Calypso Calamity ensued at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre where the Sunshine Coast Roller Girls Red Tide Warning lost an entertaining 138-111 contest to the Mainland Misfits Doomsday Bunnies in the Coast's first home roller derby match of the season last Saturday night, July 27.
About 100 or so fans came out for the match, which saw the Bunnies jump out to a quick 16-7 lead after only five jams.
A period, in the case of Saturday's match, two 30-minute periods, is divided into multiple jams. There is no limit to the number of jams allowed in each period. A jam may last up to two minutes. Jams begin at the jam-starting whistle and end on the fourth whistle of the jam-ending signal.
After exiting the engagement zone and completing their initial pass, a jammer scores points by passing opposing skaters on their second and subsequent passes. These are considered "scoring passes." A jammer can score a maximum of one point per opposing blocker per scoring pass. Jammer lap points are independent of scoring passes. In order to receive a point for passing an opponent, the jammer must pass opposing skaters' hips while in bounds and upright, legally, without committing penalties.
The Bunnies ran off a string of solid jams and held a commanding 64-8 lead, before the Roller Girls took flight and reeled off successive high scoring jams to cut into the lead.
One of the top players of the night was Ivonna Masterskate who used her elusive speed to her advantage, moving consistently to the outside and scoring seemingly at will.
The Bunnies held an 88-35 lead at the half, but the Roller Girls showed a lot of fight and determination in the second half saving their best for last when Masterskate went for a skate, amassing a whopping 25 points in the final jam of the night.
"The neat thing is she use to play with the Bunnies before she moved to the Sunshine Coast and started playing for us," said team spokesperson JaMoxie. "The night came together in the end. We've had a lot of injuries and this was the first time we had a healthy 13 on the roster."
The Roller Girls have had a busy season already with road games in Nanaimo and Powell River and in two weeks, they head to Chilliwack for a match against the NWO. They return home on Sept. 7 for a bout against the Sea to Sky Sirens at the Sunshine Coast Arena in Sechelt.
"You have to keep in mind that a lot of the Bunnies are five-year vets and a lot of their players helped train us to play when originally we had no bylaws or anything," JaMoxie said. "It's kind of an honour to hold our own against that kind of stature. We know these girls. If we go to their home hood they put us up and if they come to our home we put them up. We're going to now go and hang out after the game and that is what the sport is all about -a real camaraderie."
For more information about the Sunshine Coast Roller Girls, check out www.scrg.ca, 'like' them on Facebook or email [email protected].
