PiRates of Pen-y-Bont Home - Training session & Informal closed scrim 14th September 2013

PiRates of Pen-y-Bont Home - Training session & Informal closed scrim 14th September 2013

South West Team Up! Screamer Join Plymouth B vs Bath Roller Girls August 31st 2013

Southwest Team up!

31^st August 2013 Screamers join Plymouth B vs Bath Roller Girls

Ok so we get the message on Facebook that our Derby Crush team need our help to boost their numbers for a closed scrim with our other favourite team Bath Roller Girls (our sisters from another mother).

Michelle (Rolls-Moyse), Catharine (K-tea Claws) & Kim (Kimi Krusher) took up the challenge and headed to Bristol early in the morning to meet up with the Plymouth B team, after a detour Screamer style and nearly going to the wrong venue we arrived safely a little nervous and asking ourselves “what the hell are we doing” but also a little excited and happy to see both teams, Hugs all round.

First the awesome PetraBomb put on an amazing warm up session then it was game time. The whistle blow to start the first jam! Surprisingly all was calm, Rufus Pound amazing Bench Coach had everything under control, groups set out in order of play, I remember one person saying if you squint your eyes slightly the Bath Girls look like Minions! That was it! You know the song! Every time I stood at the line up P.O.T.A.T.O………

We Screamers learnt so much from skating with Plymouth B team & especially Dre-Feelgood, We would like to thank Plymouth B for inviting us to skate with you and if you ever need us again just give us a shout 

Words: Michelle (Rolls-Moyse)

PiRates of Pen-y-Bont - Away - Training Session and Informal Closed Scrim 18th August 2013

Rapscallions & CRD - Away - Training session & Mixed Scrim - 3rd August 2013

Rapscallions & CRD - Away - Training Session & Mixed Scrim

After meeting up at the leisure centre with some of the Bath girls (who were a little worse for wear) and hauling kit into the mini bus we set off  on the long journey to Penzance - we hit difficulties in Bideford just 10 miles away following Jerrys directions which we luckily ignored and listened to Catherine instead!

We made fairly good progress along the Atlantic Highway - stopping on one occasion for a vomit break and another for a shopping trip/ snack stop somewhere in Cornwall.  There was much hilarity about being in "Bush" or "Bushy" cant remember which but it is just before Bude and there were a few attempts by Tony to injure us before we had even started. The venue was a temporary blow up structure over tennis courts and it was really hot inside, it was  hot out but even moreso inside. The surface was also something we were not used to - it was really grippy which was good for some people but it was really difficult to do any stopping - you either could not stop or stopped dead!

After meeting our hosts we did an hour of warm ups and drills which were really good and then we started our scrim.  The flooring was a challenge to us - but we did our best, we puffed and sweated and tried our best but sadly we did not win, however it was a brilliant game and everyone enjoyed it.  The penalty box got destroyed on one occasion due to an inability to stop but other than that there were no major mishaps. I was got lead jammer at the ends  and scored 5 points - something that possibly will never happen again and Tony says was a fluke - but there you go!  The Bath girls played valiantly and were invaluable to the team.

Afterwards we went down to the sea front where some of us - namely  Su - braved the sea for a dip and some fish and chips and then we wound our way merrily home, tired but happy!!!

Bath Roller Derby Girls - Away - Closed Scrim 14th July 2013

 

Photography - David Payne

 

 

Devon Clotted Screamers v Bath Roller Derby Girls

Bristol, July 14^th 2013

Having enjoyed hosting Bath Roller Derby Girls at home earlier in 2013 for a joint training session and scrimmage, the Screamers were excited to play them in a ‘proper’ bout up at their training venue in Bristol.  We felt that the two teams were quite evenly matched in terms of the amount of time since starting out and also our bouting experience so it would be interesting to see how a real bout panned out after we had each had a few more months of training.  Had we known in advance that the day of the bout was destined to be the hottest day of the year we may not have been quite so keen…!

 

 

The journey up seemed uneventful enough for most of us – even K-Tea Claws and Mumbles made the epic journey successfully from Eastbourne where they had been NSOing the previous day for the Eastbourne Extreme outdoor roller derby event. (They did both, however, have a nasty case of sunburn – Claws’ calves were a particularly lovely shade of burgundy from halfway down and Tony proved that it is possible to achieve a slightly red shade of black!).  However as we warmed up we realised that our Captain Coxy was nowhere to be seen – and this continued to be the case as the first hour’s training continued.  As we got hotter and hotter in the oven of a sports hall, Coxy, Smitty and Carl were enduring the same sweltering heat albeit stuck in a car on the way to Bristol.  Eventually, however, Coxy made her entrance (one might say slightly flustered and a little peeved) and we were ready to go just in time for the first whistle.

