Allie Brock, aka Brock’n Roller, is an A-team member of Tiger Bay Brawlers.
Do you find yourselves winning more bouts as time goes on?
It’s hard to say, really; there isn’t a yes or no answer. All teams progress between bouts but we all do so at different rates, so you never know quite how a bout is going to go until each team turns up and start playing. We’ve lost two bouts so far this year and both have enabled us to learn and grow as a team so while winning is definitely our favourite thing to do, losses always generate positive elements too.
Who is your toughest competition?
So far this year our toughest competitors have been London Rollergirls’ Ultraviolent Femmes, Leeds Roller Dolls and Auld Reekie Roller Girls from Edinburgh. We won the latter but it was hard fought throughout whereas both UvF and Leeds eked out wins over us. It’s so important to keep playing against teams above us in the European rankings to progress from the experience.
Are you finding that more roller derby teams are being set up across the UK?
The sport is growing in popularity daily and teams are springing up all over the UK. Wales alone has around seven [teams], so it’s definitely going places. The worry is that it could become over saturated with start-up teams and will dilute the quality of sport, but plenty of sports have multiple representations across cities so why shouldn’t roller derby be the same?
What do you think the future of roller derby is in the UK?
I think it’ll just continue to grow, especially with the sport being introduced to younger age groups now too. Our junior league starts aged 11 so imagine the level of game play they can achieve when they’re 18! The UK has a huge number of leagues and many are becoming affiliated with the officiating body, the WFTDA, so in the future we could even see European or UK regions established purely to represent derby in this country – it’s pretty amazing when you think about it.
Do you think there needs to be a bigger awareness of the sport in the UK?
Yes! We’d love there to be a bigger awareness and for there to be more higher level support from sponsorship and advertising, but we’re hugely grateful for the support we get and the awareness we’ve been able to generate for both ourselves and the sport in the local area. There is a sense of satisfaction from the ‘grass roots’ element; every success is ours and it really enhances the sense of pride, but for the sport to continue to grow it needs further development and awareness is key to that.
Films such as Whip It portray derby as really quite violent and sometimes malicious – have you ever had any extreme injuries or bad experiences on the track?
We play a full contact sport so inevitably we hurt ourselves; bruises, sprains, grazes – it’s all part and parcel. We have experienced some injuries within the league but only a handful of serious ones, and they’re just speed bumps in the road to progression. You can rarely keep an injured roller girl down for long. We follow a strict and lengthy rulebook and have to pass minimum skills tests before we’re allowed to compete so thankfully there’s no ‘violence’ per se, and nothing is done with malice!
Tiger Bay Brawlers’s next bout will be against Glasgow Roller Derby on 8 December 2012 at Talybont Sports Hall.
Visit their website for more details.
Cardiff’s roller derby team, Tiger Bay Brawlers, are currently 13th in the European rankings as the sport is rapidly growing in popularity.
The TBB team. Photo by Peter Worth.
In October last year Alt.Cardiff spoke to Tiger Bay Brawlers just as they were opening their Rec League which encouraged women to try a roller session. A year on, and we caught up with the derby girls again after watching their most recent bout where they beat Leicester’s Dolly Rockit Rollers 496-30.
Tiger Bay Brawlers now have two teams; an A and a B team, both which compete against other teams in the UK. However, when discussing their progress and success, they told us that they are hoping to go international from next year and that they are very excited for the future.
Allie Brock, aka Brock’n Roller, is an A-team member of Tiger Bay Brawlers.
Do you find yourselves winning more bouts as time goes on?
It’s hard to say, really; there isn’t a yes or no answer. All teams progress between bouts but we all do so at different rates, so you never know quite how a bout is going to go until each team turns up and start playing. We’ve lost two bouts so far this year and both have enabled us to learn and grow as a team so while winning is definitely our favourite thing to do, losses always generate positive elements too.
Who is your toughest competition?
So far this year our toughest competitors have been London Rollergirls’ Ultraviolent Femmes, Leeds Roller Dolls and Auld Reekie Roller Girls from Edinburgh. We won the latter but it was hard fought throughout whereas both UvF and Leeds eked out wins over us. It’s so important to keep playing against teams above us in the European rankings to progress from the experience.
Are you finding that more roller derby teams are being set up across the UK?
The sport is growing in popularity daily and teams are springing up all over the UK. Wales alone has around seven [teams], so it’s definitely going places. The worry is that it could become over saturated with start-up teams and will dilute the quality of sport, but plenty of sports have multiple representations across cities so why shouldn’t roller derby be the same?
What do you think the future of roller derby is in the UK?
I think it’ll just continue to grow, especially with the sport being introduced to younger age groups now too. Our junior league starts aged 11 so imagine the level of game play they can achieve when they’re 18! The UK has a huge number of leagues and many are becoming affiliated with the officiating body, the WFTDA, so in the future we could even see European or UK regions established purely to represent derby in this country – it’s pretty amazing when you think about it.
Do you think there needs to be a bigger awareness of the sport in the UK?
Yes! We’d love there to be a bigger awareness and for there to be more higher level support from sponsorship and advertising, but we’re hugely grateful for the support we get and the awareness we’ve been able to generate for both ourselves and the sport in the local area. There is a sense of satisfaction from the ‘grass roots’ element; every success is ours and it really enhances the sense of pride, but for the sport to continue to grow it needs further development and awareness is key to that.
Films such as Whip It portray derby as really quite violent and sometimes malicious – have you ever had any extreme injuries or bad experiences on the track?
We play a full contact sport so inevitably we hurt ourselves; bruises, sprains, grazes – it’s all part and parcel. We have experienced some injuries within the league but only a handful of serious ones, and they’re just speed bumps in the road to progression. You can rarely keep an injured roller girl down for long. We follow a strict and lengthy rulebook and have to pass minimum skills tests before we’re allowed to compete so thankfully there’s no ‘violence’ per se, and nothing is done with malice!
Tiger Bay Brawlers’s next bout will be against Glasgow Roller Derby on 8 December 2012 at Talybont Sports Hall.
Visit their website for more details.
