Middlesbrough Milk Rollers

My First Bout

As I was getting ready to walk to the coach which was taking us down to Liverpool to bout against Liverpool Roller Birds, I felt very nervous and a bit panic-struck – thoughts like ‘have I got everything?’, ‘check your kit’, ‘remember your food and drinks’, ‘oh shit I need sunglasses, run back and get them’ spun around in my head.
It was a sunny morning which made me feel a bit better, and on the bus my team mates were very calming and told me I would be fine once I had finished my first jam.

Upon arrival at the venue we received a warm welcome from LRB, and then headed straight to get changed. A few girls went to check out the floor. When they turned they said it was quite slippy and panic set in, I had changed my wheels to harder ones the night before because I was told the floor was grippy. Bugger. It was such a faff on to get them changed, so I just went with my fairly new g-rods. They actually worked fine on the floor.

So we did our warm up, talked through tactics and put on our game faces. My face was pale. I wasn’t in the first jam, but I watched my awesome team mates doing quite well out there. When my turn came I was shaky and became a goat, I worked hard trying to get out but was unsuccessful. I felt a bit gutted. However, I don’t like dwelling on things that bring me down, so I closed my eyes for a few seconds (after the jam obviously, NEVER close your eyes on track, that would
be quite disastrous) and told myself to focus and that I could do much better. Which I did! After that I reacted faster, blocked more, and tried my best to be aware of what was going on at all times on track. I made myself proud!

We have been working on a few tactics and walls over the last couple of months, and did pretty well with these. It feels great to really trust your team mates and to have confidence that they will be in the right place, at the right time. Our team is filled with positivity, love and everyone is helpful, which makes things so much easier. No bitching about mistakes made or wrong calls. We encourage one another
and make each other do better on track.

As this was a closed bout and we can’t reveal the score, I can’t tell you who won! But that’s not the point anyway - I am just reflecting on my first bout, how I felt and how our team worked. And it felt great. After the bout we greeted and hugged the other team, wiped off our sweaty booties and went to the pub! I didn’t get to speak to many people from the other team, but the ones I met were awesome, it’s great to meet new people and talk derby. So the day started off with a lot of crazy stress, excessive stomach acids, and nervousness, but ended up as an absolutely amazing experience. Fun times!

Swede Dreams

Beats International, 5th November 2011

Grandmaster Bash v Public Frenemies

by Frodo Bashins

The day had finally arrived, I would be heading out with MMR’s newest post mins, my sister, Lolly Go-Sprightly, Titch, and Georgey to face my first bout fears!! After receiving the team rota and finding out our alliances were split, we had been playing against each other for the past few practices, and thrown into teams against our toughest players “for good practice”, yeah, and good bruises!

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Tips for playing your first Bout:

1.   Enjoy the fact that it’s your first bout.
If, like me, you were worried about doing something totally noob and stupid in the heat of the game (falling over for no reason/ all the time, going to the penalty box the wrong way, tripping your teammates into a pile…) then don’t be. For starters, it probably won’t happen. Your team wouldn’t field you at all if you weren’t ready. Secondly, if it does, nobody will blame you because it’s your first bout! Go into with a positive attitude, take money to buy yourself drinks and souvenirs afterwards and HAVE FUN! I have a lot to thank my Captain for. She could have been reminding me of every little thing I needed to work on but instead she told me to enjoy myself. 

2.   Be super alert
This kinda seems to go without saying but I had no idea just how different it would be to play against a different team. When you practice with your own team you have a knowledge of every player – which blocks they will do on you, which blocks work best on them, who you subconsciously don’t want to knock over because they have an injury or are having a hard time and might get upset, how they jam etc. When you are playing strangers you have no idea what they are going to do or how they are going to play, so have your wits about you. THIS IS FUN – you are also freed from knowing anything about them, so you aren’t bothered if you knock them flying. I was NOT prepared for the guilt- free buzz you get when you knock your first opponent to the floor! However, be careful. For example, I’m used to looking out for our tall or regular sized jammers, and made the mistake of taking my eyes off their small whizzy girls for two seconds! Whoops, there she goes! Which leads me onto:

3.   If you mess up, acknowledge it, and move on.
Your first bout will teach you better than 50 practices what you need to work on to improve. You will know better than anyone else where you’ve messed up. Personally the things I thought I was going to be awful at, which I feel unsure about at practice, weren’t the things that I lacked on the day. (I didn’t fall over every time I got hit and I didn’t spend all my time in the box for back blocking). Use the experience to make yourself a list of new goals for next time! I know I need to be more aggressive and focused. Whatever you need to work on, bring it on!

4.   If you DO do something stupid, just laugh/apologise and move on.
Don’t let it affect the rest of the bout for you. It will go quicker than you know! I got nudged off track, and when I went to skate back on, fell over on my arse for no reason at all. OH WELL. A few jams later, one of the confident players from the other team did exactly the same thing as we were lined up waiting for the whistle. An important player at a different bout fell over on the introductions lap. People falling on their arses is funny! Don’t worry about the daft stuff, just do your best.

5.   Don’t worry if you’re targeted for being a newbie.
It’s difficult to keep your confidence and pride if you DO end up with the other team shouting ‘GOAT THE NEWB! GET THE NEWB!’ (Unfortunately I was pretty obvious as our team outfits didn’t turn up so while the other girls just used their old uniforms, I had a vest with my number sharpie penned on the back – cringe!) but just do your best and take each jam with a fresh attitude. Even though they did target me a few times, I only had one jam where I felt like I wanted the ground to swallow me up, where I just couldn’t get past them and seemed to spend a lot of time on the floor. Notice what they’re doing and change tactic or tell your lineup manager if it’s so bad that you feel you need to be somewhere else in the pack or doing something else. But one really bad jam where you feel like apologising to your team for your very existence is normal!

6.   Don’t beat yourself up if goes badly.
Luckily I had a great time and didn’t spend all my time on the floor or in the box like I thought I would. But if this is the case, don’t fret. One of the best players I know had an awful first bout as part of a mixed team – it could have put her off for life – but she carried on and now she is a total asset to her team! Chin up!

7.   Give yourself a pat on the back
Acknowledge the things you did well (even if nobody else saw you do it) after a jam and after the bout, and keep doing them!

Pepe Le Pewk