Bouting Go Go Gent and loving Stockholm Rollerderby

There is always something to bouting a team you have never bouted before, and Gent was such a team. I had seen them play on several occations, and for some reason I had this feeling of not really knowing what to expect out of it. I am ALWAYS nervous before a bout, a little less know when I'm not in a regular jammer-rotation... (thank god for Loony, Slinky, Chaos and Juana) My friend Meredith did some elaborate make-up on me, so that was new and looked quite cool.

Before our bout I had a few minuted to watch BSTRDs play really well against Västerås. It was great to see how much both our B-team and Västerås have developed the past year. It gives hope for the future of Swedish rollerderby.  After our bout we also found out that Dock City beat Helsinkis B-team in Helsinki and that Crime City beat Hellfire Harlots down in Malmö... so it was truly a great day for Swedish Rollerderby... Nevermind, now I totally strayed from the topic as I so easily do.

We won!

Playing against Gent was fun, they are a good team, but their jammerpenalties was what really made the huge difference. I must say that I am very proud to be captain over Stockholm Rollerderby Allstars, it's a very smart and welltuned team that stod on the track together this past Saturday. We wetn out on the track with a plan, and we even tried a few new strategies, and it worked very well. Everyone are growing into their positions and the attitude on the bench was just awesome and upbeat.

Playing was superfun, and I felt like I had a great bout and so did everyone else, we just kept on trucking and it payed off.

Me sending some love to Kix in the box...

After the bout I went home - took a shower and laid on my bed for 30 min drinking an oatmeal stout just basketing in the amzing sound of nothingness and a tired but clean body. The afterparty felt real far away, but I knew my duty as a good little derbygirl and packed myself to the afterparty for some social engagements... 

Wash your damn gear!

Like SEERIOUSLY what make some people think its adorable to be known to have the stinkiest gear? Well, news flash! It's not cool, cute, awesome or any other superlative, it's just stinky!

It's not bad that your pads smell a little, and I'm not bothered by that. BUT when your pads start to smell like death or puke, it has gone to far! There is NOTHING charming or cool about that, just unpleasant for the rest of us that have to stand around you.

And honestly, I do no wash my pads all the time, I am not super-sensitive to smell, I think we all forget about the washing our pads from time to time! My elbow pads are always gross, why is it always the elbow pads? Sometimes I even throw them into the washing maschine, but usually I just hand wash. And when hand washing you can really see HOW dirty they are and that completely grosses me out and make me think that I should do it more often. The hand wash is easy, I just do it in my shower, usually do my scrimmageshirt and other pads at the same time. 

Just hang it up to dry... Mmmmmmmmm smells sooo much better for a week or so! This is not hard - YOU can do it too!

And let's not talk about how I treat my mouth guard - I am honestly horrorfied myself... Once when I was really tired I fell asleep with it still in my sports bra, another time it ended up in the washer, since it was causally put in my shorts pocket... 

Bench coaching is fun

So this weekend out B-team played a double header. Me and Only were supposed to bench, but the flu caught her and Loony had to jump in and fill her spot! And as you know - you gotta dress to the occasion and so we did.. I was a little hard since I for sure was not recovered from the 3 days of confinement to bed in high fever... I do not recommend to bench two bouts in a row after a really horrid case of teh flu... but with some painkillers and a "spexig" outfit - I just had to keep on going... adn because I think our B-team needed us.
Our B-team is so amazing and we did our best under the circumstances... Makes me real proud of Swedish rollerderby! Both Gothenburg and the team that mostly was made up by Västerås did great. I love teh fact that slowly we aer growing this awesome sport, and I must say, I love the dressing up as a bench manager, even if I barley wear make-up skating anymore.
The STRD vs. GBG bout ended up to be a real nailbiter - it came down to the last jam as so many other bouts I've watched lately... yikes... but it was a well played bout both for our BSTRDs and by GBG.
I was also really impressed by Västerås and friends who played a 40 min bout against out B-team, they really held thir own...

Oh and the theme of the bout was November Pain....

Lonni as Axl Rose and me as the ''blond dude in the band''

LRR vs Stockholm

We got up at 4 am to take a flight to bout at 5pm... It was a little stressful when the flight ended up being 45 min late and seriously - trying to get nine derby people to across London is quite like herding cats!
I stuffed my face with food and we managed to find the venue after a train, a subway and a bus... You can't say that London doesn't offer a wide variety of travel options.

