Quickfire questions:

How old are you?
26.

How long have you been playing roller derby?
Just over 3 and a half years.

What’s the most important piece of kit you have? Why?
Knee pads and skates. Knee pads – safety first! Skates set up – speed, movement, stability. Wheels – for stopping power and speed.

What’s the best piece of advice you could give?
Practice, practice, practice.

Funniest derby moment?
Falling over in a skate out for a public game when I was being announced. “N26, Cherry revenge” *wave, FALL*

Did you skate before you started roller derby?
Only as a child at rollerworld birthday parties. etc I did have a pair of Bauer skates which were pretty cool with proper hockey socks, I’d occasionally go up and down my street on them.

How did you choose your derby name?
I’ve only ever really had one nickname which was ‘Cherry’ due to my red hair and love of Collectif clothing (usually with cherries on) so I used a name generator to pick the other word, and it came up with “Cherry Revenge”. Although I spend a lot of time wishing i had a Harry Potter pun-name instead.

Did you play any other sports before you started roller derby?
I was always quite sporty in school, being part of football, netball and the hockey teams. I did ballet, tap and modern dance for about 10 years when I was younger too, that counts right?!

How has playing roller derby affected your overall health and fitness?
I think I am loads fitter than I was, which is slightly worrying as I still don’t consider myself very fit! (Must try harder!) It was really good for my mental health at the time I started playing due to personal circumstances.

How often do you practice on skates?
2-3 sessions a week. 3 hours coaching, 4 hours training. (on average)

What additional off-skates training do you do and how often?
Roller derby workouts at home, occasionally a fitness DVD or Insanity workouts, occasional gym visits, generally choosing to walk/take the stairs – not taking the easy options! I walk quite a lot.

What training has helped you improve most as a skater?
I think coaching really helped me to progress a lot, possibly linked to my professional life as a teacher – I seem to know things better if I know how to teach it too. For example, I HAD to know how to pass all the minimum skills, so I could demonstrate them and teach other people too, which really helped with my skill level. I think any on skates time is good though, so I used to spend a lot of time at rollerworld and at as many practices as I could get to. I still try to make as many sessions as possible, and spend a lot of time watching footage/going to games now too.

Have you sustained any injuries playing roller derby?
No *touch wood* only bruises and the occasional strain on something.

Who do you admire most on the team?
I admire everyone on my team, everyone is unique and its really obvious how much this team means to everyone. We are like a little family, its really special. If I HAD to pick who I admire, I’d pick Helen for her epic jamming skills, and Ruth for her epic blocking skills.

What is your favourite position?
Blocker. Although I would like to develop as a pivot too.

What do you do for a living?
I am a teacher.

What are your other hobbies?
You mean I’m meant to do something else apart from roller derby?!!!?? I like to read, go to the cinema, see the boy/friends/family, eat out, occasionally do something crafty – but all of these are after work commitments and roller derby. (thats if i can fit anything else in, of course!)

If you had a theme tune what would it be?
Oh God, I can’t even think. All I can think about when I try to think of songs is Taylor Swift – Shake it off (damn you Nat and Dellar and the rest of you…)

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