Cats open their doors to new recruits

On Saturday, October 13, the Cats held an open recruitment event at our Thornes Park training venue.

We welcomed back some old faces and some new kittens, who all did amazingly well. We’re looking forward to seeing how they progress in our 12-week Kitten to Cat training programme.

We were also lucky to be joined by two journalists who came to check us out.

The first, BBC Radio Leeds reporter Emma Wass, broadcast live from Thornes Park twice – and you can listen to both pieces on BBC iPlayer by clicking here.

The first piece starts at 1 hour 10 mins, when Emma speaks to Fu and Bruise about the basics of roller derby and how the team got started. If you don’t know much about roller derby, it’s worth listening to as Fu is brilliant at breaking down the game and summing up a brief history of the sport and the Cats themselves. Bruise talks about letting your aggressive side out and the injuries you can get by taking part in roller derby – but don’t be put off!

Then if you skip forward to 2 hours 34 and you can hear what happend when we managed to get Emma on skates! LuMardy expains how she did and a bit about derby names and skate gear, and Fu busts some of the myths about the rules. We were really happy to welcome Emma to training and help to introduce a whole new audience for the sport.

We also welcomed Andrew from Wakefield music fanzine Rhubarb Bomb. Andrew really did his research and spoke to Fu about a number of issues surrounding the sport, including similarities roller derby has to the music scene with its DIY-ethic, the name debate and the future of the sport.

And after seeing Emma on skates, Andrew couldn’t be left out and gave it go as well. Both of them did brilliantly on skates and we’d happily take them both on as future roller girls and refs!

We’re really looking forward to seeing what Andrew has to say about his time with the Cats in the December issue of the Bomb.

You can check out some pictures from the day on our facebook page.

If after reading and listening to what we have to say, you want to give it a go, there’s still time to get involved. Our recruitment drive is rolling, so get in touch with Bruise at any time if you want to give roller derby a go. Email her at wwcrecruitment@hotmail.co.uk

The Cats strive to be an inclusive, fun and welcoming team – so get in touch and discover your new obsession!

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