Tuesday, November 22, 2011

I Left My Heart in Team France

It was the name of the event organized by the Petites Morts of Bordeaux to raise funds for the French Team (btw, if you feel like donating go there) in order to help the players and coaches for their expenses at the Derby World Cup in Toronto next week!

The leagues which had players in the French Team
organized fund-raising events.

The Paris RollerGirls made the most of Halloween to throw a "Play Dead or Play Derby" party at Les Filles de Paris, with music -- Skarface (Ska) and DJ Set Dorian Darner (Electro-Rock) & Black Sifichi (Electro), with scary costumes, drinks, cupcakes, surprises and all.

Roller Derby Toulouse also did a party, the night before the Bordeaux weekend, soberly entitled "Support Your Roller-Derby Team" at the Dynamo, with concerts of I was a teenage alien (Pop-Punk), Bias (Punk-Rock) and MIL3¥ $3RI•VS (Seapunk/Electronique), not forgetting the After Beer Pong!


Bordeaux organized a different type of event:
The first ever game of the French Team... Vs. The Dark Side of France: players from French leagues who volunteered!

The event started the day before the bout with a practice/demo which gathered more than 30 rollergirls from all around France, run by Karla Karschër and myself with the help of Hell' Alaniak and Meryl Strip-Her, followed by a scrimmage on the Hockey Rink of the Docks of Bordeaux on Saturday, and with a surprise-party at the Broca 4 to end up the day. You would get free drinks if you were dressed in blue, and it was animated by the performances of Lispector, Mr. Crane and a Psch-Pshit DJ Set.

TEAM FRANCE Vs. LA FRANCE ENTIERE
But the real thing was the day after, at the university sports hall -- where I used to train in Freestyle Skating. Brings back memories! There's still a news clipping about me there, which the skating teacher of the uni had pinned on the board, back in 2006.

The event had two aims: offering one last training to the French Team and promoting Roller-Derby in France (and in Bordeaux -- it was the first big derby event there). The gym was not actually down-town but still people moved their asses on a Sunday afternoon to watch this curiousity of nature they had vaguely heard of. It was a success. And no doubt it will be a greater success next time (I hope there'll be a next time)!

Sunday started with a demo of Unicycle-Derby (Yep.) I'd heard of it for so long, I was glad to witness a demo at last!

It was our last rehearsal before D. Day, and the first bout we were playing in our official uniforms. blue tank tops and red short pants. Hot stuff!
Lots of girls from the French team were missing, but we were enough to form a correct roster. 
The girls on the opposite team, benched by Wheely Wonka and Belle Zebuth, still did a good job and improved their tactics all through the game. It's hard to play when you don't know your team-mates. I must say that some of them are promissing and I'm curious to see them play in a couple of months if I have the chance. Sorry, no names, I'm very bad at this. 

You don't want the scores because it's not what matters. Just as one of the Dark-sided said "Team France: either you love it or you kick it. We proved that we loved it a lot".

MEDIA ON THE EVENT

Pictures of Saturday's Demo:

Pictures of Sunday's Bout:

News Clippers:

1 comment:

  1. Juste un petit message pour te remercier pour le travail que tu fais en écrivant sur ton blog. Cela permet aux joueuses débutantes (comme moi) d'en apprendre plus sur le derby et ça fait super plaisir !
    Bref, je suis à fond derrière l'équipe de France de roller derby !!!!

    ReplyDelete