Bout 2: Bourne Bombshells
So as some of you have seen from the pictures the hertsbreakers has their 2nd bout this weekend. We felt more prepared for this one as we had trained harder and looked into better walls and game play.
There are things you learn from bouting as a whole (it’s a bit like learning on the job, there’s only so much you can be trained to do); you learn who you work well with and you learn your own strengths. For example I always thought I was an ok jammer but the fact I am unable to get through their walls and score points proves I’m not as good as I think I am. You may be asking what or how can I learn from this? Well, it shows you where you need to work. I need to push harder against walls and try a lot more. I need to approach them in a different way. Usually team mates are easy on you, they don’t hit as hard and they might make it easier for you to break through. It’s not intentional but it’s players knowing other players.
I also learnt that when I’m blocking because of my small size I will need a brace. We were working on a new controller wall using our hands as our contact point and not our shoulders, this gives us better movement and a wider range to block. I also found that when I was the 4th blocker and not in the controller wall I would easily be able to move making it easy in a no pack situation to move backwards or forwards to re-group the pack quickly and stopping a failure to reform call.
I also learnt the huge importance of communication. I’ve always been the quiet one on the track and it annoyed me each time I would ask myself why didn’t I call that and help them out. So this time I was calling for the jammer, despite if another team mate had called it, it confirms I’ve seen myself or heard them and may help another team mate who hasn’t heard. I also repeated the ref each time they called no pack I would shout it as well for my team mates to hear. This helps us not to get called for it and if I’m stuck somewhere it let’s them know they need to go back.Â
I cannot leave out the fact that the hosts game (Killer hurtz vs. Norfolk Brawds) was absolutely amazing! I really got into the game and we were cheering all the way for the Brawds (the home team). Those guys absolutely deserved our cheer, they fought so hard to get their points and it came down to the last 10 minutes of the game where they managed to turn the whole game around and get their win with only a few points in it. Congratulations Norfolk Brawds!
As a whole I believe that this bout we worked so much better as a team and knowing what was going on and figuring out their tactics really helped us in the long run of the game. Obviously we are going to work harder at our nexts games and always try to better ourselves. This all comes with experience, give us another year and I bet we will be as good as the other teams and possibly scoring more than 100 points. I have so much love for Full Metal Roller Derby especially the Hertsbreakers. Without these guys I wouldn’t be sat here writing my blog and I probably wouldn’t be skating. Â
