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Well what a year it’s been. I’ll try my best to break this down into little derby infused chunks for easier digestion.
First things first…The bouts! Since my last post I have had the absolute honour to play in 2 South Sea Sirens games. The first in Launceston against VDR and the second against Ballarat at home. VDR This was my first time traveling with the team interstate via plane as a team. I’m not forgetting TGSS, but that was a more ‘find your own way’ kinda deal. It was good to have that travel team feel by actually traveling together as a single unit. The Launceston area is so pretty, It was my first time in Tasmania and my highlights besides the bout were : the gorge, the monkeys and the ducks, oh and riding around the park in a faux train. We met some of VDR girls on the night before the bout for a yummy meal in town. The girls were absolutely lovely and very accommodating, we talked a lot about shop and then headed in for an early night. Going into the game the next day we really had no idea what to expect. It was a hard fought game and we gave it everything to come out victorious. The scores were 251 to 91 in our favour but as usual the scores don’t really communicate the toughness of the competition on track. It was a great game and I would love to have a rematch against these girls sometime. I’d like to give a massive shout out to fans of derby for coming down to Tassie to film the entire thing which can currently be watched here. Speaking of which, and I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned this before, but if you’re lucky enough to pick up channel 31 on your picture box you should start tuning in on Saturdays for a local derby show called ‘Power Jam’. It always features one of the recent local bouts filmed by fans of derby, which are quite often commentated by SSRD’s very own Ardy and Chief Intent. Ardy and Chief also have a segment on the show called the steam room where they discuss derby issues with the charm, humour and insight that we’ve all come to enjoy. You can catch the latest episode online here. Ballarat For our last bout of 2012 SSRD got to play Ballarat’s Rat Pack for the third year in a row . It seems to be an end of year tradition and hopefully one we continue. We (and my coccyx) got decimated by the Ballarat girls this time last year so heading into the game I would be lying if I said i wasn’t nervous as hell. It was really hot at Springers and we were playing on a different court to usual. Thunderstorms were going on outside and a large contingency of skaters and fans were busy in the lead up to xmas or at rollercon in Queensland. It really kinda felt like an away game. The bout was fierce and probably my favourite of the year. We never let our guard down and just kept playing as hard as we could. I think we’ve come really far this year in terms of teamwork and knowing how everyone else plays. This goes as well for the home teams. At half time the nerves were still high, it was still anyone’s game so we went back in hard in the second half. The final scores were 294 to 120 in our favour, again the scores not accurately communicating how it felt out there. It was really really nice to finish the year on a high this time. On a side note this was all the last game we will ever play with the old WTFDA rule set. There are a lot of really big changes in the new rule set so next year will be a completely different beast and I’m really looking forward to seeing how it all plays out. CH CH CH CH CH CHANGES At the close of the 2012 season there have been some big big changes in the league. There is a new team, currently un-named, but because we now have the numbers to require a third team it also meant all the current bouting skaters were re-drafted. In addition the home team bouts will be slightly more frequent (every 6 weeks) with one of the 3 teams sitting out each time. Even with the redraft I managed to remain a Cutthroat Charmer for a third year in a row. *fist pump style*. I am now joined by some other lovely past charmers, some brutal ex dolly opponents and some new draftees! I am so so so very excited about next year, the redrafting seems to have already re-energized everyone in the league. The charmers still need to nominate captains for the first 6 months. I have already decided that on the off chance I was a captain I would be bringing in some unorthodox methods to ensure victory. I have devised a new game of thrones strategic play called “The Joffery”. It’s a distraction technique where half the team skate up to the opposition with cries of “mummy” and then make neck slicing motions with their hands. While this is happening we get the other players to sneak up and take them out, doing all the dirty work. If successful this move will also be accompanied by the game of thrones theme song and possibly a dance of some description. Rereading that, I’m not sure me as a captain would be in my team or any teams best interest…ever. Whatever happens, the redraft with the new rule set makes for a very interesting year indeed. That brings me to the year that was 2012. In summary
Personally as a player do feel like have continued to develop my sklls from last year, I feel more aware, that my hits are timed better and are generally more effective. I’m having a lot more fun now that I feel more grounded in the sport. In 2013 I plan to be fitter, gain more agility and hopefully to become more of an all-rounder, rather than just a big blocker. My goals for 2013 are
Always being able to have something to strive for is one of the many reasons I love this sport. And with that, I wish you all a very smashy xmas and new year and I’ll hopefully be back in January for my 3rd year as a bouting skater with SSRD. Take care of yourselves and your families. <3 blitz |
Archive for the ‘Bouting : Year Two’ Category
The Off-Season is Coming
Sunday, December 16th, 2012The Skates of Wrath
Sunday, October 21st, 2012
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Well another bout bites the floorboards.
