Tuff Bikkies Takes on the World!

Richter City Roller Derby skater Tuff Bikkies, has been chosen as part of Roller Derby Team New Zealand, a team that is representing New Zealand at the first ever Roller Derby World Cup in Toronto, from 1-4 December.

Tuff Bikkies has been part of RCRD since our inception in 2007, when we began by training /skating around in car parks! A lot has changed since then! Read on to learn more about the Richter City skater representing the country!

Name: Tuff Bikkies
Number: 101
Home Team: Smash Malice
Likes: Caffeine and sugar
Dislikes: Meanies and negatrons

Favourite motto/motivational quote: "’Your game is obsolete’ was my line from the RCRD All Stars rap of 2010 written by Goregasm, and it cracks me up!”

How did you get into Roller Derby? "I saw the Pirate City Rollers in Auckland and I thought, 'I want to do that!' Around the same time I saw a short film called 'High Heels on Wheels' at the Outtakes film festival, and I really liked the history of the sport that I saw represented.” (Watch the trailer for ‘High Heels on Wheels’ )

Tell us about your rookie year and how you learned to play roller derby: “When I first decided I wanted to play roller derby, I didn't know much about the sport at all, but I knew I would need to be able to skate, so I skated every day at the school across the road from my house…on my blue Sketchers!” (Laughs)....

My rookie year was the first year of RCRD (2007), so it was everyone's rookie year. None of us really knew what we were doing, but in a beautiful 'you don't know what you don't know' way. We had a blast! I made a lot of new friends and knew that I loved this sport.”

What advice would you give to someone wanting to take up derby? “It's a team sport…you can't win by yourself. Also, buy good kneepads and watch as much derby as you can.”

Sporting hero (not derby related): Hope Solo. One day, I hope to be on Dancing With The Stars too.”

Did you have a childhood role model? Tessa Duder's Alex…total dork!

The words of wisdom I wish I'd been told as a teenager: (Laughs) “I probably wouldn't have listened anyway. I do wish I could have played derby as a teenager, and for that reason I would love to see junior roller derby happen in Wellington.”

How often do you train (as part of RCRD and as part of NZRD)? I do on-skates training with RCRD three times a week plus off-skates resistance training or weights, cardio and stretching as often as I can. I have always done off-skates training as I think it is important for injury prevention, and makes you fitter and stronger and more balanced as an athlete.

Team New Zealand has been all travelling to Hamilton to train together roughly once a month. Each time we meet and skate together we grow into more of a team and less of a group of individuals.”

How excited on a scale of 1-10 are you about going to Toronto to represent NZ? “I am so excited to get to skate with and against and watch and meet skaters from all over the world. I am really stoked to be representing NZ and I am also really pleased and excited that RCRD is represented in the NZ team. Yeah, so I’m pretty proud and I hope I don't cry!

Also snow!”

Is there anything else you’d like to share with RCRD fans & whanau? “I am so proud to represent Wellington and Richter City within the NZ team. RCRD wouldn't exist without a huge amount of work from volunteers past and present, all of the players, refs, officials and other volunteers who have created and continue to run and support Richter City, all of which means that I get to play this sport and travel to the World Cup. I feel very lucky. RCRD didn't exist five years ago, so I am especially happy that we are represented on the New Zealand team and are visible to the world as a league.

I really appreciate the way RCRD has supported me right from encouraging me to try out for the team, through this year of travelling, training and fundraising. Thank you to everyone who has asked me how training and fundraising is going. Many of the leagues in NZ, including RCRD have made generous donations to Team NZ which helps hugely with the cost of taking a team to Toronto.”

Check out the details about the Roller Derby World Cup and how you can watch the games online