Many hands make light work

Roller derby is an all-consuming pastime, as anyone involved in its ‘extra-curricular’ activities will attest to, but it doesn’t have to be.

I’ve been a member of Manchester Roller Derby’s committee since it was born in May 2011, and acted in a similar capacity before its birth. As PR Manager, it has been my job to promote the club and its events, oversee the design of any publications, write press releases, develop and maintain relationships with media professionals, ensure consistency in branding, and oversee social network management and website design. Bit of a mouthful I know, and that’s not even all of it.

It all sounds a bit boring and corporate, but can be lots of fun and very satisfying. The main reason I do it is because I want to use the skills I possess to let everyone know about the club I love and am hugely proud to be a part of. The fruits of this labour have seen us featured on BBC Manchester Online, The Telegraph, Chimp Magazine and the Manchester Evening News.

We have a club filled to the brim with talented individuals from all walks of life. We do what we do with minimal funding and outside support. Everyone who works to make the club the best it can be is a volunteer driven purely by passion and belief. Many of the volunteers in committee roles have been involved in some capacity since they started skating at MRD.

It can be easy to criticise how things are done, but it is important to remember that the people involved in the running of your roller derby club generally aren’t professional managers and are doing the best they can with the skills and resources they have. It is so difficult to make fair decisions that affect 80+ individuals with such colourful personalities and strong opinions as roller derby seems to attract! You will never please everyone.

As a skater for MRD’s A-team, the Checkerbroads, I will admit that my involvement in the adminstrative side of roller derby has on occasion affected my mental state when I should be focusing purely on skating, tactics and working with my team - whether it’s focusing on the wording of a release that needs to be written and sent out rather than a specific drill, or separating myself from various aspects of bout preparation in order to focus on the bout in hand. I guess this is an inevitable side-effect of not being ‘just a skater’, but it is beneficial to have more of a rotation of those involved and those not, like many clubs do these days.

Everyone at MRD has a life outside of roller derby. My life outside currently involves working long and/or late shifts at a shop (with the week’s rota decided a couple of days before if we’re lucky), practicing with my band, nights out for gigs, looking after my two kitties, weekly fitness classes and seeing my derby widow whenever our timetables allow. Some people have kids, work 12-hour shifts in stressful jobs, are carers, have Masters and PhDs to work on or have other important commitments. Despite these commitments, you will still find these people offering hours of their time and effort to help the club grow. This isn’t something that will happen of its own accord.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: ‘We have a club filled to the brim with talented individuals from all walks of life.’ If you skate for us and have the skills, time and enthusiasm (or any of these things) – speak up! MRD has so many great ideas, but not always the manpower to make them happen. If we had people coming up with ideas and then going ahead and making these things happen, well… the sky would be the limit!

This is a call to arms. Don’t just skate for your roller derby club, own a part of it.

Much love,
Kate Push #11

MRD tearing it up. All images by our official photographer Shirlaine Forrest.

Getting involved...

MRD member? Get involved! Below is a brief description of each area and its current key contact.

• Bouts (Cecil B. Demented) - Event management for our home bouts, also works hard to ensure our away bouts run smoothly. Works closely with PR and finance.
  
• Training (Vic Tori Bee) - Our training taskforce. Concerned with all aspects of training - from session plans to recruitment to ensuring our floor-time is efficiently used. Works closely with secretary and PR.
  
• Secretary (Jowanna Clout) - The backbone of everything at MRD. Arranges committee meetings, takes minutes, records training attendance, collects subs, looks after club documents/policies, insurance and much more.
  
• Officials (Skabarella) - Our group of incredible referees and NSOs. MRD is very proud to be able to field our own dedicated officials team - both for home and for away games (not just for our own club either!). Also arranges training for budding refs/NSOs and works alongside PR to promote recruitment of officials.
  
• Treasury (Ma Rollin' Munster) - For the accountants in town, or anyone who likes numbers. Makes sure our outgoings don't exceed our incomings, keeps lots of records and works out how we can turn a profit! Works closely with merch and our secretary.
  
• Merchandise (Skulldozer) -Involves research of new items, evaluation of current stock, writing merch reports, looking after the online shop, selling advertisements in home bout programmes and stalls at bouts. Works closely with PR and MRD's sponsors.
  
• Fundraising (Kerried Alive) - Looks into any grants we may be eligible for, applies for funding, arranges fundraising events. Works closely with PR and treasury.
  
• PR (Kate Push) - All about shouting about our club and raising its profile. This involves writing/sending out press releases, arranging all promotion for home bouts and other events and looking after our website and social media presence. Works closely with fundraising and merchandise.