Liverpool Roller Birds – 5th Birthday Bout and Bash!

We had an amazing fifth birthday celebration (you may be able to tell by the fact that we’re STILL recovering!).  The order of events began with a double header at home against Bristol’s A and B teams.  

Our bout poster was epic!

November 8th saw our B-team lacing up first for an epic battle against Bristol’s B-team.  Our Chicks were the underdogs in this fight, but you would not have guessed it when we came out fighting! The Scoreline stayed close throughout the first half, with several lead changes.  The Chicks were fighting, but so were Bristol! Bristol was able to capitalise on some amazing power jams and came away with the win, but they had to work very hard for it!

Party Hats! Unicorns! 😀

LRB’s blockers create a gap for the amazing Button Doom, while containing Bristol’s jammer.

Bristol’s jammer finds a way through.

After the bout is done, we all share the love.

Next on the agenda was Liverpool A versus Bristol A.  Again, Liverpool came in as the underdogs.  Longtime Roller Birds fans know that means we get a it more pumped and try even harder.  Our A team came out with the hard hits and the nippy jams, and again the scoreline was close at first.  The second half saw Bristol widen the score line and eventually pick up the win.

Scrappy KillaMandjaro takes them out with her.

Horror Pop does a bit of side-surfing to force out Bristol’s jammer.

Bristol A came away with the win, but we all come away as friends.

Final scores were:

LRB B-team 164 – BRD Bees 229

LRB A-team 196 – BRD Harbour Harlots 354

Photography courtesy of Joe Ehlen Photography.

Home Double Header: Summary of LRB (B) vs. Wakey Wheeled Cats and LRB (A) vs. Tiger Bay Brawlers (B)

Saturday, September 20th was an exciting day in Liverpool and our teams had been training hard.  The month of August had been taken off from bouting and travel scrimmages so that we could focus on training.  As our fans discovered during our double header bout, the training certainly paid off and we couldn’t be more chuffed!

The first bout (we just can’t get used to calling them “games” just yet!) of the day was Liverpool Roller Birds (B) vs. Wakey Wheeled Cats.  LRB (B) came into this game as the underdogs; lower in rankings and predicted to lose by approximately a ratio of 3:2, we had high hopes that our strategy and hard work would pay off.

Skating out, all nerves and excitement!

Wakey also came prepared, though, and they were fighting the whole while.  No matter how much we battered each other, we never stopped smiling and enjoying every second.

It’s a Ruckus sandwich!

These are the best kinds of bouts, where everyone’s having a blast and improving their game.  We absolutely loved hosting the Wakey Wheeled Cats and would love to play them again.

Final score: LRB (B) 308 – Wakey 92

Post-bout togetherness!

Liverpool Roller Birds  (A) vs. Tiger Bay Brawlers (B)

We hadn’t really come down from the high of the first bout but it was time to cheer on the big Birds as they took on the Tiger Bay Brawlers.  Predicted to be a very close bout, again the focus and training we’d done in preparation over the last few months was intense.  This bout was a blinder from the first whistle.

Nobody knocks Daria Dynamite into the corner! Nobody!

The hits were hard, and the jams were fast – so fast that they’d barely begun before being called off.  There were many jams where it was 4-points and a whistle – even some that were 1-point and a whistle.

We can say this about Tiger Bay – Brawlers is the right name for them! They hit hard, and fast, and they skate fast, and overall are just a joy to watch on skates.

Tinkerhell is too. A joy to watch on skates. Or off skates. Or anywhere, actually. Yay, Tinky!

In the end, Tiger Bay took the win, but they’ll never take…OUR FREEDOM! (Sorry, wrong movie.  I got distracted by Tinky’s pants).

Final score: LIverpool 170 – Tiger Bay 191

Happy post bout faces.

*Photos courtesy of Joe Ehlen Photography and Peter Harris.

Bout summary! Liverpool B vs. Wirral and Liverpool A vs. London Batter C Power!

It always seems to take us a good few days to come down from the high of a home double-header: shake off the hours of sleep we lost to the after party, stretch the battered and bruised muscles, focus the brain on something other than roller derby (never an easy transition!).  We promised our fans a weekend filled with roller derby excitement, and we definitely delivered on that promise!

