Oldham’s roller derby team are gearing up and rolling their way towards Sweden to compete in a international tournament – which could see them crowned champions of Europe.
The Rainy City Roller Girls will take on nine of the top-roller derby teams from across the continent in a weekend-long tournament WET 2014 (WFTDA European Tournament), at the Batiska Hallen stadium this November.
The all-female team will head to Malmo to battle teams from Germany, Norway and Denmark and the girls are looking forward to taking on the challenge.
Vice-captain of Rainy City Roller Girls, Faye-tal Blonde told MM: “We feel honoured to be a part of the WFTDA European Tournament this year.
“We all sat down as a team at the end of last year and put together some goals that we felt we could achieve for 2014. Being picked to play in this tournament was definitely one of them, and it feels great to know that we’ve achieved what we set out to do.
“We feel like it’s an amazing opportunity and experience to skate with some of the best teams in Europe and show what this team from Oldham is all about.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a whole mix of emotions when we finally get there, and we’re working hard to build a strong unit so we can face some of our hardest opposition.”
Roller derby contains elements of track cycling, rugby and ice hockey, and involves two teams of 14 skaters (with five on the track at any one time), aiming to score points while vigorously blocking the other team’s attempts to do the same.
The Rainy City Roller Girls opened the doors to their very own venue for training and hosting bouts in 2011 and have since reached fifth in the UK rankings.
The team is now busy planning fundraising events to ensure they can raise enough funds to support their trip.
To find out how to make a donation email [email protected]
Image courtesy of rainycityrollergirls, via YouTube, with thanks
