They're not in Indiana anymore!

Ft Wayne comes for a visit!

One of the best things about the explosive growth of junior derby is, of course, that this movement is now seen from coast to coast.  Teams and leagues are found in every section of the US, and this weekend, one of the best of the Midwest is going to come and test themselves against two of the best the Northwest has to offer:  The Seattle Derby Brats and the I-5 Rollergirls!

I have to admit, I have not really tracked the Midwest teams very closely, but my research over the past couple of days has revealed a team that has clearly dominated all comers.  You can watch the second half their game at the 2010 Spring Roll tournament against the Chicago Riots on Justin TV where they are ahead by about 100+ points all the way through. 

Ft Wayne v Chicago Riot 2nd period

And that?  Was a little over a year ago!  According to their web site, they once again dominated the competition at this year’s tourney and stand undefeated in 2011.

First up to take the Ft Wayne challenge will be the Seattle Derby Brats. The injury woes continue this year for the brats, but this time we are going to see some future Galaxy Girls who have been invited from the league’s home teams to train and try out at the end of this season.  Li’l Moko, Pooky Poundya , Salami Stompson and Beatin’ Bambi have a pretty good chance of being on the floor and we will know soon which of the alternates are going to be able to hit the track to replace Brutiful Beast, Tina Angst and Energizur Bunny.

The team has been training hard for the final tourney on August 6^th and most of the core is strong and healthy.  Look for Random Max to ply her noodly trade and Rockin' Red to light up the track from the jammer line joined (I am told) by Voodoo Lady Googoo!   Thumpurr (playing in her last games before heading out to Jet City) will join ranks in the pack with Evil O and Poison Izzy to lay some serious hits on the girls from Ft Wayne.  All in all, this is probably the strongest the SDB team has looked in a few months.  Ft Wayne had better be ready!

After a day’s rest, Ft Wayne will be at it again against the ever dangerous I5 Rollergirls!  Lex Celerator is fresh off an astounding performance at the speed nationals, reaching the finals in every event she competes in!  You know she’s going to be one to watch out for as she turns on the afterburners.  As every team here in the NW knows, the speedsters of I5 are a force to be reckoned with.  Of course, they are only half of the equation.  I5’s pack is just as dangerous, able to shut down jammers at will.  Hunher Down and Kitty Clawberator will definitely be looking for some neon green stars to knock to the sidelines!

Frankly?  This is going to be awesome fun to watch.  I am likely to be on the mic, and will do a brief wrap-up after the bout, but I am also told that there is a possibility that the great Elwood Bruise will be on hand for Friday’s play-by-play writeup!  It’s not a public bout so watch this space and the examiner for the results!

Featured Skater for July - Hunt-Her Down!

Hello, folks!  June was a busy month for me, so I missed a month in my featured skaters!  I have two interviews done, and I will be doing them in July and August.

This month is Grainne Hunter (Hunt-her Down) of the I5 Rollergirls!  Hunther is someone I have definitely enjoyed watching over the last couple of years.  Her no-nonsense approach in the pack leads to some very efficient blocking, and she applies it to jamming as well.  She may not be the high scoring, high flying jammer, or have the biggest hits, but she is one of the most steady and reliable players I have seen out there.  That is exactly what makes Hunt-her one of my picks for an all-star team.

As Promised, here's the interview! 

My name is Grainne Hunter, and my derby name is Hunt-Her Down.

At what age did you start skating?
I started skating when I was twelve after learning about Roller Derby.

When did you first find roller derby?
I first discovered Roller Derby about five years ago, my dad and I saw Blood on the Flat Track during SIFF and I said, "I want to be a roller girl when I'm older!" My dad didn't really pay any mind to the comment because we didn’t know about junior derby! Then, one night we were watching TV and the Seattle Derby Brats were being profiled on a PBS show called In Focus so we researched it and attended an SDB practice at Bellevue Skate King to watch. I got skate gear the next day at Fast Girl Skates and the rest is history.

