2014: My roller derby year
For me, 2014 began in a cloud of utter sadness and emotional stress. Following the death of my father just a few days before New Years Eve, and while he was on holiday in India, I found myself in a world of confusion, legal paperwork and tears. At the risk of making an understatement, it was not a good way to start the year.
Luckily I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by great friends, from my personal life, work and through roller derby. I did sadly find that some people who I thought I could rely on didn't feel they could deal with me at that time, but that was more than over shadowed by the friends I have made throughout the year on my 2014 roller derby journey. Here is a low down of that journey, continuing on with my trusty Tiger Bay Brawlers and my new found derby family, Team Wales Roller Derby...
04/01/2014 - Team Wales Tryouts
On the 4th of January 2014 were the first Team Wales tryouts. In the aftermath of trying to get my father home from India I had pretty much written off going to the tryouts as firstly, I couldn't imagine that I would have anything left of me to give with everything that was going on, and secondly, I was very afraid that I wouldn't be able to hold it together on the day.
Fortunately I decided to go anyway - I absolutely needed a distraction and the thought that life is too short was at the very forefront of my mind. I was amazed to find that while the whole day passed in a blur, I came out feeling inspired by the people I had met and determined to follow it through if I got through to the next stage. And I did!
The second set of tryouts took place on the 8th of March and the decision on who had got though was announced on the 9th. And so began my training for the national squad!
Meanwhile at Tiger Bay Brawlers HQ I was making my way back to a position on the A Team following a long standing injury, and was equal parts delighted / apprehensive to be asked to get back to jamming for them in the new year.
08/02/2014 - Tiger Bay Brawlers vs London Brawling (away) TBB A 30 - 500 LRG LB
We began our bouting year down in Crystal Palace on the 8th of February at 'Defend the Palace', playing against London Brawling. Yes, the LRG A Team. As you might have expected we got absolutely owned on the points front but we all came out with massive smiles on our faces as we had played hard, demonstrated our team work and gained some valuable experience.
22/02/2014 - Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Central City Roller Girls (home) TBB A 258 - 174 CCR A
On the 22nd of February we hosted our one and only home game of 2014, which was a double header with our A Team taking on CCR and our B Team taking on Dolly Rockit Rollers. It was a glorious day with us taking a double win over the visiting teams, both of which have been good friends of ours over the years.
26/03/2014 - Guest Coach: Demanda Riot
On the 26th of March TBB were lucky enough to welcome Demanda Riot all the way from B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls. I'm sure I am not the only Brawler to agree that her presence in person is just as intense as it is on the track / derby news feed and we learned a hell of a lot from her in terms of strengthening our walls and using our edges, all of which we implemented in our run up to ECDX.
29/03/2014 - Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Glasgow Roller Derby (away) TBB A 162 - 130 GRD A
30/03/2014 - Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Auld Reekie Roller Girls (away) TBB A 111 - 125 ARRG A
I didn't actually play either of these games but the training in the run up to them was intense. By all accounts the team felt that they had managed to implement a good deal of new strategy that we had been working on and it was excellent prep for our pilgrimage to the States in June.
Obviously there were a lot of closed door games and scrimmages for the A Team in the run up to ECDX but I will refrain from mentioning those here.
During the second week of June the Tiger Bay Brawlers A Team (and much appreciated friends) headed out to the U.S.A. to get some state side games under our belt and compete at ECDX (East Coast Derby Extravaganza).
14/06/2014 - Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Suburbia Roller Derby (away) TBB A 174 - 211 SRD A
The day after I travelled out to the States (along with my buddies Aga and Mustang Mitch), we took on Suburbia Roller Derby in Yonkers, New York. We controlled the first half but the home team took back the lead in the second half while TBB were clearly adapting to the time and climate difference. While we all felt we could have been victorious under different circumstances, we came out of the game feeling like we would be right on track by the time we got to ECDX. To finish off the day, Suburbia were fantastic hosts and put up the whole team, offering home comforts and veritable feasts of food.
