British Championships - Why I wont be covering it

The organisers of the British Championships have made it impossible for me to cover it in any confidence. The organisation is not acting in a transparent way and this for me this is very worrying, where one party holds all the control. I feel the sword of Damolces weighing heavy.

The original photography/media waiver was an ill-written, bizarre and paranoid document, not in the interest of anyone, bar those trying to control every minutiae of the competition. Worrying for what it left out as well as what was included. Worrying for why they felt the need to control everything.

Revised copies were getting better although issues still remained.

I have walked away from the competition as I have no confidence in those running the it. No confidence that I wont be screwed over somewhere down the line. The tone and attitude of correspondence I’ve seen from a representative has made me very wary and clear that their underlying attitude is one that I cannot work with.

When people are treated in a professional way you can get a hell of a lot out of them, when treated with suspicion, nothing. This is not the ethos I expected out of Roller Derby and it saddens me.

Hopefully I will see teams track-side at non-British Championships events in the future.

USA vs Australia at the Roller Derby World Cup, Dallas, Texas 2014. Photographers were treated well and with respect.

Portsmouth Roller Wenches vs Manchester Roller Derby, UKRDA event, Tattoo Freeze, Telford 2015. I'll be around at non-British Championship events.