“Should we try to have a home bout this year and see what happens?”
“Yeah, we could give it a bash. If it all goes wrong we’ll leave it for a bit.”
“To 2011 – the year of the Siren!”

“THE YEAR OF THE SIREN!”

And what a year it was.

We managed to hold that one bout – and do a pretty bang up job of it – so we followed that with another. And another. And one more after that. All in all we hosted four home bouts on our first year ‘out’. We played the Norfolk Brawds, Brighton Rockers, MK Concrete Cows, Kent Roller Girls, and even a  Siren v Siren bout! So OK, maybe we didn’t win all our games, but we learned a bucket load of valuable lessons as we went along. So who says we’re not winning in some way? Charlie Sheen certainly wouldn’t. Then we even found it in our hearts to let the boys have a go when Southern Discomfort played Lincolnshire Rolling Thunder, both men’s teams, on our turf.

In the span of that one year not only did we managed to hold four successful home bouts, but we also held two awesome fundraiser events, and two popular Freshmeat intakes. Various different Sirens trained at Blood and Thunder Bootcamp and the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls Bootcamp both in Birmingham, Sk8 Heaven Bootcamp in Northampton, Gotham’s strategy bootcamp in NYC, and WFTDA’s Officials bootcamp in Ghent. We were guest trained by Adrian Wordsworth, speed skating champion, Hula Gunn and The Bexorcist of the LRG, Sin D Doll of LRR, and many others. Bouts were watched and enjoyed live from England to America to Canada and back again. We got our first taste of the American teams live at Anarchy in the UK – London Rollergirl’s first tournament – and then got a taste of THE American team at the first ever Roller Derby World Cup in Toronto. We scrimmaged with loads with other teams, took part in a surprise close door bout, and skated a half marathon for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. We had some pretty mighty broken bones and injuries, welcomed some irreplaceable people onto the good ship Siren (like our epic announcer extraordinaire, Dan Gleibitz), and made some of the most amazingly hilariously lovely derby friends you could ever hope to meet.

All of this done with the Sirens’ trademark inappropriateness, vulgarity, and complete disregard for modesty that you’ve all come to know and love.

Towards the middle of the year the current league management decided it was time to step up our internal structure to match the pace of leaps forward we’d made in our events, so after a nomination and league vote our 2012 Board of Directors was born. Congratulations to the following;

Vice Managing Director – Mother Mercy

Secretary – Macey/DC

Treasurer – Lady GoreGore

Communications Director – Geek Le Chic

And that leaves me, Jenna Tail’ya, the proudest and most honoured Managing Director that ever did the derbies (that’s my self-proclaimed official title, innit).

One of our goals as directors is to have a completely open door policy within the league and with the community as well. If you’d ever like to speak to us regarding a comment, concern, question, or just to say we’re totally awesome (cuz we are) then drop us a message through our Contact Us section of the website.

So what’s next for 2012 you say? Well, that’s easy. Now we win bouts. I mean there will be other things as well; we’re planning four more home bouts for you this season, we’ve got two more fundraising events in the works (including the Anti-Valentine’s Day Flash Bash; got your ticket yet?), we’re looking to recruit some luscious new referees we’re aptly calling Refmeat (apply within), and we want to bout away more this year so if you’re an interested league keep us in mind. Have derby, will travel! But let’s be honest. 2012 will mostly be spent doing lots and lots of winning… does anyone else have that song in their head now?

So on behalf of myself, the board, and the league and everyone in it, we’d like to thank you all for making our first season in 2011 one to remember. We could never do this without the support of our families, friends, the other leagues we know and love, our beautiful fans, and the community.

We love you Saaaaaffffeeennndddd!!

Here’s to more bouts, more beer, more bruises, and more kicking ass!!

Jenna Tail’ya #407   xx
The proudest and most honoured Managing Director that ever did the derbies*
Seaside Siren Roller Girls

*And you thought I was joking.

At 8pm on Saturday 11th February The Seaside Sirens are back with their first annual event of the year – The Anti-Valentine’s Flash Bash. If you came to the event last year you already know you’re in for a treat! Posh venue, great DJs, great bands, loads of roller girls letting their hair down and so much more. The best bit is tickets are even cheaper this year at only £8 each. Currently we have the amazing local bands ‘Only Ghosts’ and ‘Almost Brothers’ on  the bill with more acts to be confirmed.

Please note that due to the licensed bar and the content of some of the entertainment, this is an over 18s only event.

