I know I’m getting back to everyone a week or so late but I am pleased to report that after two fun, rough, bouts Shoreline Roller Derby finally got a few wins to end our season.  Honestly, I went into this hoping it would just be close and both bouts were.  We only won the first bout by 10 points, it was legitimately a nailbiter and a lot of fun to play.

All the derby action happened at Nomads in South Windsor.  Shoreline’s two travel teams played Hartford Area Roller Derby’s two travel teams and it seemed like a fun time was had by all.  Really the only lowlight was that Briewitched broke part of her hand, a fact she didn’t even realize until the next day.  Yes everyone, Briewitched broke her hand in the first jam and skated the rest of the bout. 

I don’t really have any personal highlights.  I hit some people and got hit by some people, you know, the usual for a blocker.  Somewhere in there I smooshed my face on someone’s helmet and I have  nice wheel sized bruise on the other side of my cranky ankle, but really that’s the usual.  With our last bouts of the year out of the way, I’m not sure what the plan is but stay tuned for more posts about derby happenings in the area, there’s always something going on when your life is on skates.

Well heck everybody, tomorrow is the last bout of Shoreline’s travel team season.  It’s been an odd season, especially because we’ve had so many skaters get injured or move away for exciting opportunities.  Not to mention the two players who will be having derby babies in a few months.  It’s been an exciting year, just not in the way that any of us expected. 

Tomorrow we bout at Nomads in South Windsor.  The Salty Broads will play Hartford Area Roller Derby’s Hartford Wailers and then the BellaDonnas will play Hartford Area Roller Derby’s Beatcity Bedrockers.  It should be a great time at a great venue, Nomads is a great place whether you’re skating or not and I think it’s HARD’s last travel bouts of the season too, so these should be a couple of fun bouts.  The first bout starts at 6, so the second one is probably around 7:30 but don’t quote me on that. 

Eventhough it’s weird that this will be the last time I bout with some of these ladies who are moving on, a little part of me will be glad to not have the pressure of an upcoming bout for a while.  I’m not sure what the immediate derby future holds, but that’s fine.  After my ankle ordeal last year, as long as I can skate and not get reinjured, I’m happy.  Anyway, enough wistful thinking, I’ve got to hydrate some more and wash my gear.  Tomorrow there’s some derby to play.

Junior derby is exactly what it sounds like and I wish it had been around when I was a kid.  If you are a girl age 6 to 17, and interested in playing roller derby when you grow up, Connecticut Rollergirls has a program for you.  After some successful junior derby clinics, they’re launching a whole program that runs from September 14th to November 23rd.  Skaters will learn skating skills, roller derby specific techniques and how to positionally block.  This is not a full-contact circus of craziness, this is Intro to Derby and all skill levels are welcome. 

To find out more I caught up with Lady Trampler, who let me know the details and why she’s so passionate about getting it up and running.

ME:  How will your Junior Roller Derby program be structured? 

LT:  We are having a Fall session that starts in September and goes thru November for girls ages 6-17. This session consists of 9 full practices and junior games during the halftime of our home team bouts and costs $150. Practice dates are as follows

Sept. 14th, 21st, 28th / Oct. 12th, 19th, 26th / Nov. 9th, 16th, 23rd   Time: 10:30am-noon

Early morning photo of Oscar.

I know it isn’t news that cats can be jerks.  Everyone who has ever been deemed worthy of sharing a living space with a feline knows this.  It’s just that bout days bring up my biggest pet peeve about my beloved pet.  Oscar is a lovely cat otherwise, sometimes he puts up with costumes for a whole minute, he lets me pet him a few times a day and keeps the rodent population down but he does not understand weekends and this is especially exasperating when I’m trying to sleep in for game day.

I realize he’s trying to be helpful.  He’s wondering why it’s 6 AM and I’m not out of bed yet and thinking he should take action.  What’s the most direct way to wake up my human?  Should I lick her nose?  Knock something off a table?  Stare at her?  Or just meow plaintively by the bedroom door?  I’ve woken up to all of these methods but usually he goes with the meow plan.

So on bout day mornings around 6 AM it goes like this.

Oscar:  Meow.    MEOW.  (waits a minute so you think he’s stopped) MEOOOOW!

