Cash rolls in for local skaters

The
Dublin Roller Girls were really on a roll last month when news filtered through
that Diageo Ireland had thrown their support behind them with a special grant
worth

?¬1,000.

The
group of energetic young women, who staged the first ever roller derby in
Ireland during the summer, have been working hard to raise the profile of the
quirky contact sport.

The
Roller Girls, who train at Poppintree Community Centre on the Northside and St
Michael’s Community Sports Centre in Inchicore, comprise about 50 members,
ranging in age from their late teens to their late 30s from all over the city.

Earlier
this summer they organised Ireland’s first ever roller derby at the Shoreline
Leisure Centre in Greystones.

It
involved two teams from the Dublin Roller Girls who put on an exhibition match
to raise the profile of the sport in this country.

Aine
Ni Choisdealbha (22), who is the spokesperson for the club, explained that the
game is based on formation roller skating around an oval track with two teams
competing.

Points
are scored when a designated player known as the

‘jammer’ laps members of the
opposing team. The objective of the game is for each team’s jammer to circle
and then push through the pack of skaters of the opposing outfit.

“It
is a contact sport played on roller skates where you have two teams of five on
the track,

? explained Aine.

“In
the space of two minutes one jammer from each team has to try to pass one of
the members of the other team as often as possible to score points.

“You
play for two minutes and you have 30 seconds to get a new batch of girls out.
It lasts about an hour.

?

Aine
said roller derby was made popular by a 2009 US film about the sport, called

‘Whip It’, which was directed by Drew Barrymore.

The
sport has been played in the US since the 1930s but has only enjoyed a
resurgence in popularity in the last five years.

Irish
people have only started to play the sport competitively in the last 18 months.

A
roller derby is physically demanding and requires a considerable degree of
stamina. However, Aine said complete beginners were welcome and the club’s more
senior members are currently in the process of training up the less experienced
and new recruits.

“For
the beginners balance, speed, learning to control a hit, falling safely and
learning to stop is what we teach,

? she added.

“We have about 30 girls in
intermediate and advanced and about another 20 in what we call the fresh meat
group, which means that they are in training to get the basic skating skills in
order to progress on to the advanced and intermediate training.

“Anyone
is welcome to join but you need a lot of stamina as it is played at a very high
speed. It is really like doing a series of sprints over a one hour period.

?

The
girls were awarded their

?¬1,000 grant after they provided Diageo Ireland with
details on how the money would be put to good use by the group as part of their
application to the multinational company’s Gifted programme.

Just
18 groups from all over Ireland were chosen for grants with ten receiving

?¬1,000
and a eight getting a

?¬5,000 boost.

Ninon
Renaud, Stores Assistant at the Guinness Storehouse and Volunteer
Co-Coordinator of the Dublin Roller Girls, said the Dublin skaters were
thrilled with their award.

“The Dublin Roller Girls are delighted and
would like to thank Diageo for this wonderful gift,

? she said.

“It
grants us the opportunity to develop the sport in Dublin and also throughout
Ireland, as well as improving the standard of facilities in our league.

?