16/06/2014 - Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Wall Street Traitors (closed door - away)
One of the most exciting things about being a roller girl in New York was being in the stomping ground of Gotham Girls Roller Derby. Not only did we get to see some of our old friends take on skaters from arguably the best roller derby league in the world, but we got to play a closed door game against their B Team. Obviously under closed door rules I cannot divulge the score, but I can say that we did ourselves proud and left no doubt that TBB deserved our spot at ECDX.
19/06/2014 - Tiger Bay Brawlers vs DC Rollergirls (away) TBB A 168 - 258 DCRG
TBB travelled from New York to Washington for our next sanctioned game. DC Rollergirls were a notably patriotic team and it was a strange experience having to sing at an image of the Welsh flag before a bout, especially considering many of the girls on TBB A are not Welsh. That strangeness aside, the home team were a strong one and totally deserved the win. Nonetheless it was a good experience and gave us some good last minute pointers prior to the tournament.
22/06/2014 - 22/06/2014 - ECDX 2014 (Philadelphia)
The thing we had been working for over the past six months was finally here!!! We made our way excitedly from Washington to Philadelphia, buzzing about what the weekend had in store for us. The atmosphere was fantastic, the organisation was smooth and opponents were gracious.
21/06/2014 - Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Providence Roller Derby (ECDX) TBB A 253 - 167 PRD
On the public polls prior to the tournament there was an overwhelming opinion that TBB were going to get smashed. This game was therefore somewhat of a surprise to the ECDX roller derby community and it's safe to say people started paying attention!
22/06/2014 - Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Garden State Rollergirls (ECDX) TBB A 215 - 133 GSR
Coming out of this game TBB had placed ourselves firmly on the international derby map and had been dubbed 'biggest upset' of the tournament - a banner we held proudly, especially since our old mentor Tui Lyon (aka BB Bombshell) was there to share in our celebrations as her home league VRDL (Victorian Roller Derby League) were also playing at ECDX.
Another major factor for the Brawlers following ECDX was the departure of our long standing coach and many time captain, Kid Block as she planned to move to London and join LRG. It was bittersweet news but I knew it was the absolute best thing for her to do. And, of course, I knew we would continue to see her on a regular basis!
On my return from a lovely little New York break with my significant other, the next big roller derby focus was a European tournament with my Team Wales comrades.
06/09/2014 - 07/09/2014 - European Roller Derby Tournament (Mons, Belgium)
Team Wales Roller Derby had a lovely coach trip to Belgium to take part in a tournament involving 8 national roller derby teams. We came in 5th overall and as we were still settling in with our team mates and strategies we were fairly satisfied with the outcome. Here's how it went down:
06/09/2014 - Team Wales Roller Derby vs Team Nederland (ERDT) WAL 82 - 113 NED
We were clearly still finding our feet during this game, but Team Nederland were a classy opponent and got our blood pumping for the rest of the tournament.
06/09/2014 - Team Wales Roller Derby vs Team Portugal (ERDT) WAL 167 - 78 POR
Team Portugal were clearly new to playing with each other but they were a lovely team to play. This bout saw our team work come together and we put into practice everything that we had been practicing in our training sessions.
07/09/2014 - Team Wales Roller Derby vs Team Denmark (ERDT) WAL 264 - 200 DEN
Warmed up from the previous day we were pumped to play Team Denmark and they provided us with a great level of opposition to continue cementing our team work and strategies. We finished the tournament on a high.
And back once again to Brawler HQ...
11/10/2014 - Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Middlesbrough Milk Rollers and Hot Wheel Roller Derby (away)
This was an extremely significant bout day for TBB A. These were to be our first games following the departure of Kid Block and while we were confident that no one player makes the success of a team, we knew that there were those in the UK roller derby community that were watching closely to see how we would perform without her. We were happy to answer that query with aback to back double win with a convincing score margin against two very capable teams:
Next in line was our very own Team Wales hosted tournament...
18/10/2014 - 19/10/2014 - Road to Dallas (Newport, Wales)
We brought together Team Wales, Team Ireland, Team Scotland and Team West Indies for a final national warm-up before the World Cup.