Me:  It’s the weekend!  Leave me along Mr. Kitty!  (Yes I yell at him like Cartman on South Park)

Oscar:  (after another minute) MEEEOOOOOOOW!

So by now I’m thinking, “Okay, maybe he just wants to go downstairs, fair enough.  Oh wait, the door is open.  What’s this cat’s problem?”  Suddenly Oscar appears by my head, he wants attention now.  The Oscar attention window opens about 1-2 times a day and lasts for 5 minutes.  This is not him being nice, this is him forcing me to wake up and pet him.  I pet him but still don’t get out of bed, he thumps off the bed and

Oscar:  MEROOOOW!

Me:  Oscar!  It is the weekend, it is a bout day, I am trying to sleep.  (He doesn’t care, as per usual, but at least leaves the room so I think he’s leaving me alone).

5 minutes later…

Oscar:  MEROOOOW!

I locate the nearest pair of socks and whip it in the general direction of the cat.  He leaves again but not after another plaintive meow-wail.  I give up and wake up and now I’m here typing this up.  He’s sitting by my feet like we’re best friends, perhaps he thinks he’s inspiring me just by letting me sit in such close proximity to his kitty greatness.  I guess for once he’s right, darn cat.  One of these bout days I will sleep in and it will be magical but today is not one of those days.

Well ladies and gentlemen, we’ve reached that time again, it’s the last home doubleheader of the year.  Saturday (Sept 6th), will be Skate Wars: The Blocker Strikes Back and our travel season will be almost done.  As you can probably tell, it’s also Star Wars themed, so if you’ve got any Star Wars costumes you’d like to attend in, throw one on and come have some fun.  Personally I’m hoping at least one wookie will be in attendance.

 I’ll be playing in the first bout and raffle wrangling during the second one.  First we play Strong Island Derby Revolution, a league we have a friendly history with.  We played our first bouts against eachother in Long Island about 3 years ago.  It was a nailbiter that came down to a 2 point difference.  We won after a fun bout in front of an excited crowd. Honestly even if we’d lost it would have been a great first derby experience. 

The next bout will be a men’s derby bout; the Connecticut Death Quads will play Mass Maelstrom.  Men’s bouts are fun to host because we get to watch them after our bout and also they’re very sweaty games of derby fury.  One of our coaches, No Big Deal, is a Mass Maelstrom skater.  Also Gored N’ Skatefoot, who announces for us sometimes is a Connecticut Death Quad.  No matter who you cheer for, it will be a fun bout to watch.

Right now, we’re figuring out last minute bout stuff.  People are deciding what they’re making for the bake sale, I’m bothering Twin Gats about some necklaces she’s making for the raffle and probably everyone on every team playing is hydrating like a crazy person.

We’re also doing a school supply drive for the United Way.  I know school just started but we aren’t too late to add to their supply.  If you bring school supplies to donate, you’ll get into a special raffle (hence me bothering Gats about the necklaces) where you can win a necklace or a monster hat, plus the satisfaction of knowing that you helped someone out.  So if you’ve been reading these and still haven’t made it to a bout, come check out Skate Wars at Galaxy Roller Rink in Groton tomorrow.  Tickets are $12 at the door, or cheaper online at Brown Paper Tickets (just search for Shoreline Roller Derby and the event will pop up).  Our last home doubleheader starts at 6, so get there around 5:30 to get settled in.  Don’t forget a chair and I hope to see you there!

Hello everyone, yes I’m still here.  I realize I didn’t post anything last week and for that I apologize.  I had to go help out my famliy with something and didn’t really have access to a keyboard.  I guess I could have tapped something out on my ipod but who knows how long and how typo-riddled that would have been. 

There’s still a lot of activity in the local derbysphere; Shoreline is hosting a doubleheader on Saturday, CTRG is getting ready for their home team series, HARD is wrapping up their travel season and the CT Deathquads are playing on Saturday at Galaxy too.  There’s a lot of derby going on so I’ll try to write more about it.  Right now though, I’m still catching up with things but I’ll post more to keep everyone informed, my bad.  So that’s my note to everyone for now, I’m off to figure out what to write about first.