The first bout of the day saw the Liverpool Roller Birds (B) go up against Wirral Whipiteres Savage Lilies (A).  This was predicted to be a tough battle against our closest neighbours/frenemies and it didn’t disappoint!  Serious derby action took place, with big hits, big blocks and sneaky jamming.  The Whips are an incredible team and their training and skills showed on Saturday, leaving them with a decisive win at the end.

Fan favourite: Staple Gunner from Wirral Whipiteres.

 

Effective use of team mates can contain the opposing team’s jammer!

Just because we’re about to hit each other doesn’t mean it can’t be fun!

 

Love across the Mersey.

 

Final Score:  WWRD 263, LRB B 76

 

 

Liverpool Roller Birds (A) were filled with nervous excitement at the chance to play against London Roller Girls Batter C Power.  It’s always exciting to have a London team in the house and testing our mettle against them may be the highlight of this season. Even watching the warm up, with their well-coached and well-drilled skills on display was exciting; but we also realised our team’s skill and determination was up to the task! One of the most frequently heard comments at the after party was that the bout between Liverpool A and London C was one of the most exciting bouts to be watched or played in, depending on the speaker, and describing the mood in the hall that afternoon might be a task beyond us!

London pulled out the win, but with only a 17-point differential, the Birds certainly made them work for it!

 

Crowd favourite Lady MacDeath

 

A bit of offense by Metal Alchemist.

 

Containing the jammer

 

Derby Love!

 

Final Score:  LRG 146, LRB A team 129

 

We want to thank both teams for the amazing day and the derby lessons we’ve learned.  Can’t wait for mutual battering to come!

 

 

All photos courtesy of Joe Ehlen Photography

Skate of the Dead – A Double Win!

We’re still coming down from the high of our last bout of the season.  Bout recovery always takes us a few days, because bouts are the best, don’tcha know! Still, this one took us an extra long time to get over our bout hangover, because it was an amazing day, and for the first time since we can remember we did a DOUBLE WIN.  That’s right, Liverpool Roller Birds B-Team, the Chicks, won their bout.  Then, the A-Team (Birds) went on to handily win their match as well.  It was an amazing day, beyond our wildest imaginings, and we are really happy and thankful we got to spend it with two other amazing teams, our opponents!

But wait, I get ahead of myself.  Let’s backtrack to the beginning of the day.  LRB Chicks were skating against some of their favorite bashy opponents, The Sheffield Steel Rollergirls B-Team, The Crucibelles.  This bout was fantastic to watch, as the score was close nearly the entire match, with Sheffield always managing to keep just ahead of the Chicks.  In the last ten minutes of the bout, there was some amazing jamming by the Chicks’ own Kitty Von Vixen, who was protected by impenetrable V-walls. Then, a monumental power jam by Wiki Speedia brought the Chicks the win in the end.  This was seriously edge of your seat bouting, people, and if you didn’t get to witness it yourselves, you should feel very sad.  Well, we would! A supremely talented fan and photographer, Ian Woodward, caught some fantastic shots of the B-team bout.  Check ’em out!

Final score:

Those are some happy Chicks!

Then the LRB A-Team took the track against Plymouth City Roller Girls.  This was predicted to be a tough match, and the Birds definitely had to fight for those points! Some of our favorite Birds were just on fire for this match and it showed in the score.  PCRG found themselves stuck behind the Birds’ super tight walls, and the Birds’ sneaky jammers kept slipping through.  The hits were hard on both sides, and the toughness of each team was showing.  Photographer and fan Paul Delooze got some amazing shots of this match, which you can find here.   The resulting madness was this:

You can imagine the shouts of joy and mayhem running through that hall, can’t you?

As both our teams did better than expected, both also moved up in rankings, four ranks each.

B Team rankings
A Team rankings

We couldn’t be more pleased to have ended the season on a high note, and can’t wait to share what’s in store for us next season!

LRB Chicks take on North Cheshire Victory Rollers – live roller derby!

Meet some of the Chicks: (l-r) Boa d’Slayer, Rood Runner, Jo Bee Wan, Very Cherry Deathrow, Lula Bruise, Rock Feather Boa and Danger Scouse.

I’m really excited about our next bout – against North Cheshire Victory Rollers Air Raid Sirens – as it’s a chance for our recently formed Chicks (B team) to really show what we’re made of now we’re in the 2nd half of the season.

We’ve had a win and some tough losses this season, but either way we’ve learned a lot and really tried to build on our skills and attitude after every bout.

