CaiRollers: Egypt’s first Derby Team!

From running, to cycling and fitness challenges, Fitness is now all the rage in Cairo, and it is no surprise that we are a huge fan of it. A new promising sports league is being introduced in Cairo for the first time. CaiRollers are starting Egypt’s very first roller derby team. We got the whole scoop on the when, what and how, and of course if we know it then you should too. Here is what they had to say.
 
1. What is CaiRollers & who are the people behind it?

Cairollers are Egypt’s first roller derby league! What is roller derby? Roller Derby is the fastest growing female sport throughout the world. It’s a contact sport played on roller skates. It started in America in the 30’s, and 40’s and was resurged in Texas in 2001…now it’s global, becoming very popular in Europe, East and even in Australia and New Zealand.  During a roller derby bout, two teams of five. The jammers are the scoring skaters (they are like the ‘ball’ in football or rugby), and they start behind the pack then try to make as many passes through the pack as possible, gaining a point for each opposing skater they pass. When the whistle blows, the pack and the jammer will take off. The jammer will start making her way through the pack.  When the first jammer makes it through the pack (without penalties), she is the “lead jammer” and can start scoring points on each pass.  Each “jam” lasts 2 minutes, with a 30 second break in between. There are two 30-minute periods full of 2-minute jams.

Cairollers was the brainchild of two ex-pats which skated in America and London prior to coming to Cairo. The original founders of skaters are a mix of ex-pat and Egyptian women. Cairorollers are Egypt’s first (and only) women’s flat track roller derby league. The league began its formation in June 2012, and we had our first practice in September 2012.  We are a very diverse group of about 19 players at the moment.

2. Why CaiRollers, How did you pick this name –is there a story behind it?

One of the co-founders, Angie Malone-Kaster, came up with the name one night while talking with her husband about starting the team.

3. Being Egypt’s first roller derby team, what are the major obstacles you are facing?

The main issues with developing a roller derby league in Egypt so far have been with getting gear, maintaining our gear (sand is the number one enemy of bearings!), and finding a suitable practice space. At this stage, it’s not possible to buy the necessary gear in Egypt, so we’ve had to rely on team members to travel abroad to get our gears in. The issue with finding a good practice space has also been really hard. We wanted to find somewhere central so that all players could get there easily, but the best places we’ve found so far are in further flung neighborhoods, which are more residential.

Other than that, it’s been a bit of a challenge to recruit players and convince them that they don’t need to be of a certain body type or skill level to play roller derby. We’ll train them and teach them everything they need to know.

4.  In general, what do you think is the biggest misconception about Roller derby?

That it is a violent sport, and that you have to be a certain type of woman to play it. Yes, there is hitting in roller derby, but you are trained on how to hit and push properly so you don’t hurt each other. It is not the intention of the game to hurt each other. It is a sport like any other. The intention is to score points. Also, anyone can play the game. We will teach you everything you need to know, and we already have all different types of women playing the sport—expats, Egyptians, Christians, Muslims, veiled, etc.

5. Tell us more about your recent fundraising event.

Our last fundraiser was held on June 7th. It was a fun event; we had open mic performances by Tareq Tohamy and High on Body Fat and a demonstration of real live roller derby! The aim behind the event was to raise money for our first game ever, which is on June 14th at the Maadi Club. The Cairollers do not have any sponsors (yet! If you are interested in sponsoring us email info@cairollers.com) so everything we do is being funded out of our own pockets at the moment. The fundraiser was a chance to raise some money and introduce people to the great sport of roller derby!

6. What should we expect on your biggest event/match on June 14th?

You should expect to see the first roller derby match to ever be played in Egypt! We will be playing against each other—red team vs. black team. The game will be about 60 minutes long with 20 minute quarters. Between each quarter, we will have 15 minutes of performances from musical acts, including Like Jelly. It will be a lot of fun, and it will showcase all the hard work we have done since September 2012.

7. Speaking of the Match, who will be attending? I mean, Can anyone attend this event?

The match will be at the Maadi Club on Golf Street in Maadi. The entrance will be from Gate 4. Anyone can attend this event; you just have to pay 40LE entrance fee.

8. Let’s say I want to become a part of CaiRollers’ team, how can I contact you?

If you want to be a CaiRoller all you have to do is contact us at info@cairollers.com or contact us through our Facebook page (Cairollergirls). We welcome all enthusiastic women and men with a sense of fun or curiosity to check out our practices and join up! Only women, aged 18 and over, can play as skaters. However, we welcome men to volunteer as referees or non-skating officials. We have a lot of male volunteers who do everything from refereeing to keeping score and taking photographs.

9. What’s that one thing that you really hope you can achieve through CaiRollers?

In the long run, we hope to continue to grow to a good-sized league with several teams under the umbrella of the league, and eventually enter a mentorship with the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association in order to achieve full certification. We hope to spread the sport of roller derby throughout Egypt, and create something sustainable. We hope that we will have Egyptian women from all over Egypt learning about and experiencing this great sport.

10. Any last words?

Sports bring a sense of community, and can help build confidence and increase ownership of public spaces among girls and women. Once you fall hard and get back up, or once you take a hit and keep on skating you realize that a lot of things you fear are much worse in your head than in reality. Do not be intimidated. Roller derby is so most fun. I have never enjoyed something like this in a very long time, and if you just try it, you will see how fun it is!