 

As is usual for the Screamers, we were unable to field a full team due to injury so we were joined by a lovely lady from Bristol Roller Derby (who I’m not sure we were ever told the name of but who went by the name of Mumbles for the rest of the afternoon).  This lovely temporary Screamer was very positive and with ice-skating experience behind her we were very grateful to have her on our team!  The Bath girls were as cheerful and friendly as ever in their summery yellow kit but it was time to leave niceties behind and put it all out there on the track.  We had assistance from So Solid Sue on line-up and the real Mumbles on the bench and we did our darndest to get off to a good start.  After a few jams with the usual schoolboy errors in terms of penalties, some good jams were achieved, with quite a few power jams on both sides.  Both teams had come on greatly since our earlier meeting in Barnstaple, and there was some really strong blocking and jamming from the usual suspects and a few new faces.  It was a close bout, with Bath just clinching it as the Screamers reduced line-up finally wilted in the heat, but everyone gave it 100% and came off the track smiling. 

Awards went to:

MVP Bath - Foxy Hard Knox

Best Blocker Bath - Hardcore Blondage

Best Jammer Bath - Kerri Kon Karnage

MVP Screamers - Rolls Moyse

Best Blocker Screamers - Whippety Split

Best Jammer Screamers - Becky Spaghetti (although we think these last two might have been a mix-up!)

After everyone had quickly de-skated and rushed outside to enjoy a bit of a breeze, we were treated to delicious BRDG cupcakes (wonder where they got that idea?!) and lovely goody bags celebrating the popping of BDRG’s bouting cherry.  Although some of the team had to get back to North Devon quickly, a few brave souls embarked on an adventure to a mystery picnic spot which I’m sure was most enjoyable once they eventually found it!  It was a fantastic day as always with the gorgeous ladies from Bath and we’re already looking forward to doing it again (but maybe in normal British temperatures this time!).

Barcelona or Bust roll off 4th July 2013

Rolling Thunder Boot Camp 15th June 2013

Devon Clotted Screamers present the Epic Rolling Thunder Bootcamp.

 

 

Devon Clotted Screamers present the Epic Rolling Thunder Bootcamp.

 

Saturday 15^th June 2013

What a day!! This was one of those learning curves we will never forget, it was our first event open to other skaters and we were all nervous as to whether it would be a success or not.  We really needn’t have worried because my word, apart from the obvious leg incident and a near miss with a helmet; it was a brilliant day, with skills and fun being had all round.

Sadly as with any bootcamp a few skaters had to drop out but we were still sell out with extra skaters appearing to get in on the action, waivers were being signed all over as the hall buzzed with adrenaline.  Then the first part of the day kicked off, skating skills and tactics.  In my opinion the sitting down and talking tactics was great, it helped me to see when some plays would be an advantage and when some should be avoided like the plague.  It also helped me realise that slowing someone down and getting in their way was an effective way of blocking, so all those big hits that I kept trying to get and landing on my own rear end, were now safely changed to sticking my bum out and just wiggling it with purpose.  It was during one of these drills when one Screamer had a bit of an incident, which required morphine and a stretcher, as well as cast and a few pins later on. You’ll all be glad to know that Sarah is now back on skates and getting back into the swing of things.

After that we decided to be more cautious and started running on our top stops until we felt like we were going to fall over, or in my case did!  All was going well until we started racing and Cherry Blitz fell, hit her head and as she did her helmet rolled away……..Scary! I forgot all about the race aspect and stopped asking if she was ok, fortunately she was, but oh my word, phew.   At this point we had a few pointers about helmet sizing which was great advice. Basically if you can tip your head upside down with the helmet on and it stays on it is the right size for you. That was advice we all certainly took on board. As if top stop running wasn’t scary enough, we then started to jump the apex. Not being a natural jumper and having just had a cast off my wrist I sat out of this, but it looked great fun and it was brilliant to see everyone gaining confidence the more they did it.

Lunch came and went rather swiftly, just giving us time to fuel up for the scrim. Armed with our black or white tops, we were divided up and got straight into it. It was awesome. The points were racking up for both teams with some great  play from everyone, even Rolling Thunder himself sneaked a couple of jams in, much to Danny’s delight as he got to jam against his Merby crush, there was much love of the track at that point. Whippety Split gave Mr Thunder a run for his money, blocking him when she could, determined not to let him pass, was great to see.   Unfortunately I can’t remember the score as it was over so quickly, all I know is it was a great day and not only was there huge amounts of derby love pouring into the room but also a huge amount of information spilling out of our full heads