TwoTon Murphy are delighted to support Ireland at the Roller Derby World Cup in Calgary, Canada!

2. To the uninitiated, how would you describe Roller
Derby?
It’s probably too easy to say it’s the greatest sport there
is, I’m sure everyone thinks that about their own game!
So, Roller Derby is a full-contact, fast and furious team
sport played on a flat track while wearing quad skates.
Each team fields five skaters in a series of jams’, each of
which will last no longer than two minutes a full game
(some of us still call them bouts) is made up of two 30-
minute halves.

3. There is one jammer’ and four
blockers’ fielded for each team;
Jammers wear a star on their helmet
and they score the points by lapping
members of the opposing team. The
blockers’ job is to prevent the rival
jammer doing that, while
simultaneously assisting their jammer
to get past.

4. In essence both teams play offence and defence at the
same time. Hip checks and shoulder hits are legal to
slow down or knock an opposing skater off the track. It
might seem chaotic at first glance but it’s a fast-moving
and tactical sport that provides spectacular action.
People often refer to it as ˜rugby on skates’ but a
better description is; Speed chess on skates, while
someone throws chairs at you! Check out this kick ass
video we put together. It’ll give you a better
understanding of what we’re at!

5. Describe the current state of roller derby, has it
increased in popularity in recent years?
Back in its earliest incarnation derby
was a co-ed sport, on a banked track,
and more like a speed skating event
but with thrills and spills. That version
became a little theatrical and its
popularity waned.

6. But in the 1990s the sport was revived as a
serious athletic competition for women, the
men’s game only followed later with much help
from the women’s leagues. Right now it’s the
fastest-growing sport in the world, the number
of leagues worldwide grows exponentially each
year. It’s still an amateur sport but there’s talk of
eligibility for the Olympics in the future and the
governing bodies for men’s and women’s derby
are at the forefront of its evolution – expect
great things!

7. Your focus is on the world cup in less than two
months, what’s the quality of opposition like?
This is the toughest opposition we can honestly say
that we’ve ever faced. We have Scotland, Finland,
Mexico, and Japan in our group.. Oh, and also the
current World Cup holders – USA!! We simply can’t
wait, just to be on track with so many of the superstars
of men’s roller derby is going to be a great thrill. But
we’re not going over there to be starstruck, we’ll give
them a game

8. .We’ve faced Scotland, Japan and
Finland before and come out on top
but nothing is taken for granted, every
team will be better and different this
time around. The group games are
only 30 minutes so we’ve got to take
control right from the first whistle.

9. And how has your preparation been for the World
Cup?
We’re really happy with how we’ve gelled as a team.
After the 2014 World Cup the squad stayed together
and expanded into a training squad with loads of new,
talented skaters coming aboard. Our coach, Jessica
Rammit, has moulded us into one unit and we’ve really
come on in skill and tactics since 2014. It’s a bit tougher
to get everyone together for us as we’ve skaters living
all over the place, from LA to Limerick. But our motto
is: œN neart go cur le ch©ile•.There is no strength
without unity. And that’s what we are – United

10. Tell us about the format for the World Cup, is it a
typical group stages and knockout rounds style
tournament? And how many teams are participating?
The sixteen teams that competed in Birmingham
in 2014 have been added to it this time around.
So there will be twenty-one nations represented
in Calgary, a huge growth for the sport in just
two years. There group stages to start with.
Teams finishing first or second in their
respective groups will play off for the cup, in a 3-
round structure.

11. On one side of the bracket, the winner of group
1 will play the runner-up from group 2, and the
winner from group 4 will play the runner“up
from group 3. The other side of the bracket will
mirror the first, switching runners-up for
winners and vice-versa. There’ll be ranking
bouts for third and fourth place group finishers
and a consolation for bracket for fifth-placed
(and one sixth) teams.
We play Finland, Scotland, Mexico, Japan, and
USA in our group.

12. How do you feel you performed in
2014?
For a nation that had no actual men’s
roller derby teams in it at the time, we
did pretty well. We were proud to
come out with a top-ten place and
we’ll be hoping to improve our ranking
this time around.

13. What do you think your team’s greatest
strengths are?
We’re much more of a unit than we were in
2014. A lot of the team have played together for
years now and several of us started in the sport
all at the same time. We know each others’
game well and the level of trust in each other is
obvious. Everyone knows their job and can
depend other teammates to do theirs, you can’t
ask for more than that. It’s that œN neart go cur
le ch©ile•at work!

14. Any opposition you have an eye on coming into the
competition?
USA of course, that game is going to be a highlight. They have so
many amazing skaters that we’ve been watching for years. How
cool that we get to test ourselves against them!
Our opening game is against Finland, which was our last game of
the 2014 tournament. We lost that time but evened things up
when they played us in Belfast last year. So that should be a
great game. We’ll both have a point to prove.
Scotland too should be an interesting meet; we’ve played once
before but both teams are so different now that it could easily go
either way. In fact, all our group games will be hard. Mexico are a
kinda unknown quantity, and Japan are going to be much
improved from 2014. We know not to underestimate anyone,
that way you get your ass handed to you!

15. What separates Roller Derby from other
sports?
It might just be the smell. Imagine twenty-one
teams of sweaty men in a venue and the pong
that’s gonna come off their kit by the end of the
first day! There are so many things that make
derby different but if I had to name just one, I’d
say it’s the community spirit. There is no division
amongst the players or fans of opposing teams.
Once the final whistle goes, everyone parties
together and you’ll find yourself congratulating
the guy who just put you on your back for his
amazing hit.

16. The ethos of derby is ˜By the skaters,
for the skaters’. That means everyone
looks out for each other. And all of us
who’ve fallen for this amazing game
are working together to make it as
awesome as it can be, and trying let
everyone else know how cool it is too!

17. Where do you see the sport going in Ireland in the next few
years?
The women’s game in Ireland is in rude health with plenty of
top-level teams on the go, and that was great for us as the men’s
game would never have gotten started without their help and
acceptance.
But as it stands, the local men’s teams are still low on numbers.
We’re hoping that our exploits will encourage more Irish guys to
strap on eight wheels and knock each other about a bit. Right
now we’ve only got Calgary on our minds but the work will go on
after that. I mean, 2018 isn’t that far away!!!
You can get our Roller Derby World Cup designs here
at https://twotonmurphy.com/product-category/irish-roller-
derby-world-cup-calgary-2016/ Available in Men’s & Women’s.

18. Thank You
For More Information Please Visit:-
https://twotonmurphy.com/irish-roller-derby-interview/