Tuesday, July 2, 2013

ECDX day 2 & 3

These weekends are always long and tiring, which is way I didn't get to blog when I wanted to, just because the weekend it self was too amazing (and exhausting...).
So therefore I need to recap now, now that I have the energy to do so. :)
But have to recap a weekend of amazingness, is not that easy. Cause where to start? I guess I could start by saying the a pool party combined with roller derby is a very good idea! It was really nice to be able to chill pool side. 


The Saturday and Sunday were both filled with a crazy amount of bouts. There were 50something bouts in 3 days, and seeing how there were 4 on Friday, that left 46+ bouts to be spread out over 2 days, 3 rinks.
I can honestly say that I never expected to say there is a thing as too much derby, but I guess in a way there was this weekend. The only "bad" thing about this much derby, was that it was impossible to see it all. 
Having to choose between one good bout or another is a very hard thing to do.
And then I had two moments where I had to choose between playing myself or watching a few of my favorite teams playing. I chose to play, like any derby girl would (I guess...). 
On Saturday I got to play for team drunks vs team stoners. A fun challenge bout, that was 30 mins long. 
The drunks took the win and it was fun to be a part of the team. It's so weird to play with other people, but so much fun!
The rest of the Saturday I got to enjoy some great games, like Auld Reekie vs Dominion and Montreal vs Charm. 
Auld Reekie you're so fine!


Montreal won 211 - 168

Also I had to make so signs of course, to show my love for these teams. :) 

The kind of derby we love to play and watch!


It was great to see all these amazing teams play live. I appreciate the Derby News Network and WFTDA tv bringing all these great teams into my little Dutch home. But sitting track side at a Gotham, Philly or Montreal bout (to just name a few...) is just a whole different experience. And I have to say I loved every minute of it.
What was extra cool, was that I actually got to see some people play live that I've met before. Like Georgia W. Tush from Montreal, who coached us in Amsterdam a few years back. And Teflon Donna (Philly & Team USA) who was a coach at derby revolution last year in Ghent. 
It was just great to watch them play and cheer them on. 

My sign for Philly vs Texas. Love both teams, so had to support them both. 


Sunday started with the best.breakfast.ever! As the first bout of the day was Glasgow vs Long Island. I mean oh boy oh boy! That was the most exciting bout of the weekend up until that point. A true nail biter. Definitely a fan of Lawless, Rogue and Mcmillen and all the Glasgow blockers too of course. 
TAPS AFF for Glasgow. :)
Still think Glasgow should have won...but I guess with a game that exciting both teams won!


That game definitely set the tone for the rest of the day. The Auld Reekie bout after that was super exciting too. Especially the first half, which was a half with a lot of lead changes. But the second half was dominated by Auld Reekie. 
Auld Reekie team huddle

I had to miss seeing Montreal play as I was playing myself, but I was lucky enough to watch the thrilling game between Philly and Windy City. 
At first it looked like Windy was going to take the win for sure. But it wasn't a sure thing at all, because Philly put up a great fight. And at ended up in a tie! With an overtime jam that had to decide the win. 
And Philly won with 1 point! It was crazy, everybody was screaming and it was amazing to be a part of the crowd at this bout. I thought the Glasgow bout was going to be the best of the weekend and then this bout happened. Just amazing. 
Tie at the final whistle


After that excitement I had to head over to rink 1, to skate myself. 
I was lucky enough to be part of team the World. Who took on Fishtown (a neighborhood in Philly), a team made up out of Philly players. 
It was pretty amazing to play in this team, as there were several players from team Canada in this team (like 8 mean wheeler & Jenna) and a couple of Auld Reekie girls (Legs and Cider) and a whole bunch of other rad ladies from all over. And not to forget we had the team Canada coach as our bench coach.
Honestly it was quite nerve wrecking to play with- and against people that I look up to. 
Pretty sure that those nerves effected my game play, but I did do my best. Even tried jamming, although that didn't go down that well due to a hit in the face that left me quite dizzy during the whole jam... I did keep going though and even scored some points. :)
It was fun to play. But I just really have some insecurity issues that get into my head when I'm surrounded by such high skill leveled (famous) players. Definitely need to get that out of my system at some point...
Oh and because of all the "reflecting" i almost forgot that team world won. :)


One of the things I wanted to do at ECDX was get in touch with a few "derby famous" teams and people to see if they could donate something for our Scrimmathon auction in September. As we will be raising money for the battle against sec trafficking, it seemed like a good idea to get some good auction items. 
The Gotham girls were nice enough to arrange something special for us and I met up with Slaydie at ECDX and she handed this one of a kind bag for the auction. 
I'm sure a lot of people will want to get their hands of this....




After all the excitement of Sunday's bouts the cherry on top was being able to watch Team USA vs Team Canada live from the suicide seats track side. 

First points on the board for Canada

I was not expecting the game to be extremely exciting, as we all knew USA would win, but watching so many very skilled players battle it out, was going to be exciting enough for any derby girl. 
The thing that made it special for me, was that I've had the pleasure over the passed week to scrimmage with and/or against skaters from both Team USA and Team Canada. And in the last few years I've been lucky enough to be coached by both players from both teams. So yeah, it was exciting enough for me to watch. 
The Canada crowd was supportive of their team, the whole way through and I was definitely rooting for them as well. 

Proud Canada crowd 

At the end Team USA won, but not by as much as you might have expected. Canada did a good job at scoring points and holding the jammer back as much as they could. 

The highlight of this final game of the weekend has to be when V'Diva was backwards blocking 8mean Wheeler and seeing how Diva is pretty tall, 8mean was just at the perfect level to motorboat Diva. And she did! That was a funny moment. Really showed that even though these players fight to be the best, they are still having fun in derby. And that's what it's all about in the end. 


While we walked back to the car we bumped into my very favorite NSO in the whole wild world and NSO inspiration;The Prosecutor, from Houston, TX. The first time I saw her NSO was in Austin, TX almost 2 years ago. When I went to see Texas vs Denver. She was the jam timer at that bout and her form just blew my mind. I remember that me and Dr. No-No just enjoyed watching her work so much we sometimes forgot to watch the game. 
At the first day of ECDX I saw her again and was immediately mesmerized again. I have gotten inspiration of this lady when I work as an NSO myself. And being able to tell her that this weekend was definitely one of my highlights. 

Furrrocious the NSO fan girl 


All with all this whole weekend and this whole trip in the USA, was a great derby experience. Got to scrimmage with and against great skaters and teams. Got to meet a bunch of new people and reunite with derby friends from all over. 
It was a great experience and I would highly recommend going to the East Coast Derby Extravaganza to anybody!

- Furrrocious