The final Cutthroat Charmers v Dolly Rogers bout of 2012 and the final bout of both teams in their current incarnations is over. The Dolly’s won in a very high scoring game and honestly it would have to be my favorite loss of the year. This last result means in the last 2 years both the Dollys and Charmers have come away with 5 wins each. It looks like next year the league will need to expand to 3 teams due to the awesome amount of wild women we have in our league. This makes me happy but at the same time very sad. It’s been over 2 years since I was drafted to the Cutthroat Charmers. In that time I have experienced amazing wins and hard fought defeats, I have played with some bonafide roller derby super stars, debuting skaters and veterans and I’ve always felt completely at home. I feel so proud and blessed that I got to skate in a team with such an amazing collection of women. So to all of my shiny fellow members of team handsome, past and present, you know how I feel about you and it’s been an absolute honour to skate with you all. Here’s to new beginnings ! During last nights bout I did manage to achieve a couple of my goals. 1. I didn’t get ejected, in fact I got a modest 3 majors from memory and one of those was from four minors. I was a little worried about getting ejected again, especially because in the time between last night and the previous bout I also got ejected from training scrimmage and had to sit in the “party room” sans lesbian goths. Maniac. 2. I jammed. #derp #yolo Jamming in a bout for me has always been a big big big fear. I’ve been bouting now for about a year and a half and my nerves are usually not that bad leading up to a bout. Last night my nerves were perhaps higher than for my debut. The thing is, as a blocker, I know not much focus is on you, unless you have hit the jammer, and even then it’s an after thought. As a jammer all eyes are on you, any mistake is obvious to all but on the flip-side any small victory is also recognised. Basically pressure in increased 10 fold. Leading up the the bout I knew I would be jamming at least a couple of times, and it honestly scared the shit out of me. My jamming style is not what one would consider “traditional”. It’s more “blocking at speed” style. Fellow charmers also refer to it as steamrolling or cannonballing. I had so many fears leading up the bout but the biggest was either not being able to get through and be stuck behind 4 feisty Dollys, or to be drawing lots of majors and getting sent to the bin. The reality was, 3 out of my 4 jams I scored points. I also think I got lead 3 out of 4 times. I did get sent to the bin for a major *cough* backblock on my second jam but still managed to nab 4 points before the jam ended. For me this is a massive win. The weird thing was that when I actually was jamming everything went super quickly, I noticed the crowd even less than usual and thanks to what I think was adrenaline I didn’t even feel the burn. I just want to give a big shout out to my charmers, they had confidence in me that I could jam even when I didn’t and I’m so glad I can now cross bout jamming off my to do list. I don’t even think I would mind if they made me do it again sometime :) In 2 weeks I’ll be traveling to Tasmania as a Siren to play Van Diemen Rollers in Launceston which is pretty exciting. I’ve never been to Tassie before and I’m really looking forward to SSRD coming together as one team and making shit happen. Hopefully good shit. But for now I’m going to spend my Sunday in bed, relaxing my sore muscles and reflecting on an awesome game and my time as a member of such an amazing and inspiring team. <3 Blitz. p.s big ups to #rollerderp for consistent derby related lols. |
School of Hard Blocks
Monday, August 13th, 2012 |
Well i’m back from my holiday and back on skates. I just had my first game since TGSS this weekend and I really effing felt it. No radioactive super powers for me it would seem.