Sometimes it’s easy to get intimidated by another team, so it’s key to make sure your spirits are up and you’re feeling positive. Other times it’s honing certain skills or strategy to make sure you’re all thinking as a team. I think we’ve done this now and we’re like a little family; we’re tough but we’re all supportive and look out for each other – it may sound trite but it’s true!

We’ve had some great guest coaches too, including Ginny Flynn from Sheffield Steel Roller Girls who was a founding member of Liverpool Roller Birds – we got lots of top tips from her, especially on blocking.

So this is bound to be a fun bout as we have a great roster and a Super Mario Brothers theme! Check out our awesome bout poster below featuring the cheeky Becky Ruckus as Mario and the exotic Lydia Astray as Princess Peach!

Hope you’ll come along and support the Chicks and you’ll also be able to see a mixed bout of advanced skaters from across the North, including our Birds, Manchester Roller Derby, Wakey Wheeled Cats and Wirral Whipiteres Roller Derby.

Lula Bruise x

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bout info:

Super Mario Blockers

LRB Chicks vs North Cheshire Victory Rollers Air Raid Sirens

Koopa Troopers vs Power Stars (A team mixed bout)

Saturday 17 August 2013

Greenbank Sports Academy, L17 1AG

Doors 1.30pm

More details on our Facebook event and buy tickets here.

 

Best boutfits of 2012 (and some fancy dress too!)

Well, it’s getting to the end of the year and what a great one it’s been for Liverpool Roller Birds. We’ve played lots of bouts, had several fundraisers and even had a trip to Copenhagen!

But amongst all that training, bouting and team work – what about the fab boutfits that we’ve seen on (and sometimes off) the track?

Here’s a run down of some of our favourite fancy pants of the year…

See you for more highs, lows and hot pants in 2013!

Liverpool Roller Birds
x

Corey Maim in some Union Jack hot pants for ‘The Great British Skate Off’. Photo by Sakura.

Cub La Khan in  colourful comic book tights. Photo by Sakura.

Grrrrrrrrrrr and her paws of doooom. Photo by Sakura.

Mint Collision (left) blocks her opponents with sparkly hot pants. Photo by Shirlaine Forrest.

Cee Lo Mean rocking some bat-tastic leggings. Photo by Darren Crompton

Gnarly Davidson embodies the ‘Malice in Wonderland’ bout theme! Photo by Sakura.

Nauti-Kill makes a statement with red hair, leopard print pads and GAY socks! Photo Shirlaine Forrest.

ROOD Runner goes for neon pink and sequins in Copenhagen. Photo by  Peter Troest.

Two of our lovely hatchlings, Natty and Nicky, get festive at the Liverpool Roller Birds Christmas party

Fun in Copenhagen for Liverpool Roller Birds!

So I couldn’t find my mittens! What a disaster. But it’s ok really. I was only mitten-less for a day as I bought some new mittens while I was there. Danish mittens! Hurray! Ok, they were from H&M like, but whatever. Anyway, stop talking about mittens, you, I have to tell you about what an AMAZING TIME WE HAD IN COPENHAGEN.

We arrived on the Friday evening, met at the airport by the wonderful Selina (aka Flash Lighting) from Copenhagen Roller Derby. She was bloody lovely and completely looked after us, guiding us effortlessly to the hostel and making sure we were right at the reception desk before we waved her off. Total legend. We then went out for a small explore and to find some food. All before an early night in preparation for bout daaaaaay.

Then, before we knew it, it WAS bout daaaaaay. I always get really really nervous before a game. But today was different, I think all the excitement had sort of outweighed the nervousness for me. As we made our way through town to our coach pick up, it became clear that roller derby is pretty big in this part of the world. We kept spotting bout posters up all over the place and this happened too:

Danish man to one of the birds: “What’s this you’re doing then?”

Danish lady to man before bird could reply: “Oh, the roller derby is happening today”

Brilliant.

Oh, and a woman waved at us from a restaurant like we were famous. It was fun.

