Tickets are now on sale for our next bout vs. Kent Roller Girls. It’s on Saturday 1st June at our usual home venue, Havant Leisure Centre.
Go to the BUY TICKETS page to buy your tickets for just £7 in advance! Come and join us for a bit of Summer Shovin’!
A big thanks to Andrew Hayward for the photos on the poster – we had a really fun photo shoot! Also a big thanks to Coletta. L. Damage for the poster design.
Amateur roller derby leagues (including Portsmouth Roller Wenches) across Britain are spending a weekend in June skating the distance of the Olympic torch relay. That’s 3787 miles! Or a staggering 103,890 laps of a roller derby track. This challenge is being undertaken to raise money for the truly worthwhile SportsAid; a charity supporting the young British athletes of tomorrow.
In Roller Derby we know all about chasing after your dreams. Roller Derby is very young in the UK but, through the dedication and commitment of league members nationwide, it has become the country’s fastest growing sport. The welcoming community of Roller Derby has brought so many women back into the arena of competitive sport, or encouraged them to enter it for the first time.
Roller Derby leagues are coming together as the grass-roots sports players that everyone keeps talking about, and are raising money to support the next generation of British Olympians.
Celebrate sport! Celebrate the Olympics! Support our Herculean effort, and the real spirit of 2012! Feel free to sponsor us and the whole collective at www.justgiving.com
We are very proud to announce to the World – our NEW LOGO! Share the Wench love
Do you love roller derby but don’t want to play rough? That’s ok; we strongly encourage anyone to join us as a non-skating official (NSO). It is the place for those who have no intention of standing up on skates but really want to be a part of the team.
NSO’s play an important role within the team; taking on duties both at training and big events. We want you for score keeping, jam timers, penalty trackers bench managers, roadies/runners and other NSO duties. Find out more about the role here. We’re also always looking for refs and other volunteers to help out at our practices and bouts!
At a bout, consider volunteering as we need ushers, door sales, merch attendants, bar attendants and more. A bout can’t happen without all of these people and it’s a great way to get involved.
There is always something for everyone in a Roller Derby league, what is it you can bring to the track?
If you are interested, contact us to get the full scoop on our practice days and times. You must be 18 or older.
Online Shoppers To Help Raise Money For Portsmouth Roller Wenches
Shoppers are being urged to log on to the internet to help raise funds for a local good cause.
Portsmouth Roller Wenches have signed up with www.easyfundraising.org.uk, an innnovative website where thousands of people are raising money for charities every time they shop.
By using easyfundraising to access over 2000 well known retailers, savvy shoppers generate a free donation for the good cause of their choice. And as donations can be as much as 15% of the purchase price, Portsmouth Roller Wenches are really hoping local people will log on and support them.
With British shoppers set to spend a staggering £39 billion online this year alone, Portsmouth Roller Wenches are keen for as many people as possible to sign up:
“In the current financial climate we know that every penny counts so we’re not asking people to donate, just to shop online as they normally would. Almost all of us shop online these days so what could be easier than raising funds simply by making the purchases you make anyway?”
Featuring over 2000 of the UK’s most popular retailers including M&S, Argos, Boden, Tesco and many more, easyfundraising has already raised helped UK charities raise over £3 million.
As well as raising funds, the free to use website also gives shoppers access to hundreds of offers, discounts, vouchers and free delivery codes that they won’t find elsewhere.
To support Portsmouth Roller Wenches, visit http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/prw/ and follow the instructions.
We’re almost halfway through the PRW’s first freshmeat course. We asked a couple of them to share their experiences…
I was the type of girl that never got along with girls….. Until Derby! I see it now, I didn’t like girls because of family and childhood friendships. But Derby is now my family! A group of strong women, no matter their circumstance, who are like minded and know how it feels to always be on the outside looking in. Now we are the “In”. When I practice, I always leave thinking “how can I do that better next time?”. I must annoy the Wench/ling family as I am always asking questions…. I used to have “Role Models” and these were famous girls, skinny girls and so on. Now I have Role Models and these are real women who have worked hard to get where they are. They are the sort of woman I now strive to be! Myself basically
Carin
The last time I owned quad skates I was 6, they were teenage mutant ninja turtles, green with hot pink wheels.
It has been 18 years since I owned those skates and whilst I have dabbled with inlines as a teenager it’s safe to say that ‘fresh meat’ described me perfectly.
I turned up to training with butterflies in my stomach but after strapping on my skates they disappeared.
