August -October

Time for a little catch up on the happenings of the Blitz Dames as the season gets underway.

August started with the Goodwood Roller Marathon and raising vast sums for Zoe's Place and earning lots of blisters.

L-R Kiki, Attack, Suzette, Lornatik, Fyta, Margo and Vortex.

The August Bank Holiday saw us hosting our inaugural Dames Awards Ceremony. With Hollywood glamour, in the sparkle of the camera's flash, we got together at our sponsor Subside bar to celebrate the strengths of the last season and look forward to the next.

Awards included: Most Valued Player and Highest Scoring Jammer for Violet Attack, Penalty Box Queen and Best Overall Hitter for the much missed Union Jack-U-Up. Bitchy The Killer as Best Rookie, Kylie Volatile as Most Improved and the inevitable Smelliest Pads going to Saintly Sin.

It was another fab Blitz Dames event, with much consumption of our Blitz Bomber cocktails and many people releasing their inner diva on the karaoke stage. Big thanks to the fabulous Voodoo Kings who rockabillied our night away!

Then in September our Saintly Sin and Kylie Volatile skated with Severn Roller Torrent's Quad Squad in the Middlesborough Milk Rollers' Northern Exposure event in Darlington. It wasn't easy, with Leeds Roller Dolls bouting so well, and Quad Squad comprising members from several teams who hadn't skated together before, but as always, our girls went out there to do their best and have a good time. Mission achieved! Great to see MMR and CCR on the track too!

And ending October we found ourselves invited by pop artist Jann Haworth to the private view of her new exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery. Ms Haworth is the mother of England's Glory, jammer for Utah team Leave It To Cleavers, and roller derby has inspired some of her work. We had a fabulous chat about derby with her, and a great time exploring her soft sculpture. A big Blitz Thumbs Up to a very interesting exhibition: Go see it!

L-R: Attack, Elle, Lornatik, Jann Haworth, Maddie Hit-her, Mimey, Vortex and half a Sprite.

The end of October also see the launch of the Birmingham Contemporary Art Forum's The Event, our Rip Lashes' baby, bringing together many artists in unexpected exhibition spaces around the city. Should be good!

Looking to the future we mustn't forget our next away bout on the 21st of November. Click HERE to get your tickets for The Fightmare Before Christmas against London Rockin Rollers. Whooop!

A Good Time To Be A Dame

It's been a tough, but enjoyable year so far, and now the Blitz Dames have something like a breather approaching.

We spent January in Stuttgart, then rolled off to Glasgow in February, followed by hosting Middlesborough and Leeds in March and April, and we're skating in NO bouts during May! One bout a month has been a punishing schedule for us, as the injuries have shown; but if this is how they play in the United States, and hey those wimpy footballers can face each other twice a WEEK, then this is what we need to aim for.

We certainly aren't complaining. Every bout has tested and challenged us. With the fierce competitiveness and commitment to the sport shown by every woman we've met on the track, there is never going to be an 'easy' bout. And with roller derby still being such a new sport in this country we still have lots of mistakes to make in order to learn not to make them again. No Blitz Dame is EVER going to take her helmet panty off while serving time in the penalty box, after Sleazy Rider's educational incident during Dollhouse Devastation.

But this learning through bouting is one of the aspects that makes involvement in derby so fulfilling. We are doing it for ourselves and finding out HOW to do it as we go. Hard work? oh yes. Scary at times? certainly. Exhausting? enormously. But worth it? a million times yes.

June promises to be a massively educational month for us. Early on we're away in London to try to regain a little pride against the London Roller girls in our rematch. Capital Punishment was a bout that certainly lived up to its name, as we were conclusively and resolutely shown who had the superior skaters. Was it a 200 point lead? Woah! We've been involved in several bouts since then, and our tactical understanding and stamina is always improving; we're in a much stronger position than back in October 2008, so it's looking positive. But then again we've seen how skilled, hard and fast those LRG girls are. We'll be in it to win it, (how could we NOT?), but having fun, learning from LRG and taking another step towards broadening the foundation of British roller derby will be our priorities.

