KARU

06/12/2013

Roller derby - not just for those who skate

The only documented time I've been on skates.

I am one of those rare people who got into roller derby without the desire to skate. My depth perception is 50 shades of fucked up - I rarely catch any objects thrown my way, I stumble down the stairs weekly, I'll never be allowed to drive a car, I've more than once accidentally biked straight into a wall because I didn't realize the wall was there. So putting me on roller skates and making me hit people, not the best of ideas. But I was living in a small town, I was utterly bored, and needed a project, so naturally I jumped on the chance when my friends headed over to Helsinki Roller Derby open skate on a cold Sunday in March, 2012. The very next week we started our own league, and I was elected as the president.

What followed was 4 months of filling out forms, opening up bank accounts, trying to find practice spaces, recruiting new people, starting Facebook groups, and just generally trying to make everything work. While I was busy being an enabler, the others were learning the basic skills, squeeling over their brand new skates, and coming up with far too punny derby names which would later down the road be toned down to names we could actually pronounce. I was there too, in that 200m2 hall, every single practice, watching and taking notes, and roughly 4 months in, I started coaching.

I'd read what felt like every single roller derby blog on the internet, and watched every single derby drill video on YouTube, I'd taken 2 notebooks worth of notes, and as much as I thought I did, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I had never coached anyone in my life, I was one of the least athletic people I knew, but suddenly I had 15 people paying attention to me, trusting I knew what I was doing. And so I took on that role. I whistled, shouted, instructed, gave feedback, and saw progress. I read books about coaching, and against my own odds, actually got a hang of what I was doing.

At times I found myself mentally exhausted. I was constantly surrounded by people who were learning something new and exciting on skates. They were speeding around the track, they were getting oh-so-cool bruises, jumping the apex. They got to feel like flying. I was there, standing in the middle, not quite belonging. I couldn't share the excitement. I felt inadept as a coach - what right did I have telling anyone what to do, correcting them, when I couldn't do any of that myself? Yet I kept at it, practice after practice, because I didn't have anything else to do either.

The day I fell in love with bench coaching.

It took me more or less a year to come to terms with being a non-skater in derby world. It wasn't until I got properly excited about bench coaching that I felt truly at home. I realised that I actually had something important to give quadless, something I could learn and get better at myself. I could challenge myself, I had a role in roller derby that was for me. I wasn't there just to help others anymore, though granted that's exactly what I am training myself to do.

On game days, whether it be a full bout or a mixed scrimmage with 10 players and 4 referees, that's when I come alive. I don't need quads and a mouth guard to play the game. I'm not a jammer, but I can still make points. I don't get to hit anyone, but I still play the other team. With every scrimmage and bout I grow, and I find new opponents - my own team, the opposing team, the referees, the non-skating officials, the clock, myself. It's a never-ending process and I'm enjoying every moment, making up for all those moments I spent feeling sorry for myself.

Sure, I still don't feel like flying, but man, I do get the high.

// Anna Miettinen

29/11/2013

A Shock On The Rise: Jonathan R.

"Play roller derby, be the best, and do it with class!"

Jonathan R., the father and Captain of one of the best men's roller derby teams, New York Shock Exchange (NYSE), poses a serious threat to the Finnish model of a male athlete. This agile, hard-as-nails, strategic player combines artistic roller skating and American football to men's roller derby and is known as the ”Flying Squirrel”.

Finnish "merby" is coming together little by little. It took its first steps in December 2012 when The Sons Of Peaches (TSOP), a team of referees who wanted to try playing, took on a similar Scandinavian ref team The Peaches. The bout was such a mayhem that it can only be explained by the (over)excitement of the guys to be on the actual track instead of the outlines of it. After the dust had settled from this historical prologue to Finnish male derby, Tampere decided to go ahead and put together the first competitive men's roller derby team in the country and challenged TSOP to do the same. This finally led to founding a Team Finland for the World Championships of Men's Roller Derby, which will be held in the spring of 2014.

Like women's roller derby in Finland, the male version is also a bit behind from its American cousin. Men's Roller Derby Association (MRDA) was founded in the US in 2007 and today they have 31 member leagues, of which 28 are based in the States, one in Canada and two in the UK. MRDA hosts their own Championships for the fourth time this year. Jonathan R. was there to see the growth of merby behind the great water, namely in New York. Since its birth in 2007, NYSE has worked its way to the top of men's roller derby leagues in the world.

Photo: Quick Draw Sports Photography

Jonathan, as the Primus Motor, you probably have the best angle to look at the league's development over the years. NYSE surely is bigger and better, but is it different from the early days?
- The New York Shock Exchange charges forward with the same goals it had on day one; play roller derby, be the best, and do it with class. We fostered a strong sense of brotherhood right from the get go. I am proud to say that as we have grown, we carry on that spirit. Practice is as fun as it ever was.

NYSE won the first MDC Championships in 2010, as well as the second edition (under MRDA) in 2011, but last year you were left outside of the final bout between Your Mom Men's Derby (Des Moines, IA) and St. Louis. How are the rates of the Shock Exchange going to look in the final tournament in Sioux City in October?
- Our goal is to win the championship; simple as that. The competition is super intense. Every team on its way to the MRDA Championship is a huge threat.

So how are you going to pave your way to get there?
- We always hold practice. We had it the day after the all-star team won the MRDA Championship. It is what we like to do; work to get better and play roller derby. We took our big trip to England so, instead of attending any invitational events in May, we are focused on our bouts against Your Mom in June, St. Louis GateKeepers in July, Central Mass Maelstrom in August, and the Mohawk Valley Cup in August. It looks like we may get another high profile game in as well.

Let's talk about European derby… You came to play Southern Discomfort last year and your victory was crushing. How do you think Southern Discomfort will succeed this season in the big boys league? How do you see American roller derby in general, compared to European?
- I think Southern Discomfort will do well. They could very well be knocking on the door for an invitation to Sioux City in October. The big difference between the US and European roller derby is experience. Many of the teams remind me of where the Shock Exchange was about three years ago. They are learning fast, training to be competitors, and sharpening up their game instincts.

Keeping track since 2010

We love roller derby.

Roller derby brought us together, and now we're sharing the love. Finnish derby scene is active, interesting, and constantly evolving, and we want you to know all about it! So if that's what you want as well, you're in the right place.

Back in 2010, a bunch of local roller derby enthusiasts started KARU - an online magazine with a focus on roller derby, and now we're making it international, interactive and easily accessible, baby. We've got people translating the previously published stories, writing new content and sharing their passion.

We're only just getting started, so be patient with us. Once we get things rolling (oh do mind the pun!), you'll get new contents weekly, with topics ranging from Team Finland to bout reports, practice vibes and everything in between. The writers include skaters, coaches, volunteers and officials from all over Finland.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, KARU is Finnish and means raw. The name is an acronym of the Finnish words katu (street), asenne (attitude), roller derby, and unelma (dream).

AM