Ontario's Recreational Flat-Track Roller Derby League

LOCO is growing across Ontario. 3 months after opening Kitchener LOCO Roller Derby, Startford Roller Derby has applied to and been accepted by the LOCO Roller Derby league members as the newest LOCO Roller Derby chapter. Now, you can skate in Kitchener, in Stratford, or in the flagship London location, and all with the same friendly, welcoming, and encouraging atmospheres, recreational low cost, low commitment and low contact roller derby training and playing, and with the same focus on the fun and friendship of roller derby.

If you are in Stratford and you want to learn to roller skate, play roller derby, and meet some great new people, come on out to the open house event this Friday, March 25, 2011. We’ll be at the Stratford YMCA from 7-9 pm. A few loaner skates are available (first come, first serve) and it will be a fun night of skating, a chance to meet the Stratford LOCO Roller Derby skaters and to find out all about how to join and what to expect. $5 a night is all it will take to get started, so come on out and skate!  Skaters are required to have helmet, mouth guard, wrist guards, elbow and knee pads, and be female and 18+.  We’ll be there every Friday following (except holidays) and welcome new skaters every week!

Welcome aboard, Stratford LOCO Roller Derby!

LOCO Roller Derby is weathering the YMCA-Centre Branch renovations by holding practices at the Bob Hayward YMCA location each Friday. We apologize for any inconvenience. For our newer skaters, we are striving to work out a better solution, as we have limited space available but we will insure that you have a trainer, and learn something every week. We’ll be back in our usual location with more space as soon as it is open again.  See our schedule below. For new and interested skaters, you are welcome to attend, and our loaner skates have migrated with us, so you can still start now. See our About Section for more information.

We are looking for a RollerBall end of year Banquet location, where we can hold a party –  any weekend in December or January. Please let us know at info@locorollerderby.com if you have space available for free or at reasonable rate.  

We’re also looking for referees that want to practice their reffing skills, or that are willing to help us out. We need you to help us run our scrimmages and bout nights, and we’re willing to talk undying gratitude, promotion, and we can talk about perks. Contact info@locorollerderby.com if you are a woman or man 18+ and are willing to invest in, or you already own, roller skates and safety gear and we’ll help with the rest, and we promise to thank you for your volunteerism!

October Schedule:

Friday Oct 8, 2010 – Email for location, this will be an outdoor, free, endurance practice.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday Oct 15, 2010 – YMCA Bob Hayward – 7:30 – 9 PM
Special Info Session for Rookies: 7 PM outside the gym doors upstairs

Saturday Oct 16, 2010: LOCO Board Meeting for Board of Directors Only. Email questions/concerns to info@locorollerderby.com for discussion.

Friday, Oct 22:   YMCA Bob Hayward – 7:30 – 9 PM

Sunday Oct 24: Are you new to LOCO Roller Derby, or do you need extra help with any of the skating skills we practice or anything at all? Body Mechanics, Cross-Overs, Speed, Endurance, Strength, Stops, Falls or maybe you just want to do some fun skating for extra training? Contact info@locorollerderby.com or let us know at Friday practice and we’ll meet you at the North London Optimist Community Center Roller Skating Rink on Sunday from 1-4 PM. Look for Dark Wolf (Heather) or Nia Capps or any LOCO Roller Derby shirt!  You may find a LOCO skater or two in the local Zombie Walk that afternoon!

Wednesday Oct 27:  Meet us at the North London Optimist Community Center Adult Roller Skating night for a Halloween skate. Listen for Michael Jackson’s Thriller and join us for a LOCO Roller Derby Thriller Dance-on-skates out on the floor.  Want to learn the Thriller Dance Routine? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuHFna5mcpo Start with 1 and do 1-40 clips.

Friday Oct  29:  YMCA Bob Hayward – 7:30 – 9 PM

Sunday Oct 31:  NLOCC Family Skate time (see above note on Oct 24 date). 1-4 PM.  Happy Halloween!

See you when you go LOCO this fall!

Our Open House was a full success. We gave over 50 free passes out, and we met a lot of great women and men (and kids!) that are interested in roller skating, fitness, fun, and roller derby. Some were fans of contact roller derby that just wondered what the differences are between that and LOCO Roller Derby’s recreational and low contact style, others said they knew some LOCO skaters or had seen us online and thought it sounded like a lot of fun, and some just were surprised to find out that we were right there in the YMCA Centre Branch every Friday night already. I hope to see them all again soon at LOCO practices!

I’d like to thank  the YMCA, for their on-going support and assistance when we need it for our rented space to skate in. Without Dave, who helps us setup intake and empty the gym every Friday night, and the great service of all the desk personnel who let our skaters in and out every Friday night, we wouldn’t have it so nice. And thank for letting us have our Open House at the YMCA!

I’d also like to thank our sponsors, all of them, for their help and support. RollerSk8s R Us here in London for the loaner skates, CWRDA for our Canadian Women’s Roller Derby Association membership and Insurance needs, Wicked Skatewear for making us look good when we skate, Rollergirl.ca for having great gear, Smallmarketsports.com Comic Artist Bill Charbonneau for our logo and event poster, and our own LOCO skaters, who volunteered to work the event and help get it ready. And thanks to Fowler Designs for their help in our marketing campaign, along with LOCO Board member and Roller Derby WFTDA referee, Roxem Hard for lots of great assists.

If you, or someone you know, has a free pass or wants to come and try out LOCO Roller Derby for themselves, and you need skates for rent/loan or to buy, please email us your needs and shoe size to info@locorollerderby.com. If you are interested in volunteering to referee, for scrimmages (can even help WFTDA refs practice their trade), please let us know.

Don’t want to skate, but are you a fan of roller derby like we are? Want to help? You can promote LOCO Roller Derby too! Print our General Promotions Poster and let everyone know you’ve heard of LOCO Roller Derby!

LOCO Roller Derby = Low Contact Roller Derby and we’re coming to London, ON! If you are female, over 19 years old, and you roller skate, or want to, come on out and skate LOCO. Have you seen today’s roller derby or  heard about the resurgence of roller derby with over 300 leagues currently operating and National events each year in the US and Canada? Why is this sport taking hold of so many women, from so many walks of life? Because it’s so fun!

But for those of us that want a little less bone-crushing hits and aggression in our playtime, LOCO Roller Derby is a way to learn and play recreational-style roller derby, which has modified blocking rules to prevent hitting. You thought it was hard to get through a roller derby pack when you could hit them, try it when you can’t! But don’t despair, we’ll train together until we are all at a level where we can play together safely, so let’s get started! We’ll learn to skate, to skate better, to skate aggressively, and then for those that want to play, we’ll learn no-hit roller derby.

You can skate for $5 per session or buy 10 sessions for only $40 and come play an skate at your own pace.

Check the ABOUT sections for more information, and for all the requirements to join LOCO Roller Derby! Contact us for details on any questions and we will see you on the skate floor!

ETA for first event: February 12, 2010. Get ready!