Stamford roller derby team Borderland Beasts on mission to raise profile after becoming UK champions
You’d imagine that a sports club successful enough to supply more than half of the British squad would be the talk of the town.
Yet members of Stamford’s high-achieving best-kept sporting secret are on a mission to spread the word and attract community support.
This summer, 11 members of the town’s junior roller derby team - the Borderland Beasts - will join Great Britain’s 20-strong squad at Roller Derby World Cup in Australia.
The call-ups follow a stunning season for the Beasts who beat Edinburgh in the Five Nations final this autumn to become the UK’s number one junior team.
“There is a lot of dedication from the skaters and they are a really competitive bunch, in a positive way,” said coach Jonathan Emery.
“And they’re nice bunch of kids, too. They just seem to have turned into that team that can’t stop winning.”
The most user-friendly way to describe roller derby to the unfamiliar is British bulldogs on rollerskates, with the action taking place on an oval track.
Each team is made up of five skaters, made up of a jammer who tries to get through unscathed to score points, and four blockers who are trying to stop their opponent’s jammer from doing just that.
“Not many people have heard of it - they’ll say ‘I think I’ve seen a film about it’, Jonathan added.
“Some people think it’s like wrestling and made up, but it’s a full-contact sport on skates.
“Normally when people start they get hooked, especially boys. They have the roller disco, but once they can skate fast there they get bored.
“But this is a different sort of challenge, to learn the control, and hitting properly.”
Jonathan, who became head coach of the British juniors last year, helped form the team as Stamford and Peterborough Roller Derby seven years ago, training and playing out of Stamford Welland Academy.
Around four years ago they moved across town to Borderville - which, unusually, had a roller derby track painted on the sports hall floor - and changed their name.
The Beasts comprise an OTA (open to all) mixed squad and development squad for the younger of the seven to 18 age range, and they feed into two alliteratively-friendly senior teams - the Bandits and Brawlers.
The sport is on the up in the area, and Jonathan believes its accessibility is key to that.
To underline this point, he will be making all of January’s training sessions open to anyone happy to get their skates on, so to speak.
They will be free and all equipment and kit can be supplied.
“You don’t have to have a specific body type to play it,” he said.
“You don’t have to be ultra fit or ultra thin. There’s a position for everyone.
“And age doesn’t really come into it, either.
“I’ve got someone on the team that’s in Year 4 who goes up against kids that are in sixth form. And she holds her own!”
Roller derby also seems to know how to market itself to younger players.
One look at the teamsheet for the Beasts’ match with Sheffield this season suggests the sharpness of your player name is almost as important as your on-track skills.
Alexplosive, Imm-pact, Hatchet Girl and Jamma Gal all featured in a team skippered by Sirius Block.
Yet Jonathan knows he has a job on his hands to spread the word of the ‘niche sport’ to the mainstream.
Among his priorities with the national team is to raise the profile of roller derby to the point where funding is available for future generations.
But for this crop of skaters, they will have to self-fund the World Cup odyssey - and flights to Australia don’t come cheap.
Kerry Lyons’ daughter Poppy joined the Stamford club almost eight years ago, and now, aged 15, she is one of those making the trip to Brisbane.
As a proud mum, Kerry is hoping to attract funding to help towards the £120,000 total cost for the squad, with a crowdfunding page set up at www.gofundme.com/f/team-gb-beasts-go-to-australia.
The sport receives little or no funding, so the bill, which includes flights, accommodation, and kit, will come out of the coffers of the clubs and the pockets of parents.
“It’s a huge sport worldwide, especially in the United States and Canada, but it’s still up and coming in the UK so there is very little financial support,” Kerry explained.
“We’re seeing what we can do locally, even if it’s just being able to fund GB kit to make them look the part.”
To put our national roller derby scene into scale, the Australian host city of Brisbane has around the same number of junior roller derby teams as the entire UK.
Jonathan added: “We had 55 skaters come for selection trials for the GB team, whereas in America, most of their club teams have 200 or 300 skaters on their books.”
So, aside from attracting sponsorship and cash, Kerry is equally keen to raise the profile of the club and send the Beasts Down Under on a high.
“We want to raise the awareness in the community of the team and their brilliant achievement and get everyone behind them,” she said.
“We want to make the children feel this is such an incredible thing they’re doing and such an amazing opportunity that doesn’t come along every year.”
Poppy is a perfect example of what roller derby can do for a child’s development, both in and away from sport.
“She was bullied at school, had really low self confidence and roller derby was the one place she could go and be herself,” Kerry recalled.
“It didn’t matter who she was, how she dressed or anything like that - she went there and was included.
“It was beautiful to see. She went from just going there to skate to suddenly being part of a team.
“She says it’s like her second family.”
This inclusivity and togetherness is a core principle of Jonathan’s coaching and, as the Beasts have proved, is a recipe for success.
“They are all friends - no-one sits in the corner on their own,” he said.
“We are a competitive team, but I’ve always tried to be fair.
“If a child doesn’t make it onto the roster, the next game I will try to get them on the roster, even if they are not the best player.
“How do you get better at a game if you don’t play it?”
For Poppy, the sport not only gave her comfort and confidence, it also stoked ambition.
“Seven years ago, Poppy would never have thought she’d be doing this,” said Kerry.
“When she was eight, she was asked what she wanted to do when she grew up and it was to be a professional roller derby player.
“From there, she is now playing for Team GB at 15. She is going to Australia and will mix with players from all over the world.
“So it’s opening up all of these avenues for her to do something she loves and get closer to living her dream.”
For more information about roller derby and how to get involved, visit www.spjrd.co.uk or email info@spjrd.co.uk