Power of Scotland Roller Derby – Breaking Barriers in Inclusive Sport.

Power of Scotland Roller Derby is Scotland's national team, competing at the world cup level. The sport is one of the few fully inclusive team sports for adults with no institutional discrimination based on sex, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, heritage, age, disability or religion.

However, the journey hasn't been easy.

"We're an open gender sport and it almost died in Covid," explained Rosie Gompertz from Power of Scotland. "Adult indoor team sport was the last to come back. When it did, we had reduced numbers and we're still rebuilding."

When the World Cup was announced, the team sprang back into action. "We got in touch with everyone and got going again. Now we meet every two weeks – everyone trains with their home league and then meets with the national team," Rosie said. The squad has 20 players selected for the World Cup.

The financial barriers are significant. "All of this comes out of our own pocket," Rosie explained.

"Aside from grants like Cash4Clubs, this is all self-funded. We make our own merchandise, do sponsored head shaves, and approach local businesses. A lot of our members aren't high earners and have families."

The team's inclusive nature means it attracts vulnerable populations. "We're an all-gender team with non-gender conforming and trans people disproportionately represented," Rosie said. "A lot of folks are struggling financially, which is why your funding makes such a huge difference."

The Cash4Clubs grant is enabling Power of Scotland to host a tournament over Easter Weekend, with representatives from the Netherlands, Ireland, England, Scotland, Japan, and Germany competing.

"This grant is allowing us to showcase what roller derby is all about to the world ahead of the World Cup in France at the end of April," Rosie said.