A Roller Derby Jam Packed Weekend

What a fun but immensely tiring weekend we had... we went up to Birmingham on Saturday to watch the Birmingham Blitz Dames play against the Middlesborough Milk Rollers, a relatively new team in the Derby world as this was their first open bout after starting 18 months ago. So this was interesting for us to see a less experienced team cope with their first bout as we know that something we will be facing within the next 12 months.

The bout was fantastic, considering the final score of 198 – 78 to the BBD’s I thought the MMR girls did really well and should be really pleased with their performances. The BBD’s are a tough team to go up against at the best of times and have some excellent skaters on their pack. Violet Attack is a joy to watch as she whizzes through the pack with ease and makes it look easy, but believe me its not!

Quite a few of our team had not seen a proper bout before, so this was a real eye opener for them and for most of them it just whetted their appetite even more to get on and skate and to take part in our own bouts. Because Roller Derby is still a relatively unknown sport, alot of our skaters knew the very basics of what happened but to see it in all its glory is a totally different matter! Luckily everyone seemed to really enjoy the bout and didn’t cringe or run away saying “that's not for me!” so that was a bonus!

After the game we headed back to our hostel, the amazing Birmingham Backpackers Central, a fabulous hostel offering cheap but excellent accommodation for those on a budget, they are also sponsors of the BBD’s. We were lucky enough to get one of the pod rooms, something that I had been really looking forward to since seeing something on the TV about pod rooms in Japan, ok these Pods were not quite like the ones I had seen on the tv but were still exciting! The only downside to the room was the fact that one of the pods was already occupied so we had a stranger in our midst! But we decided there were enough of us to scare the bejeezus out of whoever it was should we get any trouble!

After dropping our bags off and a quick tidy up we headed off into the city centre, grabbed some food on the way and eventually found the afterparty at the Stateside Rock Club. Some of our team were already there so was nice to see some friendly faces and the BBD’s welcomed us which was nice. The drinking now began in earnest, Dolly Diablo had braved the elements to come out with us which must have been a little scary as her plaster had only been removed a few days before so her ankle was feeling a little bit vulnerable, but after a few pints Dolly was up and dancing about with the rest of us. We all had an amazing time in Stateside, the booze was flowing, the music thumping and the photos were snapping! Yes we all went a little crazy with Dolly’s camera, I dread to think how many photos were taken, I see a lot were put up on facebook last night and considering I wasn’t really drinking, I look as if I had drunk the city dry! But honest guv, I didn’t have very much!

A few of us decided to take the opportunity to move on to a nightclub for some cheesy tunes as we were a little “rocked out” so off we went in search of Nightingales. Wow nightingales was fab! A huge club and I was warned it was easy to lose people in their and they weren’t wrong! Within 5 mins I had lost everyone, but thank god they found me! So we grooved to the cheesy music before venturing up to the top floor to check out the dance floor for some serious dance music. We strutted our funky stuff until we were ready to drop and went down to get some grub from the cafe on the 1st floor. Well no prizes for guessing what we went for.... Cheesy Chips!! The trouble was they took so long to get there, that we had lost the will to live let alone eat, so we just picked at them really and decided that perhaps it was time to head on back to the pods. I knew I was most certainly flagging now and needed my bed! So we headed back to the hostel and managed to get a nice taxi driver to take us as it was only a short walk, but you know what its like at 3am and being on your feet all day!

Soon we were back in our room, trying to be quiet as we could so that we didn’t wake our unknown pod inhabitant and Betti Bootz and Jude who had left a bit before us. I think we managed to be fairly quiet, until I got a text at around 4am from Dolly to say she had lost her camera had any of us got it. Trying to muffle the sounds of “you cant touch this” whilst in a pod was quite funny! Well I heard a few sniggers anyway at my desperate attempts to shut it up! I took quite a long time to get to sleep and when I did it felt like seconds later that I was awake again and it was 7am! I led in bed for a few hours just dozing hearing various people popping out of the room to go to the loo but all the time I kept thinking I wonder when someone is going to get up and go for breakfast, I bet they are all sleeping still... WRONG! Sulu and Lightnin were already down having breakfast! How Wude!!! They even rang me to tell me to get my lazy ar5e out of bed! Doh! So once I got up everyone got up, apart from the mysterious man in the pod next to me, who seemed to be engrossed in watching football on his laptop!

We made our way down to breakfast and sat around the fire eating our toast and drinking our teas and coffees trying to decide whether we had the energy to make practise or not.... some already said they wouldn’t make it due to Mothers Day commitments and other things and for the first time in a long time a few of us really didn’t feel like we would be able to survive training! :-P

But we set off home and just about had time for a quick change before setting off to practise wondering how many people would be there, so were pleasantly surprised to see Sam Assasinator and her son Bradley, Cupid Stunt and Nats waiting to go in. Cupid warned us that those with hangovers would not get off any lighter than normal and that we would be made to skate until we puked... although I didn’t have a hangover so to speak, I was dog tired and didn’t relish the idea of that!