What was the best thing about skating with your league?
The best thing about skating with the I-5 Rollergirls is that we all work very well together and we're all friends outside of skating, additionally I love our coaching staff! Nikki and Trixxxie are committed to teaching no nonsense Derby skills and the entire team really respects them!

Is there a skater or team you see as an inspiration to you in roller derby?
I like many teams and individual players the list is pretty big. The Oly Rollers are amazing! All of the skaters for that team make me want to skate and play like them! I love watching my coaches play as well, they definitely inspire me.

Which is your favorite team to play against and why?
I like playing all of the junior teams, but a couple of my favorite teams to play are The Portland Rosebuds, and The Kitsap Derby Brats. PDX because they are all super nice but have amazing teamwork and are a challenge to bout, in a good way! KDB because I feel pretty close with most of their skaters! Both teams are awesome Roller Derby Teams! And I can’t say enough about the Reservoir Dolls from Eugene they are a little further away and we usually only play them once a year but they are a great team and of course it is always great to play SDB because I learned to play there and their team is tough.

I have seen you NSO, ref and coach, so clearly you are involved in all aspects of derby. Which of your non-competitive activities do you enjoy the most?
This is a hard question because I LOVE doing all of those. I like to be involved with bouts even when I am not skating. It is fun and a lot of work to pay attention to a bout when you're off skates. But I have to say that I like to NSO because I like to give back to the sport, it takes a lot of people to make a bout successful and we could not bout without the Ref’s and NSO’s

What advice would you give skaters just starting out in Jr Derby?
Some advice that I have for incoming skaters: Everyone was a beginner at one point, come to practice because that is the only way you will improve! But, I think a big thing is to watch lots of other bouts especially adult teams, see how everyone else plays or maybe how you want to play. Derby is mostly a dedication sport and if you put in the time you will have fun and improve. Skate whenever you can.

Galaxy Girls take win over Reservoir Dolls in hard fought bout!

Photo by Wyatte Wood

The picture above says it all.  The Galaxy Girls and Reservoir Dolls met last night at the Southgate Roller Rink in Seattle in what promised to be a well fought bout.  These two teams definitely delivered on that promise.

The bout started out fairly slowly, each team being incredibly stingy on the points.  It was clear that they were both going to fight it out in the pack, and this was going to be about playing a physical game.  For the next hour, it was big hits, big misses and penalty timers with plenty to do.

In the first half, it was SDB having trouble.  Their jammer spent quite a bit of time sitting down, and, as we know, you can't score from the box!  Reservoir dolls had plenty of opportunities at power jams, but the Galaxy Girls had some awesome penalty killing going on. 

Rather than do what we have seen from most teams this season, and racing the pack, Coach Betty opted for stopping their jammers in the pack.  And boy, howdy were those jammers stopped!  Killa Candy, Roma Mafia and Tinker Hell made up the core of the Reservoir jammer rotation (Spunkee Bruizer started the game, but ended up out due to medical issues), and none of the three seemed to find the magic bullet which would slay the Galaxy pack.  Halftime showed the results: 52-47 Reservoir Dolls.

The second half showed the tables turned, and the Dolls were really hurt by penalties.  Jammers were being called off often, but it was mostly in the pack that the Galaxy Girls found themselves with an advantage of one or two for most jams.  Rattle Skate and Neal Cassady spet a lot of time sitting, allowing the Galaxy Girls an easier time to create the openings for their jammers. (Rattle Skate actually got her 7th penalty right at the end of the bout, but the time wound down before the ejection occured). 

