FINALLY!!

It’s no secret that the Cubs journey has been a long and difficult one (just look at how long ago the first entry on this blog was posted!) but now, finally, after many, many hours of planning and organising, researching, drinking coffee and eating chips, not to mention several changes of committee members, it is finally time to announce that Fierce Valley Roller Cubs is ready to go!  We are beyond excited to announce that we have two trial dates coming up very soon, with our “official” launch to follow. 

 

The first trial session will be held on Sunday 1^st September, 13:30 – 15:00 in the Mariner Centre, Camelon, Falkirk.  This session will cater for our young age group, 5-10 year olds.  Our older Cubs-in-waiting, aged from 11-17, are invited to attend our second trial the following week, Sunday 8^th September, same time, same place.  These sessions are open to girls and boys – we initially intended to include boys to train as future refs, but with the recent explosion of male derby, there’s every chance they’ll want to play themselves.

 

If you/your Cub have your own kit, great, but if not, we will have some available to borrow on the day.  To register your interest, please drop us an email at cubs@fvrg.co.uk to let us know which session you or your child would like to attend, and what kit, if any, will be required.  Although kit will be available, participants will be asked to provide their own mouthguard and helmet on the day.  Without these vital pieces of kit, children won’t be allowed to skate.  The cost of the trial session will be £4.  We can only accommodate 15 kids per session so places will be granted on a first come, first served basis. 

 

Our first official session will take place on Sunday 15^th September.  The sessions will be split as follows: 5-10 year olds will start at 13:30 and finish at 14:15, and the older age group will start at 14:15, finishing at 15:00.  All sessions will be at a cost of £4, with the option of a monthly subscription of £15.  We recognise (and know only too well from experience) that roller derby can be an expensive sport, so we would encourage parents to make sure that their cubs are enthusiastic about participating before investing!

 

To sign up, or if you have any further questions, please get in touch.  Halls are booked, training plans are drawn up, coaches are ready: LET’S GO!!

It's disco time!

After lots of planning and organising behind the scenes, we are pleased to announce the first Fierce Valley Roller Cubs fundraiser!  We will be holding a roller disco on Friday 23^rd of August, 18:30 to 20:30, in Hallglen Sports Centre, Falkirk. 

 

 

Tickets are priced at £5 for adults and £4 for children, plus 50p skate hire if required.  Roller disco and skate hire will be provided by Dai-Ola Roller Discos.  Tickets can be purchased on the door, and you can reserve your skates by sending us a message on Facebook.  Check out our Facebook event page for more details: https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/602108569833315/

 

Also on the night we will have a variety of stalls including raffle and tombola, cake and candy, plus 5^th Blocker Skates (http://www.5thblockerskates.co.uk/) and Cherry Trinkets (https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Cherry-Trinkets-Custom-Designs/106099389461158?fref=ts), so there will be plenty to keep you occupied when you’re not skating!

 

All the money raised on the night will go towards finally getting Fierce Valley Roller Cubs up and running.  Speaking of which…. keep your eyes on our page for some VERY exciting news coming soon!

Moving forward

It's been a while since the last update, but don't think that means we haven't been working away behind the scenes!  

We're pleased to announce that we are now sponsored by Into The Nitemare Roller Derby Store, which means you can buy or order our awesome t-shirts there!  Pop in and pay them a visit at 25 Orchard Street, Falkirk, or check out their online store at http://into-the-nitemare-roller-derby-store.myshopify.com/

We've had a "wheel amnesty" going on for a while now, looking for old, unloved indoor wheels that you no longer use, which we can use on kids' skates.  In addition, we're now appealing for donations of any old kit which you no longer have any use for, which is doing nothing but clutter up your house.  Any pads or even skates which you or your kids have outgrown would be gratefully recieved.  They don't have to be perfect, merely functional (and safe, obviously!).  We won't be able to have full spare kit for everyone, but we would like to have at least bits and pieces that we can lend.  If you have any wheels or kit that you would like to donate, please contact us either on Facebook or by emailing cubs@fvrg.co.uk.

Similary, we're also looking for people to help out in various ways - no derby experience neccessary!  Being involved with the Cubs doesn't have to mean being a coach, there's lots to do so it's all hands on deck.  Contact us if you'd like to be a part of the fun.

Finally, with a view to raising some much-needed funds, we now have a PayPal account so we can accept donations.  I, along with a group of skaters from Fierce Valley Roller Girls, am climbing Ben Nevis next month and have decided to try to raise some money for the Cubs at the same time.  Any donations would be much appreciated, and would make the blisters worth it!  Our PayPal account can be found here: https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=NVUfRa1f3v4rSdWQYoxudu1ibf1FYEa0ZzrxQ58D9e_5tjHYIHSa06fKQvK&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8d96fc0752e9614158f04872d2f2ae25dc

Remember to look out for further information, hopefully coming soon.  If you're not already on our mailing list, drop us an email and we'll add you, to make sure you don't miss any important annoucements.

Thanks for reading! :)

2013... and beyond!

