It has been all hands on deck since the last ARRG roundup, so let’s catch you up on the latest.

On 25 March, the Cannon Belles went to Perth to play the Fair City Rollers‘ Fear Maidens. Despite the exceptionally nice Scottish weather, ARRG fans were many and the atmosphere was lovely. The Belles played a strong game, and though the Maidens fought hard, the final score ended up 324 to 65 for the Belles.

Home Season Draws to a close

Shortly after, the Cherry Bombers played against the Skatefast Club to find the opponent for the Leithal Weapons in the final of ARRG’s first home season. We saw formidable skating from both sides, but the Skatefast Club won with 186 to 155. What a great bout!

The final then consisted of a delectable double header. The Cherry Bombers started the evening by playing GRG’s Hell’s Belles, and both sides showed excellent sportswomanship. The final score was 214 to 38 for the Hell’s Belles.

And, finally, it was time for the Skatefast Club to play the Leithal Weapons. The bout was spectacular and had the audience at the edge of their seats more than once. In the end the Leithal Weapons were victorious, despite a skate malfunction from Leithal’s jammer, Admiral Attackbar. The final score was Leithal Weapons 159, and Skatefast Club 126.

The after party was just as memorable as the first home season it celebrated, not least thanks to our hosts at Elbow.

The Home Season awards, voted for by all three teams, went to :

Admiral Attackbar: Best Jammer
Alma Geddon: Best Blocker
Stefanie Skinner: MVP

Eurocrash

Unfortunately, The Skatefast Club’s Crazylegs missed out on the season final fun, but showed her support in a yellow outfit while playing as part of the European All-Stars Invitational Team at ‘Anarchy: Euro Crash‘ in London. The event saw a team made up of the best skaters around Europe, including skaters from Stockholm Roller Derby, Glasgow Roller Derby, Bear City Roller Girls and Stuttgart Vallery Roller Girls.
Crazylegs said about the weekend: ‚‘it was an enjoyable, tough hard fought bout and a pleasure to skate with so many skaters from Euro teams‘.

COWABUNGArrg!

Next on the busy ARRG schedule was an away game against Helsinki Roller Derby‘s All-Star Ninja Turtles. The Twisted Thistles travelled to Helsinki en masse to bout and followed it up by running a boot camp for members of HRD the next day.This was a huge benchmark for the team, as it was the first bootcamp ARRG have ever run, and to great success. The Helsinki girls were massively welcoming and gave us lots of lovely feedback from the weekend, which included a day of of drills, covering agility, packwork, strategy, and a scrimmage.
Watch this space for more news about ARRG bootcamps closer to home!

London Calling!

On 19 May the Thistles were on the road again, this time heading south to London to play the Suffra Jets. The game was great to watch – and the Suffra Jets came away with the win. The final score clocked in at 221 – 103 to the Suffra Jets. However, the weekend was far from over. The Thistles took it easy at the afterparty, because the next day, they played in a WFTDA sanctioned closed-door bout against London’s all star travel team, London Brawling. Brawling, a mighty opponent, fielded their strongest lineup, but ARRG fought for every point and the score ended up 667-18 to Brawling. Though the score differential may have been record breaking, the Thistles rose to the challenge and used the game as a chance to learn and grow as a team. We can’t wait to play them again!

The Belles bout Kent

Just the weekend after, the Cannon Belles played the Kent Roller Girls. The bout was excellent to watch as the scoreline stayed tight throughout the game, but in the end, the Belles came out on top with a win of 216-150.
Awards for ARRG were:
Best Blocker: Bint Imperial
Best Jammer: Lilo & Stitches
MVP: Circuit Breaker

10 to go to Berlin!

This weekend, the Thistles are on the road yet again, travelling to Berlin for a WFTDA sanctioned game on 16 June. The short roster will see a number of newer skaters make their debut, but we are sure they will fit right in and give the Berlin Bombshells all they’ve got!

This won’t be the last time we see Berlin this year, however, as the Twisted Thistles have been accepted to attend the first ever WFTDA sanctioned tournament for European WFTDA teams this November in Berlin. We’ll keep you abreast of any developments with this, but for now, the dates are 16-18 November 2012.

Last but not least…

As always, ARRG will be at the Fringe Festival this year! Catch the Twisted Thistles playing Cardiff’s Tiger Bay Brawlers on 4 August, and witness the Cannon Belles taking on the Dublin Roller Girls on 18 August. Watch this space for more information and to find out where you can find tickets to these unmissable bouts.

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It is exciting derby times we live in! Don’t miss any of it! – ARRG xx