With only one week to go, Nottingham Roller Derby have invested an incredible amount of time, energy and love into creating the most sparkly, most fun, most roller derby, most raucous (well, the afterparty at least !) event our community has ever seen ! The ‘Louisey Rider Cup’ (LRC) aims to celebrate everything Louisey Rider in the most Louisey Rider way possible. Yes – it’s all about our girl, if you hadn’t noticed, and our hopes to raise lots of  money for the road safety charity ‘Brake’.

We thought we’d start with a few fond memories of her and the reasons why people are most excited to about the impending LRC !

Natastrophe starts with; “Some of my fondest memories of Louise are just the chats we had in her car on the way to roller derby events. Sometimes about roller derby but often about general life stuff. Those car journeys were the moments where I realised what good friends we had become and how we were more than just roller derby teammates. She always made sure a conversation was happening throughout the entire journey. Even if it was just her talking at us. I miss that so much.”

Coco encapsulates what so many of the newer league members feel; “Seeing how Lou meant so much to you all and holds that little sparkle in all of your hearts, makes me want to do everything I can to honour her memory and your love for her.” Sharna The Dead adds; “I didn’t know Lou, but I can understand how you guys love and miss her. I want to help pass on her legacy to a new generation of skaters and fans, letting her memory become eternalised by the Louisey Rider Cup.”

Dell pays tribute to the LRC event; “I can’t remember the first time I met Lou, but I can remember the first time I saw her skate. I was awe-struck by her weaving and lateral skills. I ended up leaving the session that day as a bit of a secret fan-girl.She was someone I aspired to be both on and off skates. One of the loveliest, most genuine people I’ve ever met, who always managed to create fun.WWLD? Skate hard then party hard. I can’t think of a better way to honour her.”

Kat Chmee worked with Lou on this very blog page and was also interviewed at BBC Nottingham with her ahead of the last Heartland Series where she says; “unlike me Lou answered the interviewer’s questions with confidence, eloquence and well informed retorts. She saved me from complete embarrassment, however,  by complimenting me on my ‘great husky voice’ , cos’ that was Lou all over. I was stumbling and mumbling around but she still found a way to compliment me and make me feel like I’d done a good job. For me, that’s the spirit of Louisey Rider and I can’t wait to see it at the LRC!”

So many of you in the roller derby community have wanted to take part in tournament which has five co-ed teams. Yanarchy says; “I wanted to be involved as having heard everyone talk about Louise it felt like the best way to support the amazing, caring and awesome people she knew and loved and who loved her deeply. I would gladly give all the time in the world to help out with this event.” and Blake added “To take part in a day that represents Lou in the way we knew her so well, where we pour our hearts and souls into the game while never forgetting to have fun, is an honour. If we reach the end of the night absolutely exhausted but still with a smile as wide as hers… We’ll have done it right!”

It was well known that Louise Rider adored roller derby and totally encapsulated the spirit of the sport. Cupid Stunt, an NRD non-skating official, tells us; “I want to put on an event that gives as many people as possible the chance to come and remember Lou by doing something that she really enjoyed. We’ve got people travelling in from all over the place. The feeling that you get from so many people wanting to come to this makes me remember why I am involved with this sport and community. On the day, I’ll be sat/stood just watching Teams Gold and Sparkly be awesome.”

Whenever anyone talks about Louisey Rider it’s clear that she’s a huge influence for many people taking up roller derby, Circle Jerk is no exception; “I only met Louise twice – The first time was when I stood in for the Bob Riot as Nicola’s date for an NRG comedy night out. I didn’t know much about roller derby at the time and Louise pretty much spent the entire night trying to convince me to start. The second time was at the first NRG game I went to where she was running the cake stall. I started training with SSB a couple of months after that but sadly never got to skate with her – but I’d certainly put her enthusiasm and love for the game as a huge influence on my starting skating.”

Circle Jerk, Blake and Cupid Stunt created a podcast that talks about the upcoming Louisey Rider Cup:  https://soundcloud.com/user-232750806/good-arrows-nottingham-roller-derby-episode-1-the-louisey-rider-cup 

The Louisey Rider Cup takes place on Saturday 16th April from 10 am you can access further information at the Facebook event HERE

Before we sign off The Atkins Riot leaves us with a final word about why she chose roller derby. “It was either this or line dancing. Fill in the gaps yourselves on that one.” For a chance to read The Atkins Riot original tribute to Louisey Rider HERE