Random Max of Violence, Rockin Red and Lilly Lightning started the jammer duties, but Flyin' Hawaiian got her lick in, too and the Galaxy Girls blasted out to a 30 point lead.  But this is roller derby!  Fortunes can change quickly, and they often do. The Dolls battled back to within 15 points and 15 minutes into the second half saw Neal Cassady slap on the star and rattle off a magnificent jam which gave the lead back to Eugene.  They extended the lead a bit, but then SDB threw Whamsday Addams (Borrowed from the Kitsap Derby Brats... I still say she looks good in black! ;) ), Lilly Lightning and Flyin' Hawaiian into several quick 4 and out series which saw that lead evaporate.  Once the Galaxy Girls got the lead this time, they would not let it go.  In the end, they skated the victory lap with the scoreboard showing 142-107

3 stars for Eugene:

Rattle Skate - Once again, she is a force to be reckoned with in the pack.  She may have gotten enough penalties to foul out, but those penalties came because she was in there fighting it out.  Every time I see her play, I just know I am seeing a future star blocker!

Neal Cassady - She was a force in the pack, but it was the awesome power jam that brought her team back into the game which has her in this list.  Before that jam, the Dolls were beginning to sit a little lower in their chairs.  After that jam, they were back on the edges of their seats.  She not only brought back the lead, she brought her team back, too.

Killa Candy - This kid has heart.  She got beat up in the pack quite a bit, but she always got back on her feet and kept going.  To me, she exemplified a lot of what I love about junior derby.  More than points scored or lead jams (and she had her share of both), there's something more that these girls bring to the track.  Killa has it, and there are no stats which track it.

3 stars for the Galaxy Girls:

Lilly Lightning - Lilly was extremely consistent on the jammer line and truly helped lead her team to victory.  She has been out with an injury for a while, so it was good to see her out there once again with a C on her shoulder. 

Flyin' Hawaiian - While I don't have the stats for hits, actions or errors, I am betting Flyin' Hawaiian would be high on the list of big hitters.  Straight off the jammer line, in the pack, jammer stopping, hole opening big hits were her bread and butter last night.  As I said on the mic (yes, I was announcing again), "Thank you for Flyin' Hawaiian!"

Random Max of Violence - Elbows akimbo, legs in every which direction and a body that is seemingly made of spaghetti, Max made her way through the pack and beat solo blockers all night.  She was definitely on her A game jamming.  The moves this skater can make are far from your traditional juke and jive moves, she uses subtler subterfuge of a different type.  Her fakes seem to come from her whole body as she will shape her self around her opponents.  It's awesome fun to watch!

So there you have it: the end of the regular season games for NW Junior Derby.  Next stop is Eugene on August 6th, where it looks like we'll be having a tourney setup with starting bouts drawn from a hat because we are all so evenly matched this year!  With this bout, 3 teams are now 2-2 and every team has at least one victory.  One thing is for certain, this region has some of the best Roller Derby in the nation on the adult level, and the juniors are following suit.

And the hits keep on coming!

Some day, there will be televised derby on a more regular basis. During those telecasts, the introductions of the teams will, of course, have the stats of the player in question, and there in the lower left will be a junior league name showing where the skater started. Sure, it's a dream, but it could happen! And if girls keep on graduating and joining the "big girls", eventually that could definitely happen!

I just got word that Kitsap's Mutch Mayhem has graduated to Slaughter County and has made their travel team, Saints of Slaughter!  That?  Is awesome.  The Jr derby girls of the NW are beginning to make an impact on an adult level, and they will keep on coming.  After August 6th, Thumpurr looks to join Jet City, making her the first SDB to transfer into an adult league (and  rumor has it that they are letting skaters from junior leagues straight up transfer in when they meet the age/education requirements, like several of the other adult leagues in the region).  I also am told that Kitsap will have a few more graduating out this year as well!

It should only be a couple more years before the trickle of this season becomes a flood moving into the NW regional adult leagues.  While it's really exciting to think about the girls who are moving up, and seeing them gain success on another level, I also wonder how it will ultimately effect the game.  These girls are coming in with not only experience skating and playing the game, but with experience in the beginning stages of most of these leagues.  They have been a part of the fund raising, and the decision making (in many leagues), and have a good base for the DIY atmosphere the WFTDA leagues are all about. 

The future of Derby?  Now.