When: Saturday, October 20, 5 to 7 PM
Where: Thunderbird Community Centre, 2311 Cassiar St.
What: Two hours of roller skating skills and roller derby drills
Who: All levels of roller skater, full safety gear required
Why: Because it’s awesome
How much: $7

“…but I get up again, da da da da da…”*

In derby, as in life, falls are inevitable. The real secret of success is not to avoid falling, but to fall small, and get back up.

This session of Raw Meat, we’ll take a good look at a number of stops and falls, as well as how to skate safely in close proximity to other skaters, even if they—or you—aren’t quite steady on their wheels yet. This session will be excellent if you are a beginner roller skater, but if you are an experienced skater, I’ve got a few things planned that will test your fitness and endurance. And, since David is such a huge fan of these, we’ll run through a few sets of our new favourite drill, the Australian Surfer Torture.

What you’ll learn at Raw Meat Vancouver Roller Skating:

We’ll cover stops, falls, agility drills, skating form, roller skating in proximity with others, a few fun tricks, and some (non-contact) roller derby strategy drills.

All levels of roller skater, including beginners, are welcome.

What to bring:

You must have roller skates, and all safety gear: knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, helmet, and mouth guard. The venue also requires everyone to use white or light-coloured, non-marking toe stoppers. If your knee pads are black, please cover them with white, non-marking hockey tape. Vertical strips of tape work best.

The rules:

Raw Meat has two rules: 1. Be Safe, 2. Don’t be an asshat. All sessions are non-contact.

*My profound apologies for inserting an evil Chumbawumba earworm into your brain.

Image courtesy of Rhia Charko, www.rhia.ca.