Bashed, bruised and exhausted — a great way to make friends
RUGBY on roller skates is how Laurna Hislop describes roller derby, a full contact sport on skates which is taking off in the city.
"It’s so much fun and great to be part of and when the girls get on track we beat the crap out each other and then we go for a pint after," said the 27-year-old from George Street in Inverness, the chairwoman of Nasty Nessie Roller Girls, a team of 20 aged from 18 to 50 which formed in June and practice in Millburn Academy.
Popular in the US in the 1950s and 60s, roller derby has experienced a renaissance in recent years, especially with the 2009 film "Whip It", starring Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page.
The sport is played on an oval-shaped track and games consist of a series of two-minute "jams" with rival teams sending five players each onto the track.
Although it may appear glamorous with players wearing short skirts, funky tights and roller skates, it can be vicious.
"You can get quite a lot of injuries, there’s lots of bruises, scratches, nips and bashing into each other," said Miss Hislop, an activities co-ordinator.
"I’ve bashed my head and wiped out into a bench and twisted my ankle."
During a game, players called jammers try to sprint through the pack of skaters and complete a full lap, scoring a point for each opponent they get past while skaters called blockers and pivots attempt to stop them by landing heavy shoulder or hip checks on opposing players, shoving them out of the way or knocking them to the ground.
Players target the shoulder and mid-thigh area and any part of the body in between — excluding hands, elbows, and forearms — is legal to hit with.
If someone is illegally hit it results in time served in the penalty box.
"It’s not for everyone. It’s a very open sport. You don’t have to be an athlete, you can be any shape or size but you do have to have that oomph and you have to be able to take a hit," she said.
"You can’t take anything personally, everyone knows if a group of women is together there’s going to be bitching and conflict, but we all get on."
When the women, ranging from nurses, traffic wardens, dentists, support workers and bar staff, train on Sunday morning, they receive a few raised eyebrows from churchgoers at the Inverness Christian Fellowship who also use the school.
"It’s quite funny training on a Sunday as right next door to our hall is a church congregation and if the doors are open, the look on their faces, it’s like ‘Oh my goodness’," she said.
Every player, dressed in full protective gear including a helmet, mouth guard, knee, elbow and wrist pads and even padded pants, has an alter ego on the track with Miss Hislop’s name being Laurna Irn-Bruzer and others on the team include the vice-chairwoman Natalie Simmers or Nat-orious Red, Black Death, T-balls of Fire, Cherry Bow, and Scarlet O’Horror.
"You’re full of adrenaline at the end of the session and we’re all sweating and moaning," she said.
"When you think about some of the girls’ jobs, they have got to be sensible and very grown up but when you get on the track and you’re skating and knocking people over it’s a release, it’s a healthy release and a good way of getting out stress and getting fit and making new friends, we are like a wee family and we look after each other."
Roller derby teams have already sprung up across the country in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and in Falkirk.
As the Nasty Nessie Roller Girls, coached by James King, one of the owners of Creative Skates in Inverness, they are relatively new to the sport and have yet to play a competitive game as certain competence tests must be passed beforehand, but they hope to start competing across the country next year.
Miss Hislop hopes the team can become one of the best and would like to see some of the players selected for the Scottish team.
"It’s a very far fetched dream but it would be amazing just to be recognised as a good player and play for Scotland," she said.
Anyone who is over 18 and who is interested in joining the team, sponsored by Rileys, the pool and snooker bar, is welcome to go along.
"You can be a total beginner, we have people going who have never been on skates in their life," Miss Hislop said.
If you are interested, Miss Hislop can be found on Facebook under her team name Laurna Irn Bruzer.
