One year after "4 Matchs et 1 Entraînement", the tournament concept of the Nantes Derby Girls evolves into "West Track Story". Bigger, better, harder, stronger.
The Parisian Quedalles (our B-Team) and the Duchesses of Nantes have reenlisted this year too. The players of the capital are ready to fight for the title they won last year.
Two European teams have made the trip to complete the casting: The Belgian Brussels Derby Pixies and the English Birmingham Blitz Dames.
Key-words: show and performance!
The event took place on Saturday March, 9th from 12AM to 10PM, an afternoon during which four bouts were going to follow one another.
BIRMINGHAM BLITZ DAMES : 181 // 97 : DUCHESSES OF NANTES
• The Parisians were not playing the first game so that they could have a look at their potential future opponents, Nantes and Birmingham. The latters, whose captain Violet Attack was in Team England 2011, imposed their style -- and their strong built -- right away, leaving no chance to the Duchesses despite their determination.
In the meantime, the Quedalles were busy fixing unfortunate mishaps: a lost mouthguard replaced by a team-mate's spare one, molded at the last minute thanks to the kettle of the food stand, or a broken plate and a desperate seach for substitute skates in size 36, amongst other stressing surprises. Routine, right?
• The second game opposed the Parisian Quedalles to the Belgian Pixies. A tough and very close game, with both sides rivaling in strategies and tactics to achieve their aims. The Pixies took the lead right away and widened the score up to 40 to 1. Paris is slow on the uptake, that's our touch. Hopefully, they finally warmed up enough to take hold of the situation.
• Although they had hardly slept the previous night and despite their numerical inferiority, the Pixies gave a hard time to the the Parisians, who held on to get a well-deserved victory, which opened them the way to the final, against the Blitz Dames of Birmingham!
DUCHESSES OF NANTES : 213 // 126 : BRUSSELS DERBY PIXIES
• The Pixies directly met the Duchesses for the consolation final. The poor Pixies had already spent all their energy on the track against the Quedalles and ran out of steam for their second game. Their reactivity and precision were diminished and Nantes made the most of the situation to impose their lead. The fate of the game was quickly sealed.
• Nantes saved face in keeping the 3rd place they had acquired last year. On the other hand, despite an impressive performance of teamwork on their first game, their
lack of energy during the third-place final cost dearly to the Pixies, who end up at the 4th place of the tournament. But this is just a number!
BIRMINGHAM BLITZ DAMES : 197 // 148 : PARIS ROLLERGIRLS QUEDALLES
• Time was flying and it was already the turn of the final confrontation: the Quedalles Vs. the Blitz Dames. Our players were more serene for the final game: they had reached their minimum objective, the rest was bonus. From the spectator's eyes, the most worrying thing was the discrepancy of builts: English giants Vs. French shrimps! Yet, far from letting themselves intimidated, the Quedalles fought hard not to be outrun. And it worked!
• The whole game was breathtaking with a constructive interaction within, as well as between the teams. There was a great sportsmanship all through the game, which made it even more pleasant to watch.
• Two powerjams in favor of the English by the end of the first period enabled them to take a comfortable lead. Nevertheless, the Parisians did not throw in the sponge, constantly adapting their strategies to their opponents. The game ends up with a score of 197 to 148 in favor of Birmingham. A highly symbolical score as they did not reach the 200's, and less than 50 points separate the two finalists: A fail with a strong taste of victory for our B-Team!
• Let's wish a speedy recovery to the few injured skaters of the last game!
AFTERPARTY
• The day ended up with the final of all finals: the afterparty at the Dynamo Café rock bar.
• This is when we decided to head back to Paris by car. We arrived at 7AM and went straight back to bed!
BOOTCAMP
• While we were sleeping the day away in Paris, some girls were taking part in the Sunday bootcamp following the tournament, held by Stefanie Mainey, the captain of Team England and main coach of the London Rollergirls, and by Olivia Coupe who is part of the London Brawling. In the meantime, a refs and NSO bootcamp was animated by Riff Reff of Stuttgart and Pussy Panzerfaust!
• The double bootcamp finished with a scrimmage gathering the players, refs and NSOs.
A little thought to my hosts of the weekend -- It may sound pretty lame, but my mom fell in love with the name of 'Chloé' after having read Boris Vian's "L'écume des jours", a French surrealist novel of the 1940's... the main characters of which are: Colin & Chloé.
RELATED LINKS:
- Photo Gallery by Insane Motion: Duchesses Vs. Blitz Dames
- Photo Gallery by Insane Motion: Quedalles Vs. Pixies
- Photo Gallery by Insane Motion: Duchesses Vs. Pixies
- Photo Gallery by Insane Motion: Quedalles Vs. Blitz Dames
- Nantes Derby Girls Website
- Paris RollerGirls Website
- Brussels Derby Pixies Website
- Birmingham Blitz Dames
"Oh putain j'ai pas mon mouthguard. Oh merde. Oh non merde." *pleure*
ReplyDeleteSally Broyeur à la rescousse. Quedalles team spirit <3