The aim of the tournament for Team Wales was to ascertain the right final squad for the World Cup and to cement the strategies and team work that we had been working on in training. This meant that we were doing things like playing unusual line ups, people in different positions, and so while we were sad to come out on the bottom ranking we were not disheartened by it.
In my quest to make the most of every opportunity of 2014, I clearly allowed no time for rest. Back to Brawler HQ yet again! This time for a voyage to Sweden!
14/11/2014 - 16/11/2014 - WFTDA European Tournament 2014 (Malmo, Sweden)
Tiger Bay Brawlers A Team had a massive overhaul prior to this tournament. Some people were off on injury, some people had parted ways with the league and others simply weren't available. The team we went with was very different to any that we had presented at a tournament before. We knew going out that it would be a learning experience and a challenge and that is exactly what we got.
14/11/2014 - Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Stockholm Roller Derby (WET 2014) TBB A 161 - 305 STRD
STRD are a strong team and have been established as such for quite some time. With TBB finding their feet with the new team set up this was a fair outcome.
14/11/2014 - Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Copenhagen Roller Derby (WET 2014) TBB A 255 - 81 CRD
Having warmed up a bit from our first game this was a nice opportunity to build on our team work and carry the momentum forward.
15/11/2014 - Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Crime City Rollers (WET 2014) TBB A 162 - 290 CCR
This game was always going to be a tough one. We had met with CCR on a number of occasions before and we knew that they would have been working for a win since we last faced off. Credit where it is due, they played a good game and left us all with a lot of goals for improvement. Watch out next time Crime! ;)
Needless to say, WET left me totally pumped up for the World Cup. And that is where I was headed next!
04/12/2014 - 07/12/2014 - Blood & Thunder Roller Derby World Cup (Dallas, Texas)
This was to be the awesome highlight of the year that began so badly. And it did not disappoint!
I stood beside Captain Jen-Clawed Van Slamme, as Vice Captain for Team Wales, along with all of my wonderful team mates. It was a humbling and soul-filling journey. I won't say too much about this as I am still reflecting on my experience and will more than likely write a separate post providing more detail. So straight down to business!
04/12/2014 - Team Wales Roller Derby vs Team South Africa (RDWC) WAL 200 - 97 ZA
Our opening game was against South Africa. They were a wonderful team that played with passion and great sportsmanship. They had not previously played an international game together and so were finding their feet throughout the game. It was a great game to allow us to get our wheels in motion and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.
04/12/2014 - Team Wales Roller Derby vs Team Norway (RDWC) WAL 105 - 150 NOR
Team Norway were a challenging opponent with whom we felt on a similar level. Although we drew a loss by the end of the game we felt we had played well and and Norway deserved the win.
05/12/2014 - Team Wales Roller Derby vs Team New Zealand (RDWC) WAL 60 - 250 NZ
As anticipated, this was an extremely tough game and the amount of strength and experience NZ had on us showed through. It gave us a lot to aim for in 2015.
06/12/2014 - Team Wales Roller Derby vs Team Puerto Rico (RDWC) WAL 395 - 75 PR
This was potentially the most fun game of the tournament for Team Wales. While we did leave the bout with some pretty horrible injuries this was a fantastic way to end our play time and we provided some upset by having one of the biggest score differentials for the tournament!
07/12/2014 - Live spectating of the final stages of Roller Derby World Cup 2014 and the after party!!!
Awesome. That is all that needs to be said. I absolutely loved partying with my Team Wales buddies and long lost team mates Kid Block and Tui Lyon. Smiles all round. :D
Overall 2014 has strengthened my faith in the family I have built in the now world wide-roller derby community. Team Wales has provided me with some amazing friendships which I hope will last way after my battered body can deal with this beautiful, brutal sport. As for those existing friends from TBB - you're a good bunch and I plan on keeping you around. Last but not least, my partner, family and non-derby friends have been well recognised for the support provided throughout the year and I cannot thank them enough.
From feeling sorry to jolly in one fine year.
Here's to a bigger and better 2015!!!