Rules test..... hmmmmm not a good day for any of us really, especially as I hadn’t even looked at section 6, so countless punishments of 10 press ups for me and pretty much everyone else as well. I think the only person not to get all her answers totally wrong was Sulu Warrior!! (brown nose!) So today my arms are aching from my 60 odd press-ups! DOH!!!

Jude and Betti Bootz turned up mid rules test so our numbers increased slightly which was good, but our answers still resulted in countless press-ups!

Onto skating and Sulu took a crashing fall as a peice of plastic on the floor jammed her skate, but luckily she got up ok but I suspect she’ll have a sore arm for a while. I cant really remember what we did in great detail to be honest as definitely wasn’t in great form, but we practised our snow ploughs, t-stops and skating backwards, which I still struggle with. We also did two minutes of skating while crouched down, which kills your thighs, so much so my left leg spasmed and I went flat on my face, which must have looked very funny!

We also tried a routine of the slowest skater out in front with the faster skaters in order lined up behind, the idea was for us to keep in arms length of that person going as fast as they could for a lap, they would then fall back and it was then the next persons turn. So in theory you’d be going faster and faster, the trouble with this was that as there were only 6 of us, three of them were pretty fast and the other 3 (myself included) were a lot slower so this was hard and didn’t work that well with our small numbers.

We also tried out my amended version of British Bulldog, renamed to SRT bulldog. I started off as the bulldog but found it really hard to catch people so eventually caught Sulu and finally started tagging people so managed to end the training on a high.

Time for the circle of pain and stretches.... no pub today for any of us lol! Time for bed me thinks!!

So that concludes my roller derby weekend, so a huge thanks to the BBD’s and MMR’s for an entertaing bout and a special thanks to the BBDs for their hospitality and look forward to seeing them again soon!

Adios Amigos!!

Honor Ass xx

Crash... BANG... WALLOP!!!

Well what a fab sight it was seeing so many of us turning up to practise this week in our team T shirts, it really makes you feel like part of the team and that we are achieving something, so was a great morale booster! Sadly I missed last weeks practise due to being ill, but before you get too sympathetic, I’ll be honest and say it was self inflicted! :-S

So this week, I got to meet a few new faces, some of whom had been before but just not when I was there, so we had Sam and Jude who had come to their second practise and then Cath and another lady, who’s name escapes me at this moment in time. So it was good to see some new faces, I just hope they decide to come back again as we need to grow our little band of sisters J

This was my first week of trying to skate with an arch support as I really struggle with my right foot and balance, I tend to skate as if I am on a skateboard and leave my left leg glued to the floor, so in excercises where we have to glide the length of the track on one foot, if I lift my right foot up I can glide no problems, try to lift my left foot and I am like a rabbit thumping a warning out to its friends! Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap! I can only go a couple of seconds with my foot off the ground! I could tell that the arch support made a difference, but my mistake was only wearing the one in my right boot, I should have used both! So next week should be interesting. I also have tightened up my wheels upon Helen Fury’s advice as my wheels were slightly loose, which I had to admit to noticing, but thought it was just my nerves, so am hoping that by tightening them up, I will feel more secure, as they did feel pretty slippy!

The whole buying skates process is a minefield, as its not as if you can try before you buy with roller skates, as decent roller derby skates are not readily available in the UK, only a small amount of stockists sell them but its a lot cheaper to buy them in the States, but a decent pair will cost you over £100 so its not a cheap option! I brought mine from the UK but know for competing, I will need to upgrade my wheels and bearings, but I figured I could do that when I close to competing level! (A long way off yet!)

Luckily anyone coming into the league now, there are enough of us with our own skates now, so people can try out some skates, but when I started I didn’t have that option. We are one of the few leagues to have a “loan skate” pot, so newbies can turn up and skate by hiring some of the skates, Fury and Cupid have built up over the past couple of years. There are some good skates in there, but you have to be quick to nab them or you will end up with a older pair of skates or not your correct size!

So lets see how I get on next week, with my tighter wheels and arch supports!

Onto this week, we started with the rules test, I hadn’t done my homework so I knew I was in trouble, especially as now if anyone gets a question wrong everyone has to do press ups or sit ups, not just the dunce who got it wrong, so guess what..... yup I got it wrong! 10 Sit Ups please, barks Cupid! (Sorry guys!) I have to admit this rules test is not my forte.... I find the rules hard to memorise and take in, plus I get easily distracted!

After the rules test we did a couple of endurance tests followed by the bleep test, I didn’t do very well on this as was feeling very wobbly and found stopping in time and turning quick enough a real problem, but fair play to Sam and Lee for doing so well.