Venue:
The Kursaal Function Suite
Eastern Esplanade
Southend-on-Sea
Essex
SS1 2WW

Tickets will be available shortly from your nearest Siren or :

Force Ten Gail and Tanya Tillack. Copyright: Nickiey Waller

We turned up in our glad-rags at Clarence Yard in Southend, for our party upstairs. There is a grilled metal staircase leading to the first floor that you can see through and most of us were wearing dresses, so I’d like to say to the patrons of the bar downstairs, “You’re welcome.” On entering the room, we were given raffle tickets that I think were supposed to be used by borrowers. They were seriously tiny. I LOVED them. After buying drinks at the bar and mingling for a bit and grazing over the buffet like a starved dog, I along with everyone else was herded to the dance floor for the 2011 Awards. We had all been nominating and voting in the run-up to the party, so these awards were absolutely given by ALL the Sirens, a lovely idea (thank you Ms Jenna Tail’ya).

Dan Gleibitz and Doris Gay. Copyright: Nickiey Waller

The awards were hosted by our very own Dan Gleibitz, and the winners were (drum roll if you please):

• Full of Funtimes: Aliskater
• Most Improved: Killer Bite
• Strongest Kit Stench: Macey D/C
• Most Feared: Mother Mercy
• Most Loved: Macey D/C
• Dirtiest Player: Jackin’ Your Spleenstalk
• Life of the Afterparty: Tiny Temper
• Best of the Boutfits: Dr TerrorBrawll
• Most Valuable Siren: Ragna Rock

Artist: David Mumford. Original Photo: Marc de Groot.

After the award presentation, Dan Gleibitz presented Mother Mercy with a cartoon drawing of some of the Sirens as a gift to all of us. It’s brilliant, not least because my hair is pink in it. We then all queued up for our ‘secret Santa’ gifts, which ranged from useful, to the frankly ridiculous (I got some lovely smellies). The drinking and dancing continued after this. Some people were already making full use of the facilities to regurgitate some alcohol and make room for more, some serious dancing was occurring and the buffet table looked like it had been fully pillaged. People kept falling over. Everywhere. They were like those funny goats who fall over when they’re shocked. Quite bizarre. Out of the blue came the shout of “RAFFLE”. We all diligently searched for our teeny scraps of paper and the raffle began. I was rather pleased as my husband won a bottle of vodka which I immediately swapped for a four-pack of Strongbow (my money was running low, so this was brilliant timing) and I won a bottle of Moet, which I’ve put away for New Years Eve. Macey D/C has recently returned from the Roller Derby World Cup with tales of leg-wrestling, so there was an awesome 20 minutes of various rollergirls rolling around on the floor (what’s new?) and giggling hysterically.

Jackin' Your Spleenstalk, Elvis Deadly and Dangerous Person. Copyright: Nickiey Waller

More dancing and laughing ensued, I’m pretty sure the porcelain god was prayed to by more than a few, and a lovely time was had by all. It was a glorious Christmas party and a fitting end to a year of total fabulousness for us Sirens. I sincerely hope you all have a wondrous Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

So the final bout of the year, and what a year it has been – ‘The Year of the Siren’.

Our fourth bout of the season and we decided to go out with a BANG! For the first time we decided to host an intraleague game followed by a mens’ game (or ‘Merby’ as it’s more commonly known).
A roller derby bout in November can only lend itself to the name ‘November Pain’. Much hair metal, rocking out and the Sirens dividing into ‘Guns’ and ‘Roses’.
Both teams have trained very hard over the last few months; it seems pride is still very much at stake even when you are playing your sisters. The Guns skated out to ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ armed with plastic guns and the Roses surprised unsuspecting fans by throwing sweets into the crowd (Roses of course!) to ‘Guns don’t kill people *ROSES* do’ (Thank you Dan Gleibitz).
The teams were captained by two of the Sirens’ founders ‘Mother Mercy’ (Guns) and ‘Wham Paige’ (Roses), both of whom did an upstanding job leading their ladies into battle.

