Dublin Roller Girls VS Cork City Firebirds
Dublin Roller Girls Reserves VS Limerick Roller Girls
First-time bouter Admiral Painway’s account of her first bout.
I won’t reminisce about how for the first two months I struggled to stay upright and to learn the rules, the many, many rules. Or, about how I became friends with the most amazingly diverse, brilliant people and how roller derby saved me from the depressive state of unemployment I have found myself in. Instead I’m going to tell you what it was like to play my first sports match, how I fell more in love with this sport, and how I cannot wait for our next match against the Dublin Roller Girls reserve team.
We were training pretty hard in the run up to our game, but the bout started for me about a week before the actual event. In the run up I gave up caffeine, replacing it with two litres of water a day in an attempt to make my body a derby blocking machine. While I didn’t feel much of a difference with my body, my mind was another matter. The caffeine deprivation was hard and my mind snapped the day of the bout. Apparently I was flitting between moods, being angry one minute, laughing hysterically the next and sometimes I was just downright silly. I would have done anything for a cup of tea or a glass of diet coke, but no, I had to wait until the match was over. So I gathered up my crazy and took it out onto the track, and guess what, it worked. Every Belfast jammer, blocker and pivot was keeping me from my addiction, and I had to stop them.
It is difficult to remember exactly how things went on track. At first I was confused because I got sent off for a major penalty and I didn’t know what I did. Apparently we were failing to reform the pack quick enough and I was the poor sucker closest to the ref who was getting called on it. I did get called on other penalties, and for the life of me I cannot remember what they were, all I knew was that I was in the box four times and that was not good. Three more majors and I would be expelled from the game like our player Shelbe Achin’ who had to remove her skates and leave the arena.
No one was more shocked than our team to find ourselves in the lead at half time. For a rookie team going up against what was mainly the Belfast A team this was a major achievement. We didn’t expect to win the game, we never expected to lead. Sure we lost the game in the second half, but that achievement alone is something to be proud of.
The one thing I do recall from the match, is bowling my teammate Slay Guevara, who I now refer to as my bowling ball. In the second half many of our blockers were sent to the bench meaning we only had about two blockers of our own on track. All we could do then was make life difficult for the Belfast jammer, and boy did we do that. At one point I predicted which path the Belfast Jammer would take from the first whistle, I looked to Slay Guevara and she knew what I was going to do, she nodded, accepting her fate as my bowling ball. As the jammer came up the outside I pushed Slay as hard as I could and to my surprise and everyone else’s, she hit a Belfast blocker who knocked their own jammer out of bounds. I think that was my proudest moment in the game, apart from seeing my Mom in the balcony watching me play my first sports game at 28 years of age.
I expected the game to be really hard, to struggle to keep up my endurance and recover from hits, but I found that didn’t happen. Maybe it was the super healthy state all that water gave me. When the bout was over I felt like I could play another one, despite the injury to my ankle in the last jam. I guess it was the adrenaline pumping about my system and the lack of caffeine making me hungry for more blood.
I came out of the bout with much more focus and determination to perform well at our upcoming Dublin match. I know there will be another week of hell when I cut off the caffeine supply, another morning where I will feel like I am losing my mind, and another match where I will be so happy to play with the best group of women I have ever had the privilege to meet. Win or lose against Dublin, I am just happy to be a Derby Girl, learning new things about myself every day and pushing myself to new levels of fitness and crazy. And I think this is why I love derby so much, it is an adventure, you never know what will happen next, but I know I am ready for the challenge.
Admiral Painway
Thanks to our man in the stands, Mark O’Beirne for this report of LKRG’s first bout.
Limerick Roller Girls (LKRG): 109 - Belfast Roller Derby (BRD): 200
The Limerick Roller Girls (LKRG) have reason to be proud of themselves and can hold their heads up high after their first public bout, but may feel that they left an upset victory behind them. The newly formed squad went head to head with Belfast Roller Derby (BRD) on April 14th and showed why they shouldn’t be underestimated.
From the very first jam no-one held back as hits went flying and bodies went tumbling. Both teams gave as good as they got and it was a thoroughly entertaining spectacle. The first half was a nip-tuck affair with no quarter given or asked for. Over the course of the first half, the lead changed hands several times with both sides taking full advantage of power jams whenever given the opportunity. At the break, LKRG led by 85 points to 77 in a closely contested game.
The start of the second half acted as an indicator for what would follow. Penalties were awarded left, right and centre although it would be understandable if some players felt hard done by certain decisions. Power jams became the order of the day and for a while it appeared as though every jam was a power jam. The girls from BRD were able to get their discipline in check first and picked up some vital points as a result.
Once BRD took the lead in the second half, they never looked back. To rub salt in the wound, LKRG skaters were left to rue a stream of penalties which left them outnumbered. With just two blockers left to defend the width of the track or help their jammer find space LKRG found it difficult to keep BRD at bay. BRD were clinical and took scoring opportunities when they presented themselves. In the end, the Belfast crew ran out 200-109 winners.
