Clash of the Gladiskaters – Saturday 3rd July
So - ever keen to oogle as much roller derby as we can, the Harlots went to Bedford last weekend for some bouty goodness!
We arrived pretty early to offer our services to Bedford Rebellion to help them set up the bout – which was a real eye opener. We only helped move chairs around, and swept floors, but it was ragingly apparent that a hell of a lot of effort goes to holding these events and making them enjoyable for everyone. Having been nothing more than a spectator on previous occasions, the host teams tend to make it all look easy!
First impressions were that the hall was a bit small – but with a few track adjustments and the stalls in the corridor, everything squeezed in nicely. The suicide seating really was suicidal, as it was butted directly up to the track, but it made the action all the more exciting for it.
Three of us had volunteered to NSO on the day to get some experience and we were all massively nervous. I was also slightly worried about missing some action because I was concentrating, but soon found that it was quite the opposite. Doing the jammer stats for the first bout meant keeping my eyes on the game at all times.
First up we had a B team, Black Vs White bout featuring a mix of Rebellion, Dolly Rockit Rollers, Lincolnshire Bombers, Liverpool Roller Girls, Romsey Town Roller Billies and Severn Roller Torrent. I was really excited to see this bout as many of the girls were bout virgins and I wanted to see how our girls measured up. The teams were well matched and the only thing that made it a bit more obvious they were rookies, was the higher fall/injury rate. It was a very closely fought and really exciting bout, with the score finishing at 107 to 149 to team white.
The second bout was also mixed teams (Spartans Vs Argonauts) , but this time an A team bout featuring everyone’s best skaters. The experience of the girls really showed in the tactics, and on many occasion the refs and teams had to call time-outs to discuss decisions and strategies. Again a really close, well-fought bout with the score ending up as 79 – 88 to the Argonauts.
Over all, the day was fantastic, Rebellion faced a lot of difficulties but despite everything pulled off an amazing event.
Catching up with everyone at the after party, and then training with Rebellion on the day after, really rounded up the weekend. Big thanks to Bedford Rebellion Roller Girls for letting us be there and be part of it!
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