The break. First up Japan was one of the best experiences of my life. The people, the efficiency, the scenery and their sense of humour was exactly my cup of tea. I will be returning in the future, hopefully I can take my skates with me next time. As I’m sure many derby girls can agree that even a 2 week break of skates hurts your fitness so an almost 8 week break of relaxation and non dieting left me equal parts fearful and excited to be strapping on my skates again. If I said I was missing derby while I was away that would be a lie. For me at least, derby really does take it’s toll on you. The time commitment alone can definitely seem overwhelming even after 2 and a half years of it being in your routine. In addition, the punishment to your body on a regular basis can leave you feeling like you’ll never be sans bruises again. Everyone needs a break from time to time and I’m glad I had mine. What I did miss was the people. It’s the people that brought me back and it will always be the people that keeps me hanging on. If I didn’t love my league and especially my charmers it would have been VERY easy to walk away rather than push myself back onto the track. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the game. But the love of the game for me will never be enough on it’s own. I’m now 30 and while I am very excited about the direction derby is taking in Australia I know I will never fit the professional athlete archetype that may in the future dominate the sport at least at the highest level of competition. I AM glad to be back though and I am having fun again. It is obvious though that I really need too step it up before our next bout in October. I feel like my hits have been more ferocious since I’ve come back but at the same time they are sloppy and less refined. My head is also not 100% in the right space either, I’ve been forgetful on track and taking longer to get my head around strategies. This brings me to : The ejection. On Saturday night I got my first and hopefully last ejection for racking up too many major penalties. The last being called with 7ish minutes left on the clock after sitting out a few jams. I always wondered if I’d ever get fouled out. Normally I tend to get a maximum of 3 to 4 majors. Saturday was different though. What bothers me most was not the penalties on the track, some I don’t agree with (naturally), but at least a couple were hard earned. It was the two, including the 7th that I secured on the jammer line because I wasn’t focused that are eating me up. The first was coming out of the penalty box. I was told to coast to break the pack and instead took a knee earning myself a major destruction of pack. The second was me being half a second too late to take a knee before the whistle… I’m still having flashbacks… The cry of “5 seconds” OK so everything after the whistle may have only happened inside my head and actual events were much less obvious. Less obvious enough in fact for a majority of people to not even know I was ejected until I came bounding onto the track with an embarrassed grin after the game without skates on. For a brief second there is a small sense of glory involved, people cheer you on and tell you it’s a good thing because it shows you are out there actively doing things, people call you a badass and you stand around flexing and fist pumping (at least in your mind). However that small glory very quickly turned into embarrassment. Everyone was great to me after the game, No one spoke down to me and there were many people that just hugged me and called me brutal. That made me feel much better at the time but in truth when I got home I really just felt like a dickhead. The fact that everyone on the charmers is so understanding and positive makes it feel even worse that I let them down. That is the worst part by far, feeling like you let the most awesome group of women down by being careless and knowing they deserve better. I know this seems overly dramatic, and do you think I feel let down by other people getting expelled? Hell No ! For me though it all comes back to how I racked up those 2 penalties and how stupid it was of me. This has honestly been one of the most emotional experiences for me since I started derby and has made me question a lot about how I play. I couldn’t sleep Sunday night because I was going over and over the mistakes in my head, searching for answers to why my head was not on straight, what I could have done differently, how I’m going to reign in the other penalties I got. I’m confident that I will learn from this experience and be a more reliable player next time. I have not lost my passion for the game and am going to just use this experience to improve. The fact I have such a great team behind me is definitely the major driving force. I love you Charmers, every last one of you. Ok so enough baby tears and gushing.. I have consumed my cup of concrete and am currently in the process of hardening. Just as a last word I’d like to say a big I love you to my wifey from the very the start, Razorbec. We started out together at the same VRDL boot camp and worked our way towards South Sea, with a little push from her I might add, which I cannot thank her enough for. Razor has been inspirational in her determination to get where she is today and I have been extremely proud of her the whole way. I know she has helped so many of the girls in the league never give up, no matter how hard it can be on the way up. Razor had her last SSRD bout on Saturday and even though we were on opposing teams it was an absolute honour to skate with her then, and for the last almost 3 years. I look forward to meeting you on track again in the future. SSRD will miss you sorely, but not as much as me. <3 Blitz. |
