Local roller derby is back
Spectacular spills and speed skating were on show during the first of five rounds of roller derby at the 2012 North Coast Derby Coalition Round Robin. In the fast growing sport for women, roller derby leagues from Coffs Harbor to Tweed Heads put a little fight in the neighbourhood and took to the Lismore skating rink on Saturday, March 24 in a fierce battle for regional derby supremacy.
In two exciting roller derby bouts, Northern Rivers Roller Derby (NRRD) and The Bay Rollers (TBR) emerged as the champions of the round. Lismore skating rink was packed to capacity and spectators sitting in the suicide seating on the floor next to the derby track were treated to a spectacular show of blocking and hitting as derby teams raced around the track trying to score as many points as possible by getting their jammers past the opposing team's pack of blockers.
Local team Northern Rivers Roller Derby (NRRD) took on Clarence Valley Roller Derby League (CVDL) winning their bout with a landslide point score of 227 to 60. The NRRD girls showed their superb blocking strategies and tried a few new tricks, starting off a jam on their knees and passing the jammer's star helmet cover during the bout to allow for a fresh surge at point scoring from the pivot. In a spectacular move, NRRD's lead jammer Twisted Nikkers surged past CVDL's Pain Mantress after knocking her to the rink floor with a hard shoulder hit, and went on score another round of points and screams of approval from the crowd.
When The Bay Rollers (TBR) took on Tweed Valley Rollers (TVR), TBR took control of the game early on with a huge point score, eventually winning their bout with a point score of 230 to 46. Quite a few players in TVR's Valley Vixens team popped their bout cherries in this game, putting in a good first time play, but had no chance against TBR's fierce defensive strategies. TBR's Kaos Control, in her shiny red hotpants showed her mastery as lead jammer, continually dodging and ducking past TVRs blockers to score more points.