So we scurried into the venue, threw our skates on to try the floor that was super odd - slick but grippy. Hard to explain - but it was just weird, but it's the same for everyone.

The game was fun, hard hitting and very, very exciting. London Rockin Rollers has a very good team, and really got us all working hard, it was great to feel that our hard work payed off, but I wasn't even sure we won when the last whistle sounded. The scoreboard was really hard to see, and at one point I looked over an I could have sworn it looked like they were up with 40 points.

Oh, and afterparty was stellar - at a pub and of course half of the team ended up in their sports bras - just seem to happen, good thing I have invested in a pretty one. And LRR was also celebrating that their leauge been around for FIVE years, just like STRD and me... Amazing rollerderby...

Today me and Loony will be goin to London Roller Girls practice, LRG is the other London leauge, the ones that came in fourth at eastern regionals, and that will hopefully be stellar!

You never need too much sparkles!

Stockholm vs. Malmö

We won.... The Final Score was STRD 169 – CCR 122
I am very proud of my team - they played very well. After a rocky start we regained our feet under us and started to chip away on the lead that CCR earned. I don't think I have never been so nervous EVER playing a bout, it is really weird to play a team that you feel you aer such a big part of.
I loved Crime City - but Stockholm is "mina drömmars stad" and even when I hate it the most - I love it even more.
AND WE SOLD OUT - over 700 tickets! Yaya! That was REALLY exciting! I'm so excited we had such a fab audience cheering both for us and for Crime City! It was truly lovly and made me hopeful for the future of Swedish Rollerderby!

It is really exciting that Sweden has not only one but two teams that are going to the AP/WFTDA tournament in Berlin, and that we both are really able and work so hard to improve our derby, fitness and awareness.

The bout Saturday was our second sanctioned bout, and we are really hoping to soon become full WFTDA members, there are so many exciting things ahead of us - I love rollerderby - I really do - this is what I do to put a smile on my face. And I know that I at times go close to teh fire and almost burn out, but for most of the times, it's worth it in the end...

Playing vs USA

Of course we lost - But we played really, really well, and i am very proud of what has become of Team Sweden. We scored 29 points on the worlds best team - and we built walls that I can be very proud of.
Team USA awarded me MVP, and Fenix got best jammer while Knickerblocker Glory got best blocker. I am super proud of us all, each and everyone that was out on the track, having a calm and fun game, smiling, fighting and playing rollerderby. That's what it's all about!
It was SO much fun to see and play with the CCR girls again! Rollerderby truly saved my soul, and then kidnapped it and keeping it for ransom... I just wonnder what the ransom is...

Team Sweden awarded Team USA:

Best Blocker: Sexy Slaydie
Best Jammer: Bonnie Thunders
MVP: Joy Collision

Team USA awarded Team Sweden:
Best Blocker: Knickerblocker Glory
Best Jammer: Fenix Fortsomfan
MVP: Swede Hurt (probably hte award I am the most proud of ever)

Packing - washing - leaving for airport

This year I was supposed to do less traveling, it did not really work out like that, I just done different traveling. I've travelled less for coaching and more for my own selfish rollerderby pleasure, and that is sad and fun at the same time. I love coaching, but at the same time I miss to just skate for my own damn sake and learn from others...

What to pack? does those look like Stockholm to you?

Still, this weekend Stockholm is playing Rainy City, and they have their venue right outside Manchester, a new travel first... so I'm once again washing and packing and getting ready for another airport ride to Arlanda to get on another flight. Airports has sort of lost their charm, but at the same time I have a special love for them.
So I have to remember passport, flight confirmation, the few pounds I have left from last trip, skates, pads, armbands, boutshirt, something to cover the ass up.. .what... hm.... boardshorts, hotpants, skorts, jeaggings? I miss packing with Loony - she is so much better at this than I am... I probably will finish packing about 10 mins before I have to leave for the airport... oh, I need to bring line-ups and my helmet too... ugh... what else... does everything fit in my backpack? Do I need more than one pair of shoes? If only one pair of shoes... converse or Nike?
Will it be sunny? Or will it rain? Should I bring a jacket? Wheels? What wheels should I bring? Stingers? Will they be to grippy? Should I stick with G-rods? I do like slide... ugha!
Oh, and painkillers, since I had an incident the other day... Kimizooka our new girl, who now is mine and Beckys Bro and personal trainer has given me some... oh...
I love to go on team trips... this is gonna be exciting.. .except from all those choices and the packing... ahhhh....

