School of ARRG Knocks 3 - Was it even ARRGer?

Coaches Caitlin and DeeDee getting ready to warm up, Fame style!

It’s 8am on a Saturday morning. Team Bootcamp and ARRG coaches arrive at Meadowbank looking like human versions of Buckaroo carrying skatebags, water, soundsystems, lunches, shirts, inner tubes.. everything you might need for a full day of skatey hardwork and fun! A busy hour later and the tracks are ready, everyone is registered and Head Teacher Die signals to the excited pupils that we are ready for School of ARRG Knocks 3 to begin!

Begin boldly we did – a Fame inspired assembly complete with 80’s aerobics moves, high kicks, high hands and high cut leotards set to Michael Sembello’s Maniac and Irene Cara’s Fame certainly got everyone’s hearts pumping ready for the day ahead!

The day ran fast with each group having 3 on skates and a classroom session covering blocking, jamming, jumping, technical skills, tactical skills and loads of goal setting and off skates. You could see the concentration on faces as pupils really challenged themselves to learn new skills and push themselves further than they thought they could with proud coaches looking on.

Head Teacher Die told us that, “It was amazing to see how much people progressed throughout the sessions and great to see their skills in action when it got to our end of day scrimmage. I love bootcamp day, everyone works so hard!”

We asked Lady Scrapnell, who passed her mins (for the second time(!), after having a baby boy) in January 2013, what she thought of the day’s proceedings:

Scraps, what did you think of the day?
The day was great fun, informative, well-organised and gloriously arrg work!

What sticks out / what were your best bits?
A certain fame-inspired outfit certainly sticks out… I also really enjoyed having some classroom time to talk about goal setting - something that I’ve never had the discipline to sit down and do for myself; it was fantastic to be given building blocks and techniques for the non-skating aspect of roller derby. It was great to end the day with a scrimmage, despite feeling like there was no energy left - we all found some!

What did you learn?
New technical skills - like quicker ways to leap back onto the track after being knocked out and skating on my tripods, the importance of off-skates, mental work: setting goals, celebrating achievements and welcoming positivity into your game! This was only the second time I’d scrimmaged with skaters outside my league and I loved the challenge and excitement of skating with players I’d just met that day.

What would you say to people thinking of attending a bootcamp?
Go for it! You’ll make loads of new skater pals, be taught by encouraging, friendly, top-class coaches and remain stiff and sore for the rest of the week with the lyrics, “I wanna skate forever” echoing around your head!

It was a really well-run day and I’m so glad I came!

Photos by Scott Carroll; to see more click the image.

There was great feedback from pupils saying their thanks on Facebook and Twitter. From what everyone is saying it was a cracking, fun day and like the title suggests - ARRGer than ever!

Thanks to everyone who came, helped, coached and organised. See you at the next School of ARRG Knocks – From everyone at ARRG SOAK Bootcamps.

ARRG coaches are available for bootcamps and coaching across the world - visit out coaches pg for more information.