Later in June, (that's the same month!!!! Two bouts in one month!!!! *faints*) we will be hosting Auld Reekie. Now we've been lucky enough to spend time on the track with a number of ARRG's girls who guest skated for LRD and MMR, so we're prepared to be scared there too. They're looking good as individuals: what terror will they unleash when there's a whole team of them? It'll be hard work, it'll be punishing, but it'll totally be worth it.

Quite apart from the bouting we've got an exciting roller-schedule. This weekend we're super excited about going down to London for TWO BOUTS IN ONE DAY *cheers* as the LRG teams battle each other in their Grand Slam event. It'll be so lovely, if a little unusual, to be able to just enjoy the derby without having a million and one other things to worry about and do. (Although personally I'm a little torn. I made my LRG team allegiance during Clockwork Carnage, and want to cheer for the Ultraviolent Femmes, but they're up against Barock City, who were so supportive of BBDD when we travelled to Germany for the New Year's Massacre. Decisions, decisions. Can I cheer for everyone?)

During May we're looking forward to our night of entertaining the punters at our sponsor Subside with our event Cirque du Soul Pain. And then we're due to have some fun, skating and socialising with the London Rockin Rollers. July has the opportunity to celebrate the sport we love so much, and spread the word, at NASS fest and Roll Britannia.

Isn't it funny how roller derby takes over everything once you get involved! Love it! <3 <3 <3

ADDENDUM

And how could I forget to mention that we're skating with The Fox during Brum's Pride???? The theme is pink and green. I'm hoping this means the pink of roller bruises allied with the green of BB*DD's khakis!

Smack Attack

As the bout with Leeds is almost upon us, tickets still available here, at long last here is the write up from Smack Attack!

On the 21st of March 2009 the Middlesborough Milk Rollers rolled up to Cocks Moors Woods Leisure Centre, Birmingham, in the bright spring sunshine to take on Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames for Middlesborough's first public bout. Although there was a smaller crowd than most of BBDD's home bouts, largely due to the London based Glasgow Roller Girls/London Rockin Rollers' bout scheduled for the same day, there was a cracking atmosphere. MMR and visiting referees received a warm welcome and were fabulous guests.

The referees were:
Head Ref: Justine Credible (BB*DD)
Jam Ref: Cain Unstable (ARRG)
Jam Ref: Scrim Reaper (BBRG)
Pack Ref: Karl Lagerfilled (RCRG)
Pack Ref: Matt the Knife (LRD)
Pack Ref: Noise Pollution (MMR)
Pack Ref: Pink A Boo (MMR)
Announcers:
Blow Up Betty and Jack Off Licence
BB*DD Line Up Manager: The Skatrix
MMR Line Up Manager: Moody Fuse

MMR Skaters:
Captain: Rita Von Sleaze #7
Co-Captain: Germaine Leer #27
Oompah Thump-Ya #410
Darcey Hustle #28
Fraulein Wunder #6
Smokin Ace #23
Eve O Lution #666
Inky Minx #81 (BBRG Guest Skater)
Tartan Tearaway #509 (ARRG Guest Skater)
Track Widow #8 Ball (BBRG Guest Skater)
Armalite Angie #30-30-150 (ARRG Guest Skater)
Ciderella #-3C (ARRG Guest Skater)
Hurricane Hayles #74mph (ARRG Guest Skater)

BB*DD Skaters:
Captain: Violet Attack # 16
Co-Captain: Union Jack-U-Up #333
Roisin Roulette #N17
Sleazy Rider #15
Hilda BlizzHard #52
Bee Sting #101
KiKi Kasplat #79
Saintly Sin #14U
Elle Fire #11
Victoria Cross #27
Gun Bunny #888
Diamondback Belle #77
Bitter Sweet #<3
Diabolus Rutilus #55
Alternate:
Talula Trash #86

