Fast, furious fun with the Fair City Rollers
Bell’s is considered the best floor to skate on in Scotland due to its unique grip
training each week, as well as a great location for hosting our home games,” Kirstin says.
“In fact Bell’s is considered the best floor to skate on in Scotland due to its unique grip. The team at Live Active Sport development team has been a great support, working with us to ensure we have what we need to develop. The rink spreads over two of their normal sized courts and is oval in shape, which proved somewhat of a challenge when the tape went down.
“We also worked with Live Active Leisure to secure a silver standard PACES accreditation, the benchmark for good governance and well run clubs in the area. Because the sport is still relatively unknown, it means a lot to us to be recognised as one of the area’s leading clubs.”
Logan McConnachie, senior sport development officer at Live Active Leisure, added: “Fair City Rollers were one of the first clubs to achieve silver status when we relaunched PACES back in 2018.
“They are a great club to be involved in, really open and honest, and focused on achieving high standards. In fact they’ve used the lockdown period to update their PACES accreditation and start forward planning for their return.
“Behind the scenes, the club have a targeted approach to development including the development of their volunteers and connecting with the wider Perth and Kinross communities. The club is run by the skaters, for the skaters and they will endeavour to continue their adventure, by always making decisions with their members’ interests at the forefront.”
Their come-and-try sessions are famed for their electric atmosphere thanks to a group of supportive and enthusiastic volunteers who champion the sport.
This, along with greater profile at a national level, has seen FCR continue go from strength to strength; they now boast over 40 members, including skaters, referees, and non-skating officials.
The regular increase in new participants has also allowed The Fear Maidens to grow as a team, and they are now taking part in a greater number of competitive fixtures against opposition from across Scotland.
Last year they celebrated two home wins, against Orkney Roller Derby and New Town Roller Derby – made all the more special as they marked the first wins for FCR in their 10 year history.
This Sunday (April 19) FCR were to play their first home game of 2020 against Lothian Derby Dolls; it will be rearranged when it is safe to do so and Kirstin promises: “FCR will be back, bigger, bolder and even more determined.”
• Roller derby is a full-contact sport played on quad roller skates, by two teams skating around an elliptical track.
The game consists of a series of two-minute countdown jams, is fast, furious and full of adrenaline.
At the start of each jam, each team sends five players onto the track: one jammer (point scorer), three blockers (defensive/offensive players) and one Pivot (a special kind of blocker).
The jammers’ aim is to skate a full lap, scoring a point for each opposing skater they pass. The skater’s role is twofold: to stop the opposing jammer, and to help their own jammer pass.
They do this by landing heavy shoulder or hip checks on opposing players, shoving them out of the way or knocking them to the ground.
See https://www.facebook. com/FairCityRollers/ or email faircityroller@gmail.com for more information.