Limerick Roller Girls

A players-eye view of our first bout

The Dockyard Destroyers took on the Dublin Roller Girls Reserves as part of a double-header on Saturday February 4th. It was the first time for any of LKRG to take part in any kind of bout, and it was the first inter-league experience for Belfast Roller Derby. LKRG captain Jewel Suffer has kindly given us an insight into what a first bout feels like.

My alarm clock woke me at 7am last Saturday morning. I was delighted that I had actually slept because the anticipation had been building the previous evening. I had every intention of eating a healthy breakfast but as I took my first few bites I realised my mouth was dry from the nerves and I just gave up.    
Skatin’s Bride arrived to pick me up and we packed up the car and hit the road with a minor detour to pick up the

delightful Noémie. As we cruised along the road rocking out to an epic selection of cheesy 80’s power ballads the nerves turned to excitement. We could hardly contain ourselves. That is, of course, until we actually got there. Then it all came flooding back. I knew that the only thing that would make the nervousness go away was to hear the first whistle.
In the Dockyard Destroyers changing room the atmosphere was electric. Belfast and Limerick girls mingled and shared jokes, helped do each others’ make up and offered words of support. We were all in high spirits to be surrounded by such an awesome bunch of girls. For all of us it was our first inter- league bout and I have to say from my own perspective I couldn’t have faced it with a better bunch of girls.
We skated out with happy faces, just glad to be able to be part of this fantastic event and took to the bench to await first whistle. Playing in front of an audience was nerve-wracking initially, but as soon as things got under way that melted away and we were totally preoccupied with the task in hand. The first few jams went really well and we were all a little bit shocked that we were managing to play so well. Then we hit tremendous penalty trouble and our inexperience started to show. Dublin took the lead and remained ahead for the rest of the bout. That’s not to say we didn’t fight hard and execute some nice play. There were moments where we played out of our skins and it even looked for a while that we might have been able to turn it around, particularly in the second half when we came out fighting. It was sublime to hear the roar of our supporters every time we got lead jammer or scored some points. They spurred us on so much. We realised in that moment that no matter how tired we were we couldn’t ease off cause we didn’t want to disappoint those loyally screaming supporters! But, alas, it wasn’t to be for the Dockyard Destroyers, and the final score was 168 - 79 to DRG.
When this was all over we got to sit back relax and watch the DRG Vs Belfast bout and see how the big girls do it! Both team showed off their tremendous derby skills but Dublin came out on top with an impressive score of 279 - 18. Then the awards were given out. I was incredibly shocked to be voted ‘Best Jammer’ for the Dockyard Destroyers. Skatin’s Bride was awarded ‘MVP’ and Sylvia Wrath from BRD was awarded ‘Best Blocker’. A proud day for all involved.
Oh, and as a final note we definitely won the after party!!!

Photo by: Chris Craig photography

Jewel Suffer