Period One:
Jam One. Gun Bunny gets lead jammer, Inky Minx gets to check out the penalty box. BB*DD 4 - MMR O
Jam Two. Inky Minx comes out of the penalty box to gain lead jammer status before KiKi Kasplat can get through, despite a lovely whip offered to the Birmingham jammer by Victoria Cross. BB*DD 15 - MMR 6
Jam Three. Sleazy Rider beats Oompah Thump-Ya to lead jammer. BB*DD 18 - MMR 7
Jam Four. A great jam for Violet Attack, the only jammer to pass through the pack. BB*DD 27 - MMR 7
Jam Five. Hilda Blizzhard is beaten to lead jammer by Fraulein Wunder. BB*DD 30 - MMR 1O
Jam Six. Neither Oompah Thump-Ya nor Gun Bunny make it through without penalties, and Bunny is sent to the penalty box. BB*DD 36 - MMR 18
Jam Seven. Gun Bunny starts in the box, Ciderella ends up in it. BB*DD 39 - MMR 18
Jam Eight. Attack’s second turn as jammer. BB*DD 48 - MMR 18
Jam Nine. Blizzhard vs. Thump-Ya. BB*DD 54 - MMR 22
Jam Ten. Gun Bunny beats Inky Minx to lead jammer, Union Jack-U-Up offers Violet a whip and there is cold, ruthless blocking from Roisin. BB*DD 57 - MMR 22
Jam Eleven. Ciderella beats KiKi Kasplat to lead jammer. BB*DD 60 - MMR 41
Jam Twelve. Sleazy Rider takes lead jammer ahead of Germaine Leer, who ends up in the penalty box. BB*DD 63 - MMR 41
Jam Thirteen. Germaine Leer remains the MMR jammer from the box and rejoins Violet Attack on the track, but neither make it to lead jammer. BB*DD 72 - MMR 41
Jam Fourteen. Hilda Blizzhard is lead jammer, Oompah Thump-Ya is held back. BB*DD 77 - MMR 41
Jam Fifteen. Gun Bunny gets lead jammer, and this time the pack prevents Germaine Leer from getting through. BB*DD 83 - MMR 41
Jam Sixteen. Union Jack-U-Up gets through first to get three points as lead jammer, but Rita Von Sleaze gets four. Half time score: BB*DD 86 - MMR 45



Period Two
Jam One. Gun Bunny is the first lead jammer of the second period. Oompa Thump Ya comes crashing off the track, through a table and into Noise Pollution. BB*DD 92 - MMR 45
Jam Two. KiKi Kasplat skates furiously focused but Inky Minx slips through. BlizzHard gets majored. BB*DD 95 - MMR 48
Jam Three. Fraulein Wunder slides through the pack and into lead jammer, but Sleazy Rider’s right on her tail. BB*DD 99 - MMR 51
Jam Four. Hilda BlizzHard is still in the penalty box. The pack is loose and no one is awarded lead jammer status. An excellent jam for Violet Attack who gains 19 legal passes. BB*DD 118 - MMR 51
Jam Five. Jammer Hilda BlizzHard and Roisin Roulette are sent off. Ciderella takes lead jammer and five points. BB*DD 118 - MMR 56
Jam Six. Violet Attack seems to be holding off the MMR insurgence single handed, or solo behinded, as she positions herself in front of everyone. Blizzhard gets six points on her return. BB*DD 124 - MMR 57
Jam Seven. Sees a pile up and OSMS rushing on to ensure everyone’s in one piece. Smokin Ace goes down with a dislocated shoulder and everyone drops to one knee hoping her injuries aren’t serious. Roisin’s tenure as lead jammer is short lived. BB*DD 125 - MMR 57
Jam Eight. Gun Bunny is knocked flying and Kiki is sent off. BB*DD 136 - MMR 59
Jam Nine. Fraulein Wunder makes hearty attempts to keep up, but Hilda BlizzHard is just too fast, determined and powerful. Diabolus Rutilus and Elle Fire show their skills as they glide effortlessly through the pack to be where they want to be. BB*DD 138 - MMR 61
Jam Ten. Hilda BlizzHard jolts through the pack like a pinball, taking lead jammer as the pack prevents Fraulein Wunder’s progress. And with twelve and a half minutes to go, the score is BB*DD 146 - MMR 61
Jam Eleven. A great jam for lead jammer KiKi Kasplat who slides through the pack, with Elle Fire attentively distracting the MMR pack, to pull Birmingham more than one hundred points ahead of Middlesborough. BB*DD 160 - MMR 61
Jam Twelve. Sleazy loses lead jammer to Armalite Angie. BB*DD 161- MMR 64
Jam Thirteen. Oompah Thump-Ya storms through the pack, beating Gun Bunny to lead jammer, but she is then sent to the box. Bitter Sweet and Bunny tangle up, and Bunny is later helped off the track by the medics. BB*DD 161 - MMR 72
Jam Fourteen. With Oompah Thump-Ya still in the box, Union Jack-U-Up storms into her finest moment. Again and again she whips round the track, slicing through the MMR pack like a hot knife slides through butter, racking up a whopping 26 points. Diabolus Rutilus shows her steel, absorbing a fierce blow from Germaine Leer. BB*DD 187 - MMR 72
Jam Fifteen. There can’t be much more now. Hilda BlizzHard waits for the second whistle with Fraulein Wunder again at her side, as Bee Sting‘s booty manipulates the pack. The Blitz Dames have clearly won the bout, but by how much, what have the Milk Rollers got to show in the final minutes? The Middlesborough jammer gets through first, showing the northerners’ spirit, it ain’t over yet, Birmingham! Middlesborough are still fighting. But BlizzHard is just too tough and scores seven to Wunder’s three. It’s BB*DD 194 - MMR 75
Jam Sixteen. With about half a minute left on the clock, the final ten on the track know this is it! Roisin Roulette and Ciderella are the last two skaters to jam. And though they must all be exhausted after an hour’s furious skating, the enthusiasm and determination remains undiminished. BB*DD 198 - MMR 78


