Resistance Roller Derby Glasgow is a roller derby league for queer and trans youth, starting up in Glasgow, Scotland. We are only the second junior league in the country, and the only junior league in the world that is explicitly intended for LGBTQI+ youth. We will create a safe and financially accessible space for young people to get active, both physically and as politicised members of a global society, through the development of a radical youth-led sporting community.

Modern roller derby originated in queer subculture in Austin, Texas and its revolutionary nature has spread with it around the world, leading to an international movement of connected and empowered athletes. Being a part of this movement is an ideal way for young people to develop agency and self-confidence that they can take with them into advocating for themselves in other aspects of their lives.

LGBTQI+ young people have lower rates of participation in sport and are more likely to be dealing with barriers such as mental ill health, homelessness and abuse than other young people. Building a positive community around physical activity has the potential to break down these barriers and help create healthy habits in a population that faces glaring health inequalities. In addition to financial accessibility, we are committed to making a space that is inclusive for those who are systemically disenfranchised as result of other axes of oppression such as race and disability, and we will work constantly to ensure that anyone who wants to take part can.

We are all about radical kindness and elevating each other. We want to bring joy and positivity into the lives of queer youth, who often have a tumultuous adolescence. As trans and queer adults living in Glasgow, we feel it is our responsibility to make the space we wish we had had, and in the process we hope to connect our young people with an intergenerational international community, full of real live examples of how queer adulthood can look.