Playing against skaters from your own team means you know them well, you know their strengths and their weaknesses. But, they know yours. This wasn’t going to be a straight forward game for either team. Each team had perfected their strategies but after a few jams the Roses took the lead. After an unfortunate fall, The Beckoning was left with a leg and ankle injury which left her out for the rest of the game (thankfully healing nicely now!). With both teams having a ‘touch of the naughties’, blockers being sent to the box, allowed for some high scoring power jams but the Roses just managed to keep in front. The Guns kept fighting, with some killer blocking and an outstanding apex jump from Rae Pest (MVP).
It may have been her first bout since her broken ankle earlier in the year but Mother mercy showed the Roses she was very much a threat not to be taken lightly. The Roses continued to fight on with some hard hits from Frocky Balboa (Most feared blocker) and bout-virgin Dr TerrorBrAwLL., complimented by the swift jamming skills of Killer Bite (Penalty Queen) and Tiny Temper. The game was wrapped up with a 176-96 win to the Roses. Massive thanks to Demi-Lition (MVP) and her Kent girls Ann I Hilate, Faery Quad Mother, Marty McSuperfly and the Norfolk Brawd’s own Yours Truly for being honorary Sirens for the day and amazing as always.

Photo Credit: Steve Newton

Re-united once more, after a quick shower and a trip to the bar, the Sirens took their seats in the crowd and settled down for the first merby bout in Essex, Southern Discomfort Vs Lincolnshire Rolling Thunder. What a game! Blink and you’ll miss it, the boys play a high speed game and throw hits like their lives depend on it. The tough but agile skaters appeared to fly around the track, hoping and jumping through the pack. The boys put on a display for the crowd and they loved it. The final score was 186-80 to Southern Discomfort. This was the first game for LRT playing as a team all together and I think we have something very exciting to look forward in the future from both of these teams.

As always the day ended in usual Siren after party style, with much fun and beer to be had.
Massive thanks to all of our volunteers, NSOs and Refs – the bouts couldn’t go ahead without you!! Also, congratulations to Phoneix in Flames for her announcing debut. You did a brilliant job and worked very well with our very own Dan Gliebitz, resident announcer (AFTDA certified don’t-cha-know!). All in all, Guns or Roses, it was the Sirens who won in the end, putting on another successful and entertaining day of derby. What a way to end the season, watch this space for next year!

PS. Congratulations to the freshmeat for doing so well in your minimum skills the following day. Turning up for testing the day after the bout before was a tough test in itself! You all did great, looking forward to skating with you very, very soon! Hell x

Last weekend (December 1^st – 4^th)  saw the very first Roller Derby World Cup; teams from thirteen countries travelled to Toronto for a full-on four day tournament to be able to say they were the best in the whole wide world.  The lucky thirteen were: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden & the USA.  Sounds pretty awesome huh?  Well I thought so, and I wasn’t alone either – 1,500 tickets were sold to spectators and three of those tickets went to me, the rather splendid Dame Fear Her Limbs and marvellous chum of SSRG – our mate Steph.

Not being people to miss out on the opportunity for a bit of sightseeing (drinking) we decided to head out a bit early and spent a week in Toronto’s tourist centre before the skating started.  We hit the shops, the zoo, went on a brewery tour (big favourite with all three of us), zipped up the CN Tower and popped over to the super impressive Niagara Falls – but mainly we ate, and when we stopped eating we drank.  Sometimes we drank while we ate – y’know, just to mix it up a bit… [Just as a side note, Canadians have yet to fully embrace cider. If you know me then you know I’m somewhat of an authority on the appley-stuff, so imagine my surprise that the tramp-endorsed Strongbow is often your only option & held in incredibly high esteem.]

Canadian food. Photo Credit: Steph Barry.

We took a short break from the eating & drinking to move from our Downtown Hostel over to the Crowne Plaza Hotel that was nearer the skate venue.  The Plaza was also playing host to the vast majority of the teams skating in the World Cup, which made for some excellent skater spotting – Steph & The Dame were introduced to Iron Maven (“y’know from Whip It & those Nike adverts”) & I kept getting confused between the Swedes & the Finns and the Argentineans & the Brazilians.

The skating started on the Thursday in order to establish the seeding system.  The top three seeds would get a bye from some of the elimination rounds – which meant they couldn’t meet each other until the semi final.  Essentially if England wanted to avoid the USA until the final stages of the competition they would need to win all of their games with the largest points difference possible; cue a 199-64 victory over the All-Ireland team, followed by racking up 273 points compared to Argentina’s 31.  The Vordermans among you will already know this gave England a 377 point differential.

Late afternoon on Friday the seeding was announced – number one seed was Team USA – not really a big surprise, their bouts had ended 377-8 against New Zealand & 435-1 against Scotland (massive love to Wild Oates of Scotland for the best reaction on scoring a point that I have ever seen, at that point in time I can genuinely say that all of Team Scotland were happier about that point than the USA were about their mighty impressive 435) this gave the US a 803 point differential (as well as setting everyone else’s expectations for the rest of the weekend).