We MMRemember, The Blitz Dames speak:

Roisin Roulette: “Bitter Sweet taking a hit, getting back up and catching the pack to try and knock Armalite Angie over (you have to admire her ambition! first bout and all .....) “

Victoria Cross: “Angie coming on to jam like a steam locomotive with everyone from both teams fighting to get out of her way!”

Roisin Roulette: “Diabolus Rutilus wanting to skate every jam…Kiki really making her mark as a jammer and also getting in some good hits”

Blow Up Betty: “Watching Roulette, Kasplat and Sleazy break up wall after wall with
fierce fearlessness had me in awe for the match.”

The Skatrix: “Diabolus made a fearsome blocker 4!”

Roisin Roulette: “Blizzhard, Sin and Elle Fire clearing the MMR blockers off the inside line towards the front of the pack, Diamondback and VC and Bee in the thick of it, UJ and Sleazy all over the track, hitting at the back and then
getting in front of the MMR jammer when she thought she was through; it was
a lovely bout to jam in.”

Blow Up Betty: “Their little jammers Ooompa Thumpa and Ciderella both did a great job at getting up again and again after getting trampled by the dames defence.”

Roisin Roulette: “U-J's look of baffled innocence when Germaine Leer said she'd elbowed her in the face (like how would she reach that high anyway?)”

Saintly Sin: “There we are, standing around, the air around us electrified and Skatrix tells us to get on the bench and the positions we are to play. “Kiki-pivot, Diamondback-2, Sin-3,UJ(?)-4, Roisin-jamming.” We park our backsides on the bench, quivering in excitement and Kiki turns to me “Wow, I’ve never been in the last jam before” It dawns on me then, oh my, this is it, this is gonna be the last jam, this is just the glory jam, we won it already, this will be fun.
Elle Fire turns to everyone and says “It is, it’s the last one, this is it. Shall we just batter them? Let’s just destroy them. Free for all dames, knock them down”. We all agree, we are just gonna have some fun with this and just do as much bashing as possible.
The whistle blows. Skatrix tells us to get on the track. We skate on, focused, and ready for some fun. We line up, a milk roller stands next to me and smiles, I grin back, she knows what’s coming. The pack whistle is blown, we start to skate, we’re partway round the track and I see white, blue and pink roll up next to me, is she a jammer? A pivot? A blocker? Quite frankly I don’t care, she is a Milk Roller and for now, she is the opposition so BANG and she is on the floor, oh yes, she is down, I make a fist for a personal little celebration of my take down and across he PA I hear Jack “Saintly Sin is celebrating her take down” thanks Jack.
As the Milk Rollers went down, our Roisin just slipped through the pack with ease, that’s our Roisin, jammer extraordinaire. Time ends and the final whistle blows with Roisin managing to bring the score to an amazing 198 to the Dames. We have done it, Middleborough Milk Rollers 78, Blitz Dames 198. It’s time for the victory lap, so many high fives, so many smiling faces from both the crowd and the amazing Middleborough girls. What a fantastic bunch and what a pleasure to skate with.
Party time, and even before my skates are off, a pina colada appears in my hand*…"

