Last night we held our first ever bout! I can't quite get over the excitement of it all - both intraleague teams (more info when we debut in February!) were down on numbers and we had to cut it short by 15 minutes as our hall booking wasn't quite long enough, but it was still a bout!
I think the other team won by a handful of points and we finished on sixty-something to fifty-something. Somehow I managed not to get anywhere near as battered as I do in scrimmage, but I think I was probably the only one. It was totally different to scrimmage though, there was a totally different atmosphere and everyone was so focused. The refs (all SEVEN of them! That's like, a whole set of refs!) made calls confidently and loudly, called time-outs when there were problems and generally did an awesome job of keeping us in line. My old mucker and now the Rt. Honorable Head Ref, Chaz Tizer was very diplomatic and is going to be a derby ref to own all derby refs (yeah, even Ballistic Whistle). The NSOs were really well organised even though some of them had never even seen us train before, and head NSO Clutsy Springfield had managed to source a fantastic totally pro-looking computer scoreboard and projector for us! Also my jamming is coming along rather nicely, and I dished out some rather tasty shoulder checks.
I'm a bit sad (still, yeah I know, stop whinging) that I won't be skating in January's bout but I'm immensely excited about it now regardless. The Brawlers have a lot in store for them and I'm so lucky to be part of it.
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Monday, 22 November 2010
Kitty Comes To Town
Friday saw the first of two sessions we were lucky enough to have with VRDL's Kitty DeCapitate, a friend of BB's from Oz. It didn't get off to the best start as we only had half of the hall we usually have and there had been a leak in the roof, resulting in a carpet being left underneath the leak to absorb the water. However, she did some good drills with us including some stepping, leaping, and jumping ones we were all a bit horrified by to begin with but actually performed well in. I was expecting to be pretty wiped afterwards but as it was all so skill-based I wasn't and so was even more hyped for the next day.
On Saturday we had our smaller hall (but the whole of it) for 4 hours, and Kitty did blocking, multitasking and jamming drills with us. It was all really useful stuff and right at the end she gave us a really simple tip on lateral movement and asked us to give it a go for a few minutes to cool down. I think our collective ability in that area increased more in the following five minutes than it had in the last five months. We didn't scrimmage so again I didn't leave feeling physically exhausted and beaten up like I'd hoped to, but it was a great experience. Hopefully she's given some drills to the coaches to do with us in the future.
I just checked and I've only got four more training sessions and one closed-door intraleague bout (first one ever!) before I get my eyes done. Eeeeep!
On Saturday we had our smaller hall (but the whole of it) for 4 hours, and Kitty did blocking, multitasking and jamming drills with us. It was all really useful stuff and right at the end she gave us a really simple tip on lateral movement and asked us to give it a go for a few minutes to cool down. I think our collective ability in that area increased more in the following five minutes than it had in the last five months. We didn't scrimmage so again I didn't leave feeling physically exhausted and beaten up like I'd hoped to, but it was a great experience. Hopefully she's given some drills to the coaches to do with us in the future.
I just checked and I've only got four more training sessions and one closed-door intraleague bout (first one ever!) before I get my eyes done. Eeeeep!
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
Big news
It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. As yesterday laid down to rest and today was only just beginning, the Tiger Bay Brawlers travel team was announced. It's an exciting time to be a Brawler and I'm so proud and excited for everyone who made it, but I was hit by what felt like the emotional equivalent of seven hip checks from Gotham Girls' Beyonslay. I've known for a while that I wouldn't be able to skate because of having laser eye surgery before Christmas and the recovery period, but I guess I hadn't really accepted the reality of it. I did try to plan the surgery around when I speculated our first bout would be, and informed the coach that I'd like to be able to skate if possible but it's all been planned at pretty short notice and so hasn't worked out for me. I'm so bummed.
No-one likes a whinger though, so I'd better chin up and tell you about the silver lining to this enormous black cumulonimbus. Firstly, as I will be spending a few days either side of Christmas doing sweet F.A. I volunteered to be on the bout organising committee, and landed myself the job of Event Organiser/Director/Manager/Whatever. It's a bit intimidating and a lot of responsibility, but I'm so into it. If I can't skate int he first TBB bout, I think organising the whole shebang comes in a close second in terms of achievement- if it all goes well.
Also, I have new wheels. I've been hankering after a slim wheel for a while now but the price of importing is ridiculous, and the choice of wheels you can buy in the UK are pretty darn expensive too. Luckily for me the lovely little skater formerly known as RockNLola (until someone else registered it on the twoevils master roster) recently went to the states and picked me up some Atom Omegas which cost me £52 for 8. So far I've only skated half a session on them and they seem pretty good.
The night before I got them I had been to a roller disco in Southampton for Peril Flynn's birthday, and got in some good practice at hopping under the guise of dancing, and I'm hoping having slim wheels will only help my agility more. Which reminds me, here's a tip: NEVER EVER SKATE WITHOUT KNEE PADS. You can't trust other people not to knock you over and as a derby girl you will only ever fall on your knees. Suffice to say that was a lesson well learned.
No-one likes a whinger though, so I'd better chin up and tell you about the silver lining to this enormous black cumulonimbus. Firstly, as I will be spending a few days either side of Christmas doing sweet F.A. I volunteered to be on the bout organising committee, and landed myself the job of Event Organiser/Director/Manager/Whatever. It's a bit intimidating and a lot of responsibility, but I'm so into it. If I can't skate int he first TBB bout, I think organising the whole shebang comes in a close second in terms of achievement- if it all goes well.
Also, I have new wheels. I've been hankering after a slim wheel for a while now but the price of importing is ridiculous, and the choice of wheels you can buy in the UK are pretty darn expensive too. Luckily for me the lovely little skater formerly known as RockNLola (until someone else registered it on the twoevils master roster) recently went to the states and picked me up some Atom Omegas which cost me £52 for 8. So far I've only skated half a session on them and they seem pretty good.
The night before I got them I had been to a roller disco in Southampton for Peril Flynn's birthday, and got in some good practice at hopping under the guise of dancing, and I'm hoping having slim wheels will only help my agility more. Which reminds me, here's a tip: NEVER EVER SKATE WITHOUT KNEE PADS. You can't trust other people not to knock you over and as a derby girl you will only ever fall on your knees. Suffice to say that was a lesson well learned.
Thursday, 11 November 2010
WFTDA Championship Final
I'd like to post here about the events of this bout, but as it was only streamed I missed it and haven't been able to watch it. Guess I'll have to wait for the DVD :( Congratulations to the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls!
Friday, 5 November 2010
Halloween Fundraiser
So on Saturday night we held our il--fated Halloween fundraiser. It seemed doomed form the start as first the venue could only give us from 10.30pm onwards, then it closed down. Then we got another venue, but we could only have it until half past midnight. This turned out not to be so bad, and being able to decorate beforehand was a definite bonus. We had 3 bands which were really good and everyone got their groove on, a raffle which went down a treat, and some games including one where you stuck your hand in mystery holes and guessed what was inside. It was a bit grim really. Apple bobbing was also very popular! I think in the end we managed to make around £800 to split 50/50 with the Pakistan flood appeal. Huzzah!
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