Fresh meat training is challenging, frustrating, engaging, hard, fun and exhausting, but with time things that seemed hard get easier, fitness levels increases, ‘practise (and practise and practise) makes perfect’, and, as I have learned you can never be too low. The feeling of accomplishing that stop/fall/block that you have been practising on-skates/off-skates at training/work/home is a very happy awesome one:- if it wasn’t hard, it wouldn’t be worth it!
Our fresh meat coaches are skilled, supportive, patient and friendly and no matter what your skill level they incorporate this in all sessions. Training is varied, skills are developed and incorporated as skaters progress with the different elements of roller derby complementing and slotting into place. I am 10 weeks into the course and training is still the best day of the week!!
The ladies I skate with, my fellow wenchlings, are enthusiastic, dedicated and supportive. We are a team, a family and I look forward to when we graduate and are ready to join the league.
Someone once told me you know you are in love when you fall asleep and wake up thinking of (that person), I don’t think I could explain how I feel about roller derby any other way. To me roller derby isn’t just a sport, it has been incorporated into my everyday life. Train harder, skate faster, be the best you can be.
Chrissie
Inside Line are giving you the chance to have your ideal derby sticker in print for Issue 2 of Inside Line magazine!
For more details on how to enter check out the inside line event on facebook
PRW’s very own freshmeat wenchling Rj James has entered her own design. We’re very proud to share it all with you…
Head over to facebook and ‘like’ her sticker design, it all helps with the competition!
“LOVE WATCHING ROLLER DERBY?…..WANT TO KNOW IF IT’S THE SPORT FOR YOU?
The Wenches are holding a recruitment taster day!!!
When?.…….Tues 20th September 8pm till 10pm
Where?…….Highbury College, Cosham, Portsmouth.
You don’t need skates as we shall supply them, all you need to bring is yourself!!!
IT’S EVEN FREE!!!!!!
Send us a message via the contact form on the website or via our Facebook page if you’re interested in coming along to have a go at skating, or just to watch.
(over 18s only) Men and Women Welcome!!”
Just click ‘attending’ on our Facebook Event
This coming Saturday 3rd September Portsmouth Roller Wenches are to host their first mixed scrimmage! We have skaters coming from Brighton Rockers, Big Bucks High Rollers & other leagues! We are holding it at Havant Leisure Centre from 2-5pm and spectators are welcome for a £3 donation!
Afterwards we are hosting an afterparty, and there ain’t no party like a Roller Wench Party! With DJs, food, games, raffles, plenty of fun and drinks, it’s gonna be a night to remember!
Here is a link to the Facebook event for our epic afterparty!!
Also, website updates, check out our updated profiles with our very own ChairWench Hard as nails with a heart of gold Brookslide!
Also, you’ll see our new logo at the top of the page! We have had stickers printed and t-shirts are on their way, so get in touch if you’d like to rock some PRW merch!!
Wenches in Bout Action!!!!
Yesterday, Sunday 21st August, Portsmouth Roller Wenches ventured to Croydon for a friendly closed door training bout against the lovely Croydon Roller Derby!
Having won their last closed door bout and with their 2nd birthday celebration bout coming up we knew the competition was going to be strong, and this was our first outing as The Wenches!!! But we did ourselves proud.
Read Croydon’s write up of the bout here: www.croydonrollerderby.co.uk
Our team consisted of the awesome encouraging Duchess of Crutches as bench manager, and Mary S. as line up manager. We also had 3 CRD girls guest skating for us. Our line up was as follows, with two of the team going from passing minimum skills to bouting in two days, well done Peggy and Lady Von!!!!!!!
8 Hel On 8 Wheels
26 Mosquito (CRD)
27 Rip McMurphy
40 Brookslide
55 Smack Torque
57 Peggy Peril
61 Loud Behaviour
81 Coco Dean (CRD)
84 Harold Bashup
121 Moscow Cruel
0626 Mazz Destruction (CRD)
SR71 Tess of the Derby Wheels
T42 Lady Von Whack n Smack
In other news, two Wenches skated in a mixed scrimmage in Brighton a couple of weeks ago, with some other unfortunate injured Wenches having to miss out. To that we say, bring on the next one, Rockers!
The Duchess of Crutches, R.I.P. McMurphy, Halcyon Daze & Brookslide attended Rocky Mountain Rollergirls Boot camp in Birmingham this weekend. It was an amazing opportunity to be taught by Fight Club, the 2010 WFTDA National Champions who are absolute legends. Over 100 Roller Derby girls from all over Europe attended. It was a unique opportunity to skate with some of the best Roller Derby players and the learning can only help to make the wenches a better, stronger team.