In honour of playing my tenth open-door roller derby game, here is a run down of the bouts leading up to my double figures.
1. Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Bristol Harbour Harlots. Our first game, I don’t think I played very well but I scored points and my points differential was very good. Only gave away one power jam but my blocking was poor. For a first game and debuting a new team, I think we did very well. TBB 173-37 BHH.
2. Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames. This is the game that killed my confidence as a jammer. The Dames defense absolutely annihilated me and I didn’t score until the second half. I wasn’t played as a blocker at all which I think hindered my ability to jam as I couldn’t read the pack not having played in it. We scraped a win but Queef broke her ankle and Sian broke her finger so the score is tarnished with bad memories. TBB 123 - 110 BBDD.
3. Tiger Bay Brawlers vs London Rockin’ Rollers Rising Stars. This was our first time playing on a slippery floor and we didn’t know how to handle it at all. I think our game play was good. I was played as a jammer and was semi-successful and did some nice defensive work as a pivot but the floor had the better of us and I don’t think we’ll make the mistake of not being prepared again! TBB 73 - 112 LRR B team
4. Tiger Bay Brawlers 1st Birthday Bash: Pirates vs Princesses. This was our first intraleague game and it was a lot of fun. I had some successful jams. One terrible jam which I believe you experience at least once per game but overall I was pleased with my pack work and jamming. The princesses did sneak a win at the end with a last jam power jam but it was a very close game. Pirates 95 - 96 Princesses.
5. Blood & Thunder Bootcamp advanced scrimmage: Black vs White. It should be noted that I injured my knee during the birthday game and so I did not jam. I felt quite out of my depth playing with the top teams in the UK but I felt my offense really improved during this game. It was a very close game but after a questionable last jam Whites won by 3 points.
6. Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Glasgow Roller Girls. This has been my toughest game to date and the most beneficial. We knew we were facing tough competition as Glasgow are one of the top teams in the UK but we really embraced the opportunity to learn from them and have a blast doing it. I jammed a handful of times and pivoted a fair bit but as a team we were outmatched. TBB 58 - 186 GRG.
7. Team France: White vs Black. It was great fun to play in another language with complete strangers. It was really testing having to translate strategy and motivational talks fell flat as a result but we were playing against Francey Pants and Amelia Scareheart and still managed a win by about 20 points. I only jammed twice because of my knee but I did pretty well and was put in the pack a lot, especially during important jams which was nice. I came away from that game feeling pretty happy.
8. Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Dolly Rockit Rollers. This was a super fun game to play, although we’re at a similar skill level we both play such different games. Dolly Rockits have some amazing jammers and we have some excellent teamwork which made for a great match up. This is the game where I noticed I was getting my jamming groove back and I just felt great with our performances. TBB 95 - 86 DRR.
9. Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Rainy City Tender Hooligans. This was a good game for us, we were playing in a Cardiff venue to a sold out crowd of 500 against a team that had trained a lot to give us a hard time. I didn’t get to jam as much as I’d like due to being on 3 minors for the second half, and I was a lot more penalty heavy than in previous games but I implemented some good moves and you could really see how far everyone had come along. TBB 169 - 79 RCRG B Team.
10 Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Cardiff Roller Collective. This match up was probably most exciting for fans who knew the history of both teams. Originally the same team, Cardiff Dragon Dolls, back in Feb 2010 there was a split due to scheduling conflicts when the Brawlers were formed. Eventually the Dragon Dolls disbanded and formed CRoC. Despite the similar conception of the teams, we are very different in terms of goals, structure and the general running of the leagues. It should also be noted this was our first game without BB Bombshell so we really had to prove ourselves as an independent team. TBB 190 - 37 CRoC.
We have some exciting games coming up including CCR’s B team, LRG’s Ultraviolent Femmes, Stockholm and Lincolnshire Bombers.