Roisin Roulette: “Bee scaring the MMR girls, UJ knocking 'em down, Blizzhard a quick and strong pivot and tireless jammer, Attack getting sent off at the start,
then getting into her groove and cutting through the pack with her usual incisive skating but taking responsibility as captain to pivot and let the new jammers have a go.”


The Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames loved hosting the Middlesborough Milk Rollers and can’t wait for the rematch!




*although, of course, Ms Saintly Sin didn’t DRINK it until she had removed her skates. Blitzdames follow the rules TO THE LETTER!

SMACK ATTACK: Blitz Dames vs Middlesbrough (home match)

QUADrophenia Blitz Dames v GRG - the rematch!

BBDD have just returned from Glasgow where we participated in a hard, fast, furious bout against the formiddable Glasgow Roller Girls. Last year before I even started playing derby I watched BBDD v GRG in Birmingham, and it was this bout that got me hooked, so I was absolutely delighted to be involved in the rematch.

BBDD won by 83-80 yesterday, but Glasgow didn't make it easy for us. First one team was in the lead, then the other, then the first team took it back...and so on all night right up to the last jam! Jammers were sent off, injuries were sustained (get better soon Switchblade Sarah and Jaci Dodger), girls went flying all over the place... From a referee's point of view, this match was fantastic. And I'm reliably informed by the audience that it was exciting and fun to watch as well.

So, a big thank you to Glasgow for putting us on, and a big thank you to all the Blitz Dame fans for reading :) An extra special thanks to our two dedicated supporters who flew all the way up to Glasgow to watch us - you guys rock!

And as they say, there's no rest for the wicked - we're gearing up for our next bout already, on 21st March against the Middlesbrough Milk Rollers.

Until next time - take care
JCx

Viva Las Vegas! Report from the Road from Violet Attack

This was the final team line up, so there were 4 UK teams that made up Team UK (Corr Blimeys), Blitz Dames, London Rollergirls, London Rockin' Rollers and Middlersborugh Milk Rollers.

The Roster:

Sleazy Rider - BBDD

Tear E Hatchett -BBDD

Violet Attack - BBDD

Bette Noir (captain) - LRG

Kitty DeCapitate - LRG

Sky Rockit - LRG

Jack Attack - LRR

Speed Pixie - LRR

Von Bitch - LRR

Germaine Leer - MMR

Rita Von Sleaze - MMR

Miss Sinnocent - LRR

Slice Andice - LRG

Spooky Von Strange - LRG

Team Australia (Farkin Elles) was made of of 3 leagues from Brisbane (Sun State Roller Girls), Adelaide (Adelaide Roller Derby) and Victoria (Victorian Roller Derby League).

We played on Friday afternoon at the Las Vegas Roller Hockey Centre (http://www.lasvegasrollerhockey.com), after being moved from our oringinal location of Flamingo Banks on the Thursday night (which was good cos I had a stinking hangover on Thursday morning!).

None of the UK girls had skated on a surface like that before, which were weird tiles that were quite slippy, apparently that's what they called 'sports court' over there.

First jam went to Sky Rocket (LRG) against Evil Doll. Team Oz took an early lead by a few points.

Second jam went to Violet Attack. There was no lead jammer. I got through the pack first and when I came back round again I got a great whip assist from our pivot Bette Noir (LRG) to take Team UK ahead. I also lapped the Oz jammer.

Forth jam I was up again, this time getting lead jammer. I was able to cut through the pack with ease and call off the jam before the Ozzies got any points! At the end of this jam score was Oz 10, UK 15.

Seventh jam was Tear E Hatchet. It started off great with Tear E getting lead jammer, but as two UK blockers were sent to the penalty box Team Oz's defence was able to strengthen and their jammer was able to pass her taking them to a slight lead. Unable to get through the pack

Tear E called off the jam.