Second seed was Team Canada – their two wins (against France & Sweden) had earned them a differential of 397 – twenty points more than England. Those twenty lovely, sparkly points were more than enough to secure the third seed spot – for the fact fans amongst you fourth place was taken by Australia with a 233 point differential. So that was that, a quick bit of mental arithmetic meant that we knew that the next England game would be against France, and if we won that we’d be up against Canada in the semi final, and if we beat Canada there’d be a USA v England final.

Once the seeds had been decided there was a “Parade of Nations” – which saw each team sing their national anthem, England did us proud by belting out Jerusalem complete with actions.  The real star of the show was Team New Zealand however who finished up by performing the Hakka which to be honest was strangely emotional (and completely awesome).

New Zealand Hakka - Click to watch on YouTube

The elimination bouts began on Friday evening and continued through until the semi finals on Sunday.  The standard of the skating was incredibly high across all the teams, if you look at the scores alone some of the bouts seem very one sided, and of course in some cases they were. That doesn’t mean that each team didn’t fight hard to prove their worth, personally I think that a team that doesn’t give up whilst on the receiving end of a drubbing can be just as impressive as a twenty five point jam.

As predicted England beat France (383-14 cheered on by Army Winehouse – Team England fans in Winehouse fancy dress) and met Canada in the semi final. I genuinely didn’t know what to expect, my only frames of reference were the two times that teams from the London Rollergirls had played against Montreal Roller Derby – they’d each won a game each so it was impossible to tell.  Also Team England and Team Canada were by no means made up by skaters exclusively from LRG & Montreal so it was shaping up to be an incredibly exciting game before anyone stepped on the track.

The Canada game was my favourite of the whole weekend; it was hard fought on both sides with Canada taking the win with a score of 161 to England’s 90.

England’s next stop was Australia in the bout to decide third place. Going home without a medal clearly wasn’t an option for England – but Australia were not giving up without a fight; after a pretty tense first half England found their stride and finished up their last game 203-85 – taking third place convincingly.

It’s worth mentioning that it’s not just the skaters that fought for England – the three coaches: Ballistic Wistle, Barry Fight & Rollin Stoner worked just as hard as any skater on the track managing, coaching and line-up managing the third best team in the world, and the best in Europe, doesn’t just happen by accident, the amount of work that had been put in was evident from the first game back on day one. – Another group that should be singled out for praise are the referees & non skating officials – 38 games were played over the four days of the tournament on two different tracks.  The days were long, the tracks were noisy and super hot and yet the quality of the refereeing was excellent.  Naturally there were some calls that I didn’t agree with (and judging by Ballistic Wistle’s reactions he had something to say about a few of them) but that’s the nature of the sport – of any sport really…

The final was between Canada & the USA.  Although Canada clearly had the crowd on their side it wasn’t enough to beat the experience of the US who had dominated the competition from the start and won 336 – 33 (that score’s not to be sniffed at – Canada scored more points against the US than all the other teams put together). Don’t be mistaken for thinking that the epic scores from the US ruined things for the spectators, or the teams they were playing against – you try telling that to the NZ skater who, at the after party, was enthusiastically telling me how she’d managed to knock Sexy Slaydie over – they’d been beaten 377-8 but she couldn’t be happier about it – Slaydie was also pretty impressed with the bruise she’d picked up at the hands of the Kiwi’s.

Getting friendly with the locals. Photo Credit: Steph Barry

Talking of the afterparty – I wish I could tell you more, but I really can’t go into too much detail – this is a family friendly website.  But know this, my evening began by seeing Suzie Hotrod (Team USA) leg wrestle and ended with a lift back to the hotel from (uber skater) Quadzilla followed by the police being called to the hotel bar (a hundred or so derby girls & boys are quite loud) which resulted in Bonnie D. Stroir having to tell everyone to go to bed.  Other abridged highlights include a team England/Finland human pyramid and Rogue Runner (Team England) and her Dolly Rockit league mates teaching me a whole lot of punching games that have left me with bruises in places I don’t think I’d want to show my nearest or dearest.

So now it’s nearly 15:00 on Wednesday, I’ve not really had much sleep since Monday, I’m covered in bruises in unmentionable places ,I’ve spent all of my money on overpriced Strongbow and I must have put on at least three stone.

