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Newcastle Roller Girls get stuck into Kinesio

Newcastle Roller Girls got stuck into Kinesio Taping with a bite sized training course recently and can’t wait to get taping.

The all female sport - Roller Derby - is huge in the states and is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK – with Newcastle Roller Girls being the biggest league in North East England.

But Roller Derby is not for the faint hearted. It’s a rough, tough, high impact sport on roller skates involving two teams of girls on an oval track, each with a “jammer” who scores points by passing members of the opposing team - who will do whatever they can to physically stop her.

As a result, the girls receive regular bumps, bruises, scrapes and sprains.

Step up Newcastle company Kinesio UK who offered to give the girls a three hour crash course in taping techniques for common injuries to give them a head start over their rivals.

Resident Kinesio physiotherapist Amy Barden demonstrated to the girls how to apply the tape correctly to give maximum benefit says:

“Because Roller Derby is a rough tough, fast sport involving balance, tackling and a certain amount of aggression, injuries are common. These often consist of rib contusions, shoulder instability problems, muscle strains and sprains of the lower legs.

“Kinesio Tape has been designed to work in a very different way to traditional sports muscle strapping. Rather than using the classic RICE model (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation), it works on an opposite principle. By lifting the skin, rather than compressing and restricting range of motion, the tape helps to support the muscles whilst reducing swelling and the associated pain.

“If you apply Kinesio tape in a particular direction and at a certain tension, then the tiny creases in the tape caused by movement of the patient lift the skin and continue to gently alter the pressure on the tissues. So in simple terms, the more you move – within reason - with Kinesio in place - the quicker you heal! Hence the strap line “Mending on the move”

Player Helen Douglas aka Black Jack Belle who’s a first aider on the team said: “I’ve been fascinated by Kinesio for years and always wanted to learn more about it. I had no idea the secret lay mainly in the tension and angle with which it’s is applied. The workshop has been fabulous and now that the Newcastle Roller Girls know how to apply Kinesio correctly it will certainly keep us playing and on the pitch!”

Newcastle Roller Girls Captain Brie Larceny says: “At Newcastle Roller Girls we work hard and play hard, and we got some great results in 2013. Our A team, the Canny Belters, finished the year ranked 25 out of 250 teams in Europe, and our B team, the Whippin’ Hinnies, are number 60. We’ve got even bigger aspirations for 2014 and we’re delighted that Kinesio will be supporting us – the Belters have been invited to compete at the national Tattoo Freeze event and the Hinnies are travelling to Europe for the first time to take on Dutch team the Rock City Rollers in January.

“Kinesio support some of the UK’s top athletes and sports teams, so for them to recognise roller derby and the level of athletic strength and skill involved really means a lot to us.”

Newcastle Roller Girls are based at the Walker Dome in Newcastle and train three times a week combining skating, tactics and techniques with cardiovascular fitness work in preparation for the ‘bout’ which consists of two half-hour periods, separated by a 15 minute interval. In 2014 there will be a home game every first Saturday of the month, plus regular away bouts around the UK and in Europe.

Roller Derby was created in the 1930s in the US but its popularity had faded by the 1970s.It then re-emerged in Texas in 2001 and has grown into a world-wide movement fusing aggressive skating with punk-inspired fashions.

There are currently more than 1,100 women’s roller derby leagues around the world, including around 60 in England.

For more information on Newcastle Roller Girls go to www.newcastlerollergirls.org.uk. A full match schedule for 2014 will be published on the website soon.

For more information on KinesioTaping go to www.kinesiotaping.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kate Slater .