THANKS TO ALL OF OUR BRILLIANT INTERVIEWEES AND PLEASE SUPPORT OUR AWESOME ADVERTISERS – THEY MADE THIS SPECIAL ISSUE POSSIBLE
2020
THE YEAR OF CURRENTLY
DAVIS LOOKS TOWARDS A BRIGHT FUTURE
“
I’m so excited to begin playing adult roller derby this year, especially with the Rockers. Before I trained with Brighton they were (and still are) my idols. They were the first team I ever saw playing derby, and I never thought I’d be at a stage in my skating career that I would be good enough to skate alongside them. Now that the time has come, I can only be grateful to the league for all they have done for me, and I will be out there to make them proud. The Rockers’ history isn’t that well known to me, other than looking at their old Facebook photos, but the first game I ever saw was at home to Hell’s Belles and I don’t think I’ve missed a home game since. It was January 2019 when the Rockers first invited me to join them at training alongside some other juniors from Eastbourne’s New Bournes, but I didn’t properly start training with them until I passed my driving test in the summer.
My three years in junior derby have been a rollercoaster. I went from not getting picked for the Team GB squad, to being given a reserve spot, to then making the actual jammer rotation – all in my first year of skating. Junior and adult derby are quite different. Junior is more hectic. Adding that extra energy into adult derby will be really interesting to watch. At Rockers training I’ve found that the adults and those of us coming in from junior derby are learning a lot from each other. Often I’ll get asked how to do a jump or ‘that twirly thing’, but equally they’ve taught me how to skate smart and conserve my energy. It’s a win-win situation. I’m likely heading to uni in Cardiff in the autumn, so a transfer to Tiger Bay could be on the horizon, but I love Brighton and the Rockers. I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself back skating for them when they are celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2030.
The retirement from benching of Rockers legend Mistress in 2019 leaves Hairy Fairy as the sole remaining Rocker who was there in the Lion & Lobster ten years ago. A strong continuity remains however, especially given that Hairy has coached and mentored several recent generations of rookies through their Fresh Meat to B-team and beyond. All three Rockers teams are thus imbued with the spirit of those who met up in that pub that day in 2010. As for the future, it’s bright. Not just for the Rockers but for the sport in general. Particularly given the rise of junior derby and its new wave of skaters who have grown up playing the game. Eastbourne’s New Bournes are one of the UK’s top junior sides (making up around 25% of Team GB) and the Rockers recently began incorporating several of these derby stars of the present/future into their training sessions. Look out for some of them in the blue and black of Brighton soon. This is just the beginning.