That, my friends, is how you watch a World Cup…

“AND WHEN YOUR FEARS SUBSIDE AND SHADOWS STILL REMAIN, OH YEA,
I KNOW THAT YOU CAN LOVE ME WHEN THERE’S NO ONE LEFT TO BLAME.
SO NEVERMIND THE DARKNESS WE STILL CAN FIND A WAY,
NOTHIN’ LASTS FOREVER EVEN COLD NOVEMBER PAIN!”

The Seaside Siren Roller Girls are finishing 2011 with a bang… A HEAD BANG!

Bout 1: GUNS v ROSES!
Two mixed teams made up of our own Seaside Siren Roller Girls battle it out for the title of HEAVY METAL GODS! Will it be guns up and the roses get shot down, or will the rose’s thorns prick as they grow away with the title? Anything could happen with the first ever LIVE SIREN ON SIREN action!

Headliner Bout: MENS ROLLER DERBY, SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT v LINCOLNSHIRE ROLLING THUNDER!
The derby boys we all know and love are hitting the track for the FIRST TIME EVER in Southend with big skills, bigger hits, and even bigger mouths! You’ve NEVER seen derby played like this before, and you DO NOT want to miss it!

As well as the on track action there will be the usual awesome vendor stalls, Roller Derby merch stalls, a DJ playing head banging metal tunes, and a FULLY STOCKED BAR.

But wait… there’s more!

IT’S FANCY DRESS!
Think you can backcomb your do’ the highest? Get your leather trousers the tightest? Rock your cowboy boots the finest? HOW MUCH OF AN 80’S METALHEAD ARE YOU?! Get your BEST metal kit out on bout day and win TWO FREE TICKETS to the first bout in 2012, some awesome SSRG swag, and more!

WHERE: Southend Tennis and Leisure Centre, Garon Park, Eastern Avenue, Southend on Sea, Essex, SS2 4FA
WHEN: Saturday, 26th November. Doors at 1pm, first bout 2pm.
WHO: All ages!
TICKETS: ON SALE NOW! http://bit.ly/pain-tix

Your bout wristband gets you FREE entry to the fourth Seaside Sirens afterparty, which are becoming infamous in their own right (18 and up only please).

WHERE: The Alex (upstairs), 53 Alexandra Street, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS1 1BW

“GET YOURSELF TOGETHER, DRINK TILL YOU DROP, FORGET ABOUT TOMORROW, AND HAVE ANOTHER SHOT!” – SLASH

I joined the Seaside Siren Rollergirls in January 2011, and after completing the 17 week Freshmeat Course (minus one week for a trip to Germany for the Eurovision Song Contest – another story for another time, but take it from me, until you’ve danced to Jedward with Louis Walsh, you haven’t lived) – and now, on September 10^th, I – Laura Jones…or should that be Macey/DC…am a Rollergirl.  Mental.  Absolutely mental.

In my first 30 years on the planet I’d successfully managed to dodge any kind of sporting endeavour, given the choice I’d always pick books over bruises, but with my 30^th birthday came the desire to get myself a bit more fit, shift a bit of chub and acquire some form of hobby.  So I did what an increasing amount of women my age are doing.

I joined a netball team.

Bear with me though, there’s a point to this. – Promise.  Netball helped with my fitness, general communication skills, agility, endurance and ability to work as part of a team – and I loved it (still do as it happens).  Last year a few of the girls in my team started playing roller derby, one thing lead to another and I joined too.

To say that the idea of learning a whole new sport from scratch in seventeen weeks intimidated me would be an understatement; I’d never played a contact sport before – let alone one on roller skates.  The Sirens were, however, incredibly welcoming – and the girls that were starting the Freshmeat course with me all looked terrified too, and so it began…

I found a lot of the training difficult.  It seems that I’m inherently far more academic than I am practical.  My brain knew what I needed to be doing “it’s just physics, innit” but getting my legs to what I told them?, That just wasn’t happening.  So I practiced.  Everywhere.  And I looked like a massive idiot. I’d hip check vending machines when my food got stuck, I’d cross-over walking round corners, if I was on the Tube I’d deliberately not hold on so I could work on my balance – and when I got good at that I’d do it on one leg (and then I fell on a Nun – A NUN – so I stopped doing that).  I wore my skates at home when I was pootling about in my flat, I cleaned my teeth while doing squats, I stopped drinking alcohol quite so much (not altogether though, I’m not completely mental).

I watched everything I could on the internet about skating form, technique and bout tactics.  I became the biggest Derby-bore you can possibly imagine.

I tell you something though, it worked.  On August 10^th the teams for Pier & Loathing, the Seaside Siren Rollergirls third public bout was announced, and there on the list, was my name.  I’d been selected to play for SSRG’s Heartless Beaches against the Kent Rollergirls.

