Hot Wheel Roller Derby
| Metro area | Leeds |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Teams | Hot Wheel A Team; Hot Wheel B Team |
| Track type(s) | Flat |
| Venue | The Edge University of Leeds |
| Affiliations | UKRDA WFTDA |
| Org. type | Non-profit Sports Group |
| Website | https://www.facebook.com/HotWheelRollerDerby?fref=ts |
Hot Wheel Roller Derby are a Roller Derby league based in Leeds, England. Founded in 2010, the league currently consists of two competitive teams, the Hot Wheel A and Hot Wheel B Teams. Hot Wheel Roller Derby are full members of the World Flat Track Roller Derby Association (WFTDA; June 2016) and the UK Roller Derby Association (UKRDA; January 2013).
Currently (October 2016) the A Team are ranked 9th in the UK and 21st in Europe. The B Team are ranked 158th in Europe.
HWRD currently have a dedicated, qualified skate coach, Jerry Attric, over 50 female skaters and a full referee crew. They train three times a week.
History of the League
By mid-2011, a year after starting, the league had more than forty skaters.[1] In May 2012, the A team travelled to Germany, where they beat the Stuttgart Valley Roller Girlz B team in front of a crowd of 1,200 fans.[2] In July, they narrowly lost to the Middlesbrough Milk Rollers, in the final of the Great Yorkshire Showdown tournament where they had been ranked last the previous year.[3]
Into 2013, and Hot Wheel are taking on some of the toughest teams in Europe despite several top skaters leaving to live abroad. March 2013 sees the European Roller Derby ranking at improving to 19th place.[4] By September 2013, Hot Wheel had risen to 16th, despite playing their toughest opponents to date. Notable events included a Triple Header followed by a Parisian Themed after party at Santiago's in Leeds; Hot Wheel's Battle of the Bands; pregnant founding members; Unity Day in Leeds; judging the Movember Moustache Contest in Fab Cafe; providing security at Thought Bubble Comic Convention in Leeds for the third year running; going to Dublin at the end of year.
2014 saw Hot Wheel have had an incredible year: playing Paris at their home, Team England (roller derby) try-outs, cheering our Head Coach, Jerry Attric, as he coaches and plays for Men's Team England [5] (ranked 2nd in the world in 2014) the Hot Wheel B Team playing their first four bouts[6] being the highest ranked all-female team at Sur5al, a tournament hosted by Windsor.
The past two years have been the best yet, with Hot Wheel being invited to take part in SKOD (A Skate Odyssey), a tournament in Ghent, Belgium. Entering as 10th seed, Hot Wheel fought hard and left in 6th place, a great achievement and a brilliant weekend. The A Team narrowly missed out on moving from Tier 2 to Tier 1 in the UKRDA British Champs Playoffs after a loss to Bristol Roller Derby. The team will remain part of the British Champs structure in 2017.
Hot Wheel are one of the only UK teams to operate a rolling recruitment for skaters, refs and none-skating officials and allow new members to join all year round!
Training Hot Wheel Roller Derby train three times a week all year round, except for a two week break over the Christmas period. Tuesdays and Sundays at Kippax Leisure Centre[7] and Thursdays at the Ramgharia Sikh Centre in Leeds.
Tuesdays, 8-10pm at Kippax Leisure Centre. are dedicated to advanced drills and scrimmage. Skaters past minimum skills are welcome to participate, pre-mins skaters are encouraged to come and be an NSO (None-skating official).
Thursday, 8-10pm at the Ramgharia Sikh Centre, is the perfect session for new skaters to come and try skating for the first time or for transfer skaters to see if Hot Wheel is the new league for them. The evening is split into two side with the intermediate and advanced skaters working on drills related to game play and newer skaters working towards passing their minumum skills.
Sunday, 11am-2pm at Kippax Leisure Centre, is a mixture of skating skills and drills then an hour and half of scrimmage. Any level of skater is welcome to join the skills session and skaters cleared for scrimmage will be allowed to participate.
Skater Development
Hot Wheel's ethos is that everyone learns different skills at different paces and in different ways. New skaters attending their first session will be talked through how training works by a member of the recruitment committee and how they can develop, supported by coaches, captains and other league members.
"Stripes" are allocated when a skater has passed off certain skills, as seen by the coach or captains.
| Stripe Number | Assessed on |
|---|---|
| 1 | Falls - to ensure the skater can fall properly and safely. |
| 2 - Clearance for scrimmage | A range of skills to allow the skater to join in with contact drills and scrimmage. A rules test will need to be passed before the skater is allowed to scrimmage. |
| 3 - Min Skills Pass | A pass of the third stripe allows skaters to be rostered for the team and skate in bouts and scrimmages outside of Hot Wheel. It ensures the skater knows the basics of roller derby and can safely scrimmage, bout and skate! |
Team Structure
Hot Wheel prides itself on being a co-operative. This means that everyone has their part to play in running the league. Committees exist with the intention of sharing jobs and playing to each member's skills. Each member of Hot Wheel has to become part of one or more committee upon joining.
Every year, a Board of Directors is voted in at the AGM, usually in October. Each Board member has a role to fulfill and will be required to attend Board Meetings. The general role of the board member is to represent the needs and wishes of the team in dealing with anything that needs board attention, as well as their specific role. If an issue requires a change to the Hot Wheel Constitution it will be voted on by board members before being passed to a league vote for all members of Hot Wheel. Any members of Hot Wheel can attend board meetings and are encouraged to do so.
Board Positions
Chair
CEO
Board Secretary
League Secretary
Treasurer
Head Coach
Head Ref
Every year, before the end of the season, co-captains will be chosen by the Head Coach with consultation from the current co-captains.
2010 - 2011: Captain - Gazelle; Vice Captain - Hall of Flame
2011 - 2012: Captain - Red Mist; Vice Captain - Malice in Wonder Wheels
2012 - 2013: Captain - Fanny Batter; Vice Captain - Isla Hurtya
2013 - 2014: Captain - Danger Duck; Vice Captain - Peggy Leethal
2014 - 2015 Co-Captains - Lana Del Slay and Ruthless Philly
2015 - 2016 Co-Captains - Ruthless Philly and Ceej Mentality/ Beth Lord and Ceej following Philly's departure in early 2016
2016 - 2017 ?
References
- ↑ "Roller derby girls get their skates on", Morley Observer and Advertiser, 10 August 2011
- ↑ Jonathan Brown, "Leeds's own Hot Wheel Roller Derby team beat top German opposition", Yorkshire Evening Post, 9 May 2012
- ↑ "Milk Rollers Scoop Best of Showdown", Inside Line, 30 August 2012
- ↑
- ↑ http://www.grinnbarum.com/blog/4583077790/tags/Team%20England%20Mens%20Roller%20Derby
- ↑ http://flattrackstats.com/teams/46039
- ↑ http://www.leeds.gov.uk/sports/Pages/Kippax-leisure-centre.aspx