LKRG’s MVPs on the day were Skatan’s Bride (Best Blocker), Ash Bandicoot (Best Jammer) and Jewel Suffer (Overall MVP). LKRG’s next bout will be against the Dublin Roller Girls’ Reserves team in five weeks time.
BRD are a strong side, but LKRG showed that they were worthy competitors and surprised many on their first public appearance. An upset was on the cards, but even when the result was inevitable, the team never gave up and never surrendered. Once the discipline gets sorted, LKRG will be kicking ass and taking names in no time at all.
Mark O’Beirne mostly blogs over at Sabre0001
In advance our our next intake, we are inviting people to come and watch our training from 11am to 1pm on the 28th April and then have a go themselves from 1pm to 2pm. If you wish to attend then you wil need to email us to register. This is so we can try to have the correct gear available for you on the day. Cost €5 to cover cost of hall. Must be over 18.
For more information or to register contact: limerickrollerderby@gmail.com
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The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. But in roller derby, everybody wins when they play because everyone in roller derby are friends and they all like to hang out with each other.
Everyone is so proud of all their friends on their team and on the other teams that they are playing. That is what makes Roller Derby fun and that’s why I want to play it when I grow up.
” —This awesome description of roller derby comes from The Adventures of a Wondergirl, which is the blog of Caitlin, the daughter of LKRG’s ElitaOne. She wrote an excellent report of our first bout yesterday. Even though we have to wait a good few years before Caitlin joins her Momma on our roster, we are so glad to have her as a fan, and can’t wait til she starts playing derby with us!
More reports on LKRG’s first bout to come over the next few days!
Earlier this year LKRG’s Captain, Jewel Suffer, was interviewed as part of Kate on Skate’s “Stalking your Favourite Rollergirls” series. Check her out, the big legend!
We really should have told you about this one earlier :)
Limerick Roller Girls on twitter -
If you’re going miss the bout on Saturday but are just dying to find out what’s happening, keep an eye on the Limerick Roller Girls twitter account on bout day. The ever-so-useful Mean Seberg will be livetweeting the bout for the no-shows, no matter how over-excited she gets.
Of course, attending the bout will be the only way to get your hands on some awesome LKRG merchandise, so you’re definitely better off attending!
If you don’t do twitter, we’ll try to work out some technical jiggery-pokery to send updates to facebook too. We’re at www.facebook.com/limerickrollergirls if you’re not already our fans. (What do you mean you’re not fans, GET ON IT!)
Here’s the LKRG Roster for Saturday’s bout against the Belfast Banshees. We’re so grateful to Cork City Firebirds for releasing Bride of Chucky and to Dublin Roller Girls for releasing Cleoraptor to play with us.
Limerick Roller Girls first ever bout THIS SATURDAY!
The awesome poster is by Lisa Falzon of the Firebirds.
What is your derby name? Bootyful Disaster 
How long have you been playing roller derby? Since the club was started - April/May 2011
Where did you hear about derby? My sister showed me a flyer for the Limerick Roller Girls.. Since watching “Whip It” (I know, cringe!) I had been going on to her about how awesome and novel roller derby looked!!
What appeals to you about roller derby? Silly Question - You get to hit people! Kidding :) While that is part of it, derby is much more than launching a few shoves at scantily clad ladies skating round a track! The skill, agility and endurance that’s required is nothing to be scoffed at, it’s tough but still fun and always rewarding! Also, most derby teams, including our own, are made up of dynamic women from very varied backgrounds. I’ve met some of the nicest girls that I possibly never would have never crossed paths with if it hadn’t have been for roller derby!
Are there any derby players or other sports people who inspire you and why? I am in awe of people like Atomatrix… this woman is roller derby! Champion speed skater, turned derby player with her own wheel/skate manufacturing business; I mean she lives it every single day… hell I’m slightly jealous even!! I am very much inspired by all of the ladies that make it possible to even have a roller derby league in Limerick :D I also have great admiration for all of the people working hard to get the Irish roller derby scene up and running! It’s at a stage now that it’s really starting to gain momentum, very exciting times!
Do you do anything else besides roller derby? While training takes up a few days of the week, I still like to go out jogging with my doggie. I work in a lab, a very sedate environment compared to derby!!
What are your derby strengths? Ack! It’s still too early to say what position I’m good at/like best! Aiming to be a good all-rounder.. that’s nice and vague right?!
What do you hope to get out of roller derby? Arms like Suzy Hotrod!!! That would be a nice consequence, but I would love to be part of a competitive bouting team, as part of a steady league.
Why are Limerick Roller Girls so damn awesome? Because they are all bananas!! And lovely to boot!.. And even if we don’t win the bout we’ll make damn sure to do our very best to win the after party!