Apologies for the lack of communication recently, but we’d like to bring you all up to date with what’s happening in the world of FVRC.
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It’s no secret that setting up a junior roller derby league has proven to be a huge challenge. We’ve undergone some changes recently and unfortunately aren’t as close to starting as we would like. However, we remain committed to getting this league up and skating as soon as possible – this is where you could come in! We’re looking for volunteers to help out with the set up and eventual running of the league. You could be a skater yourself or the parent of a Cub-in-waiting, and no derby experience is necessary. If you would like to be involved, please leave us a note on our Facebook page or email us at cubs@fvrg.co.uk. This is an opportunity to be involved in something unique and exciting, and we’ve love to hear what skills you could bring to our league.

The biggest issue we have encountered so far is funding. With this is mind, we have a range of t-shirts available for sale in junior and adult sizes. These are available to order by emailing us or contacting us via Facebook, priced at £12 for adult sizes and £10 for juniors. A selection of our merchandise will also be on hand at the Fierce Valley Roller Girls bout against Preston Roller Girls, held on Saturday 16th of February at The Peak, Stirling. If you’re coming along to the bout, please drop by to have a look.

We realise that obtaining all of the equipment needed for roller derby can be expensive, and we are holding a “wheel amnesty” to source some spare indoor wheels for Cubs’ skates. If you have any old, unloved wheels that you could donate (sets of four or eight, without bearings is fine) please let us know. Caymens or any other starter wheels would be great.

Finally, we are aiming to hold an information session at some point in the not-too-distant future, giving Cubs and their parents a chance to come along to meet us and ask any questions they may have. We have several documents, including an equipment checklist and skill sets, available on our Facebook page.

That’s it for now. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or feedback.

Actually, one more important thing: we'd like to say a massive thank you to Frocky Horror for all of her hard work and commitment since we first started talking about a junior league.  We'll miss her input but will work hard to continue what she was such a big part of starting!

Update!

Just thought we should give you all a quick update (apologies for the lack of communication recently).
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Firstly, we have finalised our logo, as you can see! This will be available on T-shirts and badges that we will be selling to raise funds for insurance, hall hire and other set-up costs.

Secondly, we will be selling the merchandise at our "big sister" league's first home bout on November 17th. Details on the bout are below. If you've never seen roller derby before, I strongly recommend you come and check it out. We will be there to answer any questions you may have :-)

On Saturday 17th November, Fierce Valley Roller Girls' Parma Violents will play host to Wirral Whipiteres Roller Derby in For Whom the Skate Rolls!

The Peak, in Stirling will be the venue for our first home bout, and we are hoping to make the Metallica-themed day one to remember!

Tickets are priced at £7 on the door, or £5 in advance if you buy online from Brown Paper Tickets http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/283751 Children are welcome to attend - under 14s go free when accompanied by an adult. Doors open at 2pm.

Thirdly, if you're wondering when we'll be starting then we're aiming for Feb/March 2013. We know this is a while away, but starting an Under-18s roller derby league has been more challenging than we first envisaged. We are the first league of its kind in Scotland, so have been doing this alone. We want to make sure that everything is set up properly before we start coaching your loved ones (some of our own kids will be joining too, so we understand the need to have all the i's dotted and t's crossed). Policies and constitutions are currently being written along with our training plans, and we hope to be able to furnish you with these at the start of 2013.

Fourthly, our coaches have all passed the WFTDA (Women's Flat Track Derby Association) mimimum standards for derby skaters and are all experienced rollerskaters. Our coaches are all enhanced PVG checked.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to e-mail us or send us a message on Facebook.

 

Frocky Horror

Wheel Amnesty

We realise that sourcing equipment for potential Cubs can be difficult, not to mention expensive, so with that in mind, we are asking if anyone could donate any old indoor wheels for us to use.  We can fit them on to Cubs' skates so they can keep their other wheels for outdoor practice.  Sets of 8, or even 4, indoor wheels (we don't need bearings) would be much appreciated.  If anyone can help, please email us at cubs@fvrg.co.uk and we will try to arrange collection.  A big Cubs thank you!

Back on track

Due to a busy time with Fierce Valley Roller Girls, with Fresh Meat, mins, try-outs and two bouts coming up, the Cubs has taken a bit of a back seat, but we got back on track this weekend.  Skaters representing FVRG and FVRC took part on Saturday in a launch event for The Helix in Falkirk (www.thehelix.co.uk), signing up potential Cubs, skating, meeting Mark Beaumont and generally spreading the FVRG word.

From there, it was straight to Grangemouth to take part in the nationwide Roller Derby Torch Relay, a sponsored skate in aid of SportsAid.  Collectively, skaters from FVRG managed almost 12,000 laps (or 434 miles), the first 10 of which were skated by one of our Cubs, Cam Cam Thank You Ma'am.  He did a great job in getting the night started and we loved having him along.

On Sunday, a couple of us headed to the Scribbler's Picnic in Stirling with a stall to promote all of our activities.  Depsite the weather (we were plagued with rain all weekend), we spoke to lots of people and drummed up interest in the Cubs and our big sister.

All in all, a great weekend taking part in community activities and spreading the word.  Hopefully we're a huge step closer to getting started with the Cubs and we look forward to taking part in many more events like these.