There was a month in between the teams being announced and the bout – but it might as well have been five minutes.  Time flew – as it does when you’re having fun (and also are pretty much bricking it constantly).  We knew nothing about Kent as this was their first public bout – so all we could do was concentrate on ourselves.  As the day of the bout got nearer I started to worry about ridiculous things: what if I fell over during the skate out?  What if no one came?  What if someone hit me so hard I actually died?  As it turns out I wasn’t the only one thinking this way, two days before the bout the ‘Beaches had a bit of a bonding session where we were all tasked with writing our biggest fears down (anonymously).  I can’t tell you some (most) of them as they weren’t all family friendly, but what I can tell you is that it made me feel 100% better about the whole thing.

Copyright MRM Photography

And, on bout day, as I started skating around the track to warm up, I knew that I shouldn’t be worrying, that I do this for fun and that as soon as it’s over I’d want to do it again so I should take the time to enjoy every second.  Problem is, all I could think about is the fact that nine months ago I’d never, ever, EVER had a pair of skates anywhere near my feet.  And I couldn’t help thinking that some time in the next 60 minutes I was pretty much definitely going to die – possibly more than once. Frankly that would’ve put a total dent in my weekend…

I wish I could tell you more about the actual bout, but if I’m honest it passed in a bit of a blur.  I remember coming off after my first jam acutely aware that I’d forgotten pretty much everything I’d been taught, but as yet I wasn’t dead – which frankly was excellent news. As the jams passed everything we’d been taught started coming back, tactical starts, strong walls, effective communication and awareness of where our jammer was in the pack all made for an excellent game.  Looking back on it all I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved.  It’s worth mentioning that it wasn’t just my first bout; four of the girls from my graduating Freshmeat class were making their debut too: Frocky Balboa, Rae-Pest, Killer Bite & Trailer Park Thrash. Having wobbled about with them all on the first week of training and seeing what we were all capable of now was pretty mind blowing (and after a few shandies at the after party it all got a bit emotional too).

The final score didn’t go in our favour, Kent played brilliantly and beat us to it in the end – but I’m pleased to say that no one died – so surely that equates to some kind of draw?

And that after party I mentioned?  I totally won that all by myself…well, maybe with a little help from my friends.

Copyright MRM Photography

As we had no training over the Bank Holiday we got to practise all our stops and falls, and everyone was doing really well. It’s amazing how well everyone has improved and I think I am finally almost getting there with plough stops whoop whoop.

Circuit Training whilst on skates was a new experience this week, it was a killer but sadly I actually enjoyed it, well apart from the sit ups not sure why my boobs hurt so much after this but no pain no gain. We got to practise some more pace line weaving and for me it went a lot better than last time.  I have to say the best part of tonight’s training was ‘skating the diamond’, although I haven’t quite got the hang of this yet, we were given the opportunity to skate fast and have a race. Not all the freshies took part but I thought f**k it what’s the worst that can happen? I could fall over and erm yes I did fall but it was great to give it a go. And despite another bruise on my arse I think I didn’t do too badly, roll on next week ) and even more roll on Saturday for Pier and Loathing! The next Seaside Sirens bout!

Thankfully there was no ’10 minutes of hell’ this week, just some warm up skating plus practising the stops and falls we have already learnt. I think the extra practise is paying off as I feel I’m slightly improving, plough stops still need some work but I think I’m getting there.

Been looking on the private group on good old book of face this week and sadly some of the girls have pulled out due to various reasons but hopefully some if not all will sign back up to the next batch of freshmeat or start NSOing. It has been hard work and each week there’s new challenges but the big girls and lady boys (Ricky and Pete) are very supportive, just got to work hard, be patient and practise, practise and practise.

My new challenges for this week were pace lines weaving and jumps! I found the whole weaving backwards in a pace line a little daunting, but hopefully we will get to practise this some more next week. But when ‘Mother’ said we were all going to do jumping, I thought she was joking but no she was deadly serious eeeeeeek.  I was wondering if I should call up A&E and pre book a slot – but it wasn’t as hard as I thought and surprisingly I didn’t fall over but Pete did, which goes to show no matter what level of skater you are everyone falls over. Granted I was only doing small jumps, but I jumped, and to me that counts, I feel another trip to Madison’s is needed for some more practise but I think I need to recover for a couple of days after my falling with style, on the plus side I have a wicked large bruise, my first of no doubt many more to come )