On Saturday the Clotted Screamers kindly invited BRDG to Barnstaple, where we braved derby-girl infested waters in the most adorable beach-themed training drill, skated with our eyes closed and, oh yeah, had our first ever scrimmage…

After an early start, we reached the Screamers with a mixture of fear and fire in our bellies. The obvious antidote? NEW SCRIM KIT! The lovely Conway the Barbarian risked life and limb as 13 excited derby girls rushed to get their hands on The Shirts - (I may or may not have headed the charge) - but seeing everyone in yellow was a pretty magical moment.

Screamer's coach Mumbles gave us a great workout - from agility circuits (ALL the toestops!) to blind pacelines (lots of shouting, some falling, moderate panicking), Mumbles pushed us hard, and made sure everyone gave it their best.

As for the Devon Clotted Screamers - they are are officially wonderful! Not only were they the friendliest team we could have hoped to meet, they even baked us Screamers cakes with tiny milkmaids on. Tiny milkmaids! We can't wait to meet them again in Bath for more skatey, milkmaidey fun.

Of course, no game is complete without zebras: As well as Devon's pair, Bath's Jenna'Ral Yum Yum and Smasha Cake did a great job reffing for the first time - and skating twice as far as everyone else. A big thank you to everyone from both leagues who NSO'd (including first timers Smashing Thumpkins and Tinker Hell), Daphne Du'Warrior for being a kick-ass bench manager, and the lovely Scarlett O'Harma for the photos.

With no final score it's hard to know how we fared in our first proper scrim, but suffice to say there were some great moments from both teams. Bruises, blisters and all, I've never felt so proud to be a Bath Roller Derby Girl.

At some point, we were gonna need to get ourselves all dolled up in some matching gear and make ourselves look like a team. In other words, we needed a KIT! We had the awesome logo, the colour scheme...now to choose the ultimate colour combination! With various ideas thrown around: blue tops? yellow socks? blue shorts? yellow leggings (well, those didn't go down so well) we decided to go with the combo which would make us least resemble Bananaman.

Combination chosen (yellow tops with our teal logo), spreadsheet compiled, off went our order to Roller Derby City. One bank holiday weekend later and...voila!

Excitement ensued when the folk at Roller Derby City posted a sneaky preview of our tops in the making on their facebook page. Then followed more hysteria when RDC posted an image of our very own Smashing Thumpkins' new bouting top as their Name of the Day online!

Enough teasing already!! We wanted our tops in the flesh! And sure enough our eagerly awaited tops winged their way to us just in time for our first ever scrimmage against the Devon Clotted Screamers. But more on that to follow...

Words: Lazy Susan
Photos: Roller Derby City

Yes, we are now opening our doors again and offering a 10-week beginners course. It'll be on Thursday evenings, starting 30th May, in which we will teach you how to safely fall, stop, skate, and what roller derby involves. We have limited spare kit to lend for the first two sessions, however you will need your own kit (quad skates, helmet, wrist/elbow/kneepads, mouthguard) after that. Sessions will be 2 hours long and cost £5.

Get in touch for more details and to register: [email protected]
www.facebook.com/BathRollerDerbyGirls

Check out the facebook event for more details or email us: https://www.facebook.com/events/

We can’t wait to meet you and share our love for our sport!!
Over 18s only. Please register in advance!!