Brawlers get skates on for challenge with Polish side

Roller derby: Block and dodge as Aberdeen team takes on national outfit after it goes head-to-head with Scotland in a sporting first for Granite City

Granite City Brawlers, the Aberdeen roller derby team, will take on the Polish national team this weekend.

The Poles will also take on the Scottish national team at the event, which is taking place at Aberdeen’s Beach Leisure Centre on Saturday.

Roller derby is a fullcontact sport involving two teams of five skaters gliding around a track in short races to see who can block and dodge the other team to score the most points.

Brawlers team member David Lewis said: “This is the first time international roller derby has come to Aberdeen. Scotland and Poland are both preparing for the men’s roller derby

“Scotland are preparing for the World Cup in Barcelona”

World Cup in next year.

“Poland are a newlyformed team but they have a great deal of talented skaters so it should make for an exciting game.

“Poland will then take on the Granite City Brawlers, who are hoping to end a fantastic 2017 season on a high, having this year been the first team in Scotland to gain status as a member of the Men’s Roller Derby Association (MRDA).

“Three of our Brawlers will skate in both games having been selected for the final Scotland squad.”

Lewis says the sport is growing in popularity. He added: “We have teams starting up all over the country and the world. The first World Cup in 2014 featured 15 teams and next year’s tournament will feature 25 with nations such as Denmark, New Zealand and the Philippines competing for the first time.

“The sport is also growing attention from mainstream media. This month’s women’s championships final was featured for the second year in a row on ESPN and we’d love to see this Barcelona grow further. I can safely say that women’s roller derby is definitely more popular than men’s roller derby given that they are

“It’s now more about tactical gameplay than big hits”

the pioneers of the game’s resurgence. However, the male side of the sport is growing. A lot of people still have the assumption that the men’s game is all about big, powerful hits.

“That used to be the case but we have since evolved into much more tactical gameplay with most teams preferring to contain the opposition rather than trying to show off their power with big hits.”

Doors open at the Beach Leisure Centre at 12.15pm on Saturday with the action getting under way at 12.45pm. Tickets cost £6 with free entry for under12s who are accompanied by an adult.

Photographs by Colin Rennie ON THE BRAWL: Granite City Brawlers go through their paces in preparation for their big test against Poland, above, before it’s all smiles as members take time out for some group photos.