When our coach reached the bout venue, a few of us nearly shit ourselves until we realised that we are ridiculous idiots and what we were looking at was a football stadium. Smooth. But saying that, the actual venue was still massive. Nothing like the sports halls we are used to. Proper massive. Like, THOUSANDS OF SEATS massive. I think that we were all a bit in shock. I was mainly running around going “look how big it iiiiiiiiiiiis”. The beautiful String Her Belle, known for her dislike of crowds, looked like she was going to jump off one of the balconies. (She didn’t though) The whole place was amazing. We even had a fruit table. I had a pear, just so you know.
Kitted up, I headed out to the hall to watch the first bout, our chicks taking on CRD’s Kick Ass Cuties. What a game! It really did nothing for anyone’s blood pressure. Behind at the end of the first half, our chicks managed to fight their way back, equalising at one point. It was so excitiiiiiiig. But the Kick Ass Cuties pulled it back in the end with a final score of  223 – 179. There was some awesome skating on the track. Everyone did fantastic and for two of our birds it was their first ever game – what a way to pop your cherry! In another country no less!

When the final whistle blew, the helmet went on and the butterflies in my belly appeared. All warmed up and off we went to get ready for our skate out. Which, by the way, we had to do from a tunnel. A frigging tunnel! Like what you see at the start of a football game where they’re all lined up next to the opposing team before they come out. It was great. I had the music from Gladiator in my head the whole time I was in there.

The game itself was tough. We knew it would be and it was. After a difficult first half, we altered our strategy in the break and did better in the second, scoring more points and working much better together defensively. The Rollin Heartbreakers are a great team, we gave a good fight and can take away a lot from the game in preparation for next season. With a final score of 294 – 92 it wasn’t what we’d hoped. We may not have won, but we sure had fun trying. The atmosphere in the venue was amazing, the crowd big and bold and the wonderful welcoming reception from all at CRD, all made this a bout I will never forget.

And then….Afterparty! Wow. All I will say is the Danes can definitely party! Oh, and they like taking their tops off too. An activity that *might* have rubbed off on one or two of the flock!

The next day, nursing hangovers, we still had some time to see some sights and take in the city. This involved the following:

• Lego. Just everywhere.
• Discovering there actually is a mermaid.
• A palace/castle  (Which I missed but I’m assured it was interesting)
• CHRISTMASWORLD (Tivoli)
• Hot chocolate rum
• More Lego.

From start to finish, the whole weekend was bloody fantastic. To finish, in the words of our very own Gnarly Davidson – “If Carlsberg did roller derby field trips….oh wait, it did”.

Yolanda B. Cruel

 

Birds fly to Copenhagen for final bout of the season

Yolanda B. Cruel (left) with Basha Bloodaxe

Well.

Basically, this is exciting. It’s really, really, really exciting.

I’ve been skating with Liverpool Roller Birds for just over a year and a half now and I can honestly say that joining this league has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I get to play an awesome sport with an amazing group of people. And now, well, now they’re taking me on holiday!

I bloody love holidays. Find them wherever I can. I had to go to Lytham St Annes once for work and I proper made a day of it with ice cream and arcade games because technically if you go to a place that isn’t the place you usually are, it’s 100% a holiday. So, yeah, you could say I’m pretty excited about this.

It’s going to be cold! We get to wear scarves and bobble hats! There’s a THEME PARK and it will be all Christmassy, which means mulled wine and some sort of traditional Danish cake I expect. I also hear there is an ice rink and a MERMAID. Brilliant.

So, the flights and accommodation have been booked, insurance bought, luggage sorted and in a week’s time we will be travelling to Copenhagen for our last bout of the season. On 24 November, our Birds (A) team will be up against Copenhagen Roller Derby’s Rollin’ Heartbreakers and our Chicks (B) team are mixing it up with some guest skaters to take on the Kick Ass Cuties.

I’ve been skating with the Birds team for the whole of this season and I know these women. I know what we are capable of. I know that we are going to give the Rollin’ Heartbreakers a run for their money. We have trained hard this season, we’ve had some tough games against some tough teams but we are climbing the rankings and day by day we are getting stronger, working better together and becoming more confident.

I know that when the time comes and we’re on the track on bout day I’ll be focussed, serious and ready to do the best I can for my team. But right now, I won’t lie, this is mainly what is going through my brain: WE GET TO GO AND PLAY SOME ROLLER DERBY IN ANOTHER COUNTRY THAT ISN’T OUR COUNTRY.

Because, let’s face it, how bloody fantastic is that, right?

*Applies mittens and revises strategy* See you on the other side!

Yolanda B. Cruel

(Photos by Sakura and Pete Sheffield)

                                                                                                                                                                                

Copenhagen Roller Derby v Liverpool Roller Birds, 24 November 2012 – Facebook event page