Sun State Roller Girls

Sun State Roller Girls (SSRG) are Queensland’s number one women’s flat track roller derby league. Second only to Victoria’s Roller Derby League in Australia. SSRG is a “not-for-profit organisation dedicated to developing and promoting women’s flat track roller derby. The league aspires to advance the sport by creating a community of skaters and volunteers”. The league was set up in 2007 on Brisbane’s south side and now has members from across Logan and Brisbane. Training sessions for all skill levels are held at Digi Roller Skating Rink in Browns Plains. Family and friends bouts are are played at Digi Roller Skating Rink in Browns Plains and public bouts at Beenleigh Sporting Arena in Beenleigh. The league consists of four intra league teams; ‘Defiants’, ‘Furies’, ‘Vandals’ and the newest team ‘Riots’ (Pictured below) Plus a travel team consisting of a number of players from Team Australia’s world cup team who placed 4th.

Pictured left to right ‘La Mort Rouge’, ‘Mischa Tacks’, ‘Dodge & Bolt’, ‘Lady Killer’, ‘Chop Chop’. I caught the girls after they’d just finished their Sunday scrimmage session. If you look closely you can see that they’re all sporting their London Roller Girls ‘Suffra Jets’ badges I presented them with! Coincidently they matched their new team colours! I also managed to get a SSRG member’s league shirt in exchange for an LRG top!

There is currently no fresh meat within SSRG, instead they operate a feeder league which is lead by head coach Mark Madden. I joined the feeder league in one of their Sunday training sessions back in February whilst travelling through Queensland. It was a warm 33 degrees that day and even hotter in the non-airconditioned roller rink! The 2 hour session consisted of technical skate drills, agility, fitness and derby specific drills (and plenty of water breaks!).

Another great networking opportunity and an awesome derby training

session. Thanks to ‘La Mort Rouge’ for setting this up and SSRG for having me.

After all that training…. it can only be time to check out another beach. I am in the Sunshine State after all! So from here I headed North of Brisbane

up to the Sunshine Coast. 1st stop Noosa for a surf lesson. Then up to Rainbow Beach, gateway to the famous Fraser Island (the largest sand Island in the world). Well know for Wild dingos and shark infested waters!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunstate-Roller-Girls/237357479628212

http://www.sunstaterollergirls.com/

Rainbow Beach, QLD

Lake McKenzie, Fraser Island

Brisbane City Rollers

I discovered this awesome derby owned and operated skate shop ‘Skate Salvage’ in Brisbane and got talking to one of the girls in the shop from BCR and so it happened…. I found my next derby team to skate with!!

Skate Salvage is co-owned by ‘Ace Vegas’ Owner/Web orders/ Skate Tech., who skates for the Brisbane City Rollers and ‘XL’ who skates for the Sun State Roller Girls on the Furies and the Travel Team. I also got chatting to the lovely ‘La Mort Rouge’ (pictured left) from the Sun State Roller Girls who works in the shop. Rouge helped me pick out some cool derby goodies including a pair of racey red Derby Skinz! She also managed to help me organise an invite to skate with the Sun State Roller Girls (QLD’s top team, second only to the Victorian Roller Derby League in Australia!!).

So next stop ‘Brisvegas‘ home of the Brisbane City Rollers (BCR).

Well acually Ipswich… BCR currently train in Ipswich (about 40 Km from Brisbane) at the show grounds whilst their home venue ‘Bundamba Skateaway’ is being rebuilt following the floods in January 2011.

Brisbane City Rollers are Australia’s first co-ed flat track roller derby league. BCR had their first bout in late 2009 and then started it’s bouting season in 2010. BCR has two travel teams (the Punk Blockers and the Nasty Nancies), as well as three intra-league teams. They also have two intra-league merby teams known as The Frankies and The Uppercuts. They currently hold three training sessions per week.

I went along to one of the mid-week training sessions and was welcomed by BCR’s president ‘Vixxxen’. The three intra-league teams were split off with one team starting with off skate training. The teams rotate training like this each session. The training venue was a huge warehouse with a slippery polished concrete floor. Training involved a tough speed and endurance session, starting with 3 x 25/5 in a row!!!. Eeeeek! Luckily for me I had already survived Sinister Mary Clarence’s killer post Xmas endurance session with LRG Rec league so I knew I could keep up! Plus I needed to show the Aussies some British Bulldog spirit and represent! The girls are gearing up for their pre-season warm up against Toowoomba’s ‘Hill Top hoods’ on the 25th of Feb!

BCR were an unbelievably friendly and welcoming league with a diverse mix of talented and competitive skaters. I had an excellent experience with them so thank you BCR!

Now for some R & R!! Off to Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo then up the Sunshine Coast to Caloundra Beach.

(Ps before anyone asks…no that kangaroo above  is not dead!)

http://www.facebook.com/#!/brisbanecityrollers?sk=wall

http://www.brisbanecityrollers.com/cms/

 www.skatesalvage.com/

From Toowoomba with love

 

1st stop TOOWOOMBA to visit my sister, neice and new nephews! Toowoomba, nicknamed the Garden City is a town in Southern Queensland appox 80 miles east of the capital City Brisbane. It’s also home to the Toowoomba City Rollers!

Toowoomba roller derby began in late 2008. Founder Elle Bent fell in love with the sport after watching an Australian documentary ‘Roller Derby Dolls’.

Like many other new derby teams they initially struggled to find a suitable traning venue, whilst spreading the derby word to the local community. They started out in the town’s skate rink before finding a home at the Toowoomba show grounds.

Toowoomba had their 1st bout at the end of 2010 and has continued to grow in numbers, now baoasting an A & B team. Training consists of 2 skate sessions per week, skills sunday/scimmage and fit not hit – a non contact skills and drills session plus optional extra off skate fitness sessions. After contacting the team I recieved a friendy welcome from team secretary ‘Kim Rinkrashian’ and was invited along to my 1st sunday session down under!

The venue is a huge concrete warehouse known as Flounders Pavillion, in the Toowoomba showgrounds. The surface was grippy, much like Earls court. The session consisted of 2 hours of skills and drills followed by 1 hour of co-ed scrimmaging with the boys! Great session, thanks Toowoomba City Rollers for inviting me along!

Next stop the beach for some tanning action………

http://www.toowoombacityrollers.com/

http://www.facebook.com/#!/toowoombacityrollers?sk=wall