We did a few practise falls and I made the newbie error of going to fall onto both knees, getting it wrong and going slap down on my buttocks... that shook me back into reality and I didn’t do that again in a hurry! We then tried getting into two teams, lining up alongside eachother and keeping inline with eachother which was fun, then we took it in turns to weave in and out of eachother. After that the bit I had been dreading for weeks, the slams! Helen Fury said she would come skate up to us and tap us, we were to fall over safely and get back up asap. She would hardly touch the newbies but would be harder on the rest of us..... Hmmmmm I went FLYING! But it wasn’t as bad as I thought, but the next time was harder again but I was more prepared and nearly stayed upright but gravity took over. After that the newbies went off to try some booty slams against the wall, where as we had to practise booty slams for real. Faith “booty slammed” us and once again I went flying lol! Then we had to do it to eachother, this was funny as we were all so gentle to eachother until Sulu Warrior had a go and she “bootied” us big time! I nearly stayed up when she hit me but then overbalanced and crashed onto my derriere and stupidly used my hand to break my fall and have a sore arm now L..... but hey... before you all get really worried and rush to my bedside...... don’t worry... I’ll live J

We ended the training with a quick game of dodgeball, I love this, but I always get hit too quickly so am thinking of planning a slightly different take to the game, to suggest to Fury J Make it more derby style!

So we finished with stretches and the lovely circle of pain, which thank god was a short circle of pain due to running out of time! Ram Paige was given to Sam for her excellent skating so we are all eager to hear about her exploits with Sam next week! I can only apologise to Christina for having a short week with Ram Paige, but I am sure she will return their shortly! I just hope it wasn’t Ram Paige charging about in her car that caused all of the car problems!

A few of us made it to the pub for a drink and then it was time to go home. Next Saturday a whole load of us are going up to Birmingham to see the Birmingham Blitz Dames against the Middlesborough Milk Rollers and then on to the Afterparty and as we are staying over, I should have plenty to report on next week! So should be a fun weekend to say the least! :-D

So I will bid you adieu

Until next time.......

H.A xx

No Pain - No Gain!

My second week of practise after a month off and yesterday we got beasted! Lots of speed skating and press ups, sits ups, stops, falls all which drain you especially after spending several hours skating the day before at the Gloucester Skate Disco!

But having said that, I do understand that we need to get our stamina up and the only way of doing that is to push ourselves or get pushed by the mighty whip lashing Cupid Stunt! (OK she didn’t actually have a whip, but at one point she was waving a rope around in a menacing manner which made me think of her as Miss Whiplash, but maybe that’s just my perverted mind!)

We had a couple of new faces today, although one of the skaters Jess had been to practise a couple of weeks ago, when I couldn’t make it, she seemed to have picked up the skating skills nicely and won’t be long before she is up to full speed as she seemed pretty confident on her skates. Another new face was a good friend of mine, Hannah who ventured onto skates for the first time in years and did really well for her first time, so we hope both Hannah and Jess come back for more. Although Hannah was cussing fairish at the amount of press-ups etc we had to do..... (she loved it reallyl!!!)

A lot of us still struggle with our stops, especially the dreaded T Stops, but we were asked to slow right down and try them and a lot of us started to get the hang of them, we just need to keep doing this and slowly build up our speeds. Snow plough stops also required some work, most of us don’t bend our knees enough and for all skating manoeuvres bending the knees is vital, so that's something we have to work on still.

One new technique we tried was practising crossovers holding onto a rope that was held by Cupid Stunt or Helen Fury, the idea being that you had some resistance to pull against for balance while we practised lifting our leg-overs for the crossover moves. Crossovers are hard to get to grips with, especially if you are not entirely comfortable with lifting one foot up for a period of time. My affliction of the “rooted” left foot has returned and although my speed and skating has generally improved slightly and my speed has increased, I need to start using my left foot more.

I have been advised to get some arch support insoles as we think I have a slight problem with my right foot tilting, so I have ordered some arch supports so will see what I am like next week.

Sulu Warrior and Lightning Bolts had been busy little beavers and had got some SRT badges made for us to buy, they were awesome so I am now the proud owner of 3 SRT badges and I love them! So thank you Sulu and Lightning!!!

The highlight of the practise had to be seeing our injured soldier coming to watch us, it was hard not to spot her with a bright pink cast, but Marianna (Dolly Diablo) was back to keep an eye on us and lend us her support and take some snap shots, which I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing yet! But it was lovely to see her smiling face and for everyone to give her their support as its frustrating not being able to skate but she was very chipper and we can’t wait to see her return to action in a few months time.

Ram Paige had been spending the fortnight with Dolly but it was now time for Ram Paige to go to another skater this week and that pleasure went to......... ME! So now I have the pleasure of Ram Paige and she will be writing up her exploits shortly on her blog: http://ram-paige.blogspot.com/

Adios Mon Amigos!

Honor xx