Just à few photos from Rollercon!

Just a little selection of what happened this weekend...

I call him Hans, and he's my German male alterego

Kacey loves me and Jackie

Don't know what the thing might be...

Jamming for the beer team

Shortbus crept between the Amazon legs

Vagine Regime trying to beat up on the straight people... 

Vagine Regime Nördic

Loony printed it for us... 

We're going to Ibiza...

Me and Amy in the best outfits of the year...

Lot's pf things going on right now, and I am not ready to blog about it, but I'm just not a very happy camper... BUT the unhappiness and tears wer interupted by an intraleauge game this weekend... We parted Stockholm Rollerderby into two teams, and bouted. Since we are quite few, we invited two girls from Black River Rebels to play on a team each.
Everyone did an mazing and fantastic job, and I could not be any more proud of Stockholm Rollerderby and the people that play, reff, NSO and volonteer... We are all amazing!

Our team had a charter/Venga Boy/Ibiza theme, and it was HILLERIOUS - who said you cannot wear redicoulous clothes and do a great job. I still find myself walking around singing "we're going to Ibiza" to myself. I had so much selftanner in my face I looked dirty... maybe I was dirty... and a bright coral lipstick, that I can't belive I actually paid for... but totally WORTH it! Oh, and I jammed, twice...

I am so happy and proud to see that all our rookies have exceeded my expectations, and are becomming really skillfulled derbyplayers... My team won by a small margin....

The derby hair in STRD

Becky and Only has it...

Lonni is a hipster and keep it short on one side

You cannot deny Ice going all the way

But to be fair - Jazz really is the all that

And Husse for sure does it...

They all do it... shave a side, two sides, half a side... something is at least shaved... and they play derby... I really tried to find photos of the ladies in the full hair glory - but apperently shaving your hair also entails wearing something on the head... bummer...

And everyone are for sure not pictured... I just got to lazy to find pictres... but also Saliva, Amy, Red, Ryssen and probably someone else that I have missed has it too... and I see more of them in the future... summer and shaving is easy...

Not to miss that our referee has joined forces...

Haz sox... will skate

So we all know that rollerderby is all about the socks you wear.... I scrapped the fishnets a veeeery long time ago... but I cannot say anything but that I still love socks... kneehigh socks... I always wear different colored ones... Mmmmm... and the BEER socks are my favorite... Next bout I am going to wear one GAY and one yellow BEER sock... the rest... I don't know yet... but at least I got my socks figured out. I might even consider the purple unicorn ones... Ahhhhahhhhh... so many choices so few bouts!

Rollerderby fashion - it changes

I am not sure if it is rollerderby fashion that changes or if it is me - I think it might be a little of both... When I started I saw and wore much more skirts... and now I just wear hotpants - or mini-pants... I just don't really care that much anymore, I just wanna skate, and coordinating clothes just seem like a waste of time.

I have never understood the amazingness of fishnet-burns - maybe because of all the snowburns I got during short-sleave summer snowboarding... but any kind of burn on my body seem just dumb... the times I have worn fishnets - I have always worn a solid stocking under... just make more sense...

Now some pictures of what I previously have worn on the track will follow... and there is WAAAY more than this - but this is just a sample... ENJOY...

At practice in December 2007 - right before I tried out for Jet City

Scrimmage Dipers vs. Depends February 2008

My second bout in March 2008

I took my best friend skating in January 2008

Jet Citys B-team Summer of 2008

Mixed Jet City teams vs. Slaughter County October 2008

Sockit Wenches 2009

Amazon vs. Shortbus RollerCon 2009

Rat City Allstar Summer 2009

Getting ready to play Manhattan Mayhem May 2010

Bimbos vs. somelongassabrivation RollerCon 2010

Jamming for Gotham in Portland Summer 2010

Coaching in Malmö Summer 2010

Coaching in Gothenburg winter 2011