After this the UK tightened up their game. Even though though Team Oz got lead jammer a few times the speed and agilty of UK jammers Kitty DeCapitate (LRG) and Jack Attack (LRR) meant they were able to sneak past the Ozzie jammers, racking up extra points before they even had a chance to call it off.

The last jam of the game went to Violet Attack. After going crashing to the floor early in the jam (I some how landed on my ribs, and it bloody hurt!) I got up and skated through the pain just as the jammer for Team Oz was being sent to the penalty box. Just after I got through the pack the first time a Team Oz blocker was sent off for tripping me! I again rose to my feet and gave it all I could to get those last few points for Team UK.

FINAL SCORE = TEAM OZ, 28 - TEAM UK, 43

Here's some other info/highlights of our RollerCon:
Me and Sleazy being upgraded to business class on our flight out there.
Me being scared shitless of taking off any little bit of turbulance we had and Sleazy having to hold my hand!

My ears popping so badly that I could barely hear anything and sleazy not being able to hear anything I said cos I was mumbling (It seems with your ears blocked you sound alot louder in your head than you actually are)!

Leaving Las Vegas airport for the first time and being blasted by the 45 degree heat, we ain't exactly used to that in England!

Me and Sleazy being stopped in the lobby of the hotel by the Chicago Outfit cos they recognised my picture of our Myspaz!

Everyone loving the Violet Attack badges!!!

The amazing abilty Tear E Hatchet has of aquiring the biggest bruises in the world!

After partying the night away with LRR I was so ill I ended up spending half the night on our bathroom floor and had a stinking hangover the next morning!

My amazment at the fact that in Vegas you get chips with your breakfast! (WTF, no wonder they're all fat!)

Me bemoaning to Sleazy that I hate the whole American tipping culture (why the fuck should I tip someone for just doing their job?!)!

Me arguing with Sleazy that planes AREN'T the safest form off transport...

While taking part in the co-ed scrimmages I took out one of the male jammers, Quadzilla!!! (Although I got sent off for it, think I ended up blocking him out bounds!)

All four of us being totally bemused by the extremeness of US TV (apparently just using a mobile could kill you, judges advertise themselve on TV, if you go to a snazzy private hospital you will no longer have terminal cancer!!! and everything is, like TOTALLY amazing!)

Me complaining to Sleazy that she went to bed too early cos I wanted to go out and party (I mean, all three of them were normally in bed by midnight for God's sake, in Vegas!!! So I went off to explore at 1am by myself!)

The 'Dealetainers' at the hotel. How do you fancy Elvis, Tina Turner, Billy Idol or Freddy Mercury dealing you in in a game of poker?! Then, they performed (mimed) in the evening. The rollergirls definately showing Freddy the most love.

Me being pissed that all the UK girls left the black and blue ball early so i had no one to stay with and had to leave too, when my outfit was totally rockin!

Me being the ONLY skater from the UK to take part in the 3 hour Team Awesome workshop on Saturday afternoon (cos the rest of them pussied out!) and being so knackered that I slept through the entire second half of the WFTDA bout that happened after it!

Me being personally fitted for skates by the guys from Riedell! After trying the Black Widow's I was asked by them to try on their brand new boot, the 965. As soon as I put them on I was sold. But have to wait til October for my bright red Minx skates (http://sincityskates.com/2nd/minx.html) as they haven't been put into production yet cos they're waiting for the BRAND NEW plates I ordered them with to be made! (They're the first plates to be made specifically to go either on the right or left boot) Think I'll be the first skater in the UK to have a pair!

Me being asked to be on someone challenge team next year!

Me being pissed that Sin City didn't have my size in the wrist guards I wanted and that the WFTDA stall sold out of the 'Some girls are built for speed vests', but happy that I got to use the money to buy my leather Converse!

Mine and Sleazy's plane to Chicago being delayed because of storms in chicago, missing our connecting flight and having to spend 15 hours in Chicago airport without them even giving us so much as a bottle of water! Luckily, Sleazy had a bit of cash and bought us McDonalds! We ended up getting back to England a day late AND our luggage wasn't even on our flight, mine was delivered the next day!!!

ATTACK