UK leagues advertise all over the internet – join their facebook groups or add them on twitter – and not only is it good to get tour head round it, but you’re supporting your derby sisters and get to meet lots of likeminded people in one place.
Want to find out more?
The UK derby community is very friendly and open and willing to help new leagues develop – after all the more leagues we have the more people to play against!
If you have questions or queries, do contact other leagues or the UKRDA –the UKRDA exists to lobby for and promote the sport of roller derby in the UK.
We aim to help drive the growth, expertise and recognition of the sport, whilst supporting and encouraging our members to develop and grow individually into strong, athletic leagues who are empowered in all that they do.
There's also a new informaiton sharing group on facebook where you can pick the collective brains of the other UK leagues here:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/173739546029461/

_________________
Germaine Leer
Vice Captain
Middlesbrough Milk Rollers
http://www.middlesbroughmilkrollers.co.uk/