So there you were chewing over the majesty of Verry Cherry’s account of the CCR summer when it abruptly ended. You sat there, stroking your chin contemplating…hang on, what about the rest of the story? Who are we at CCR towers to deny you…here is the rest of her summer diary!

“So we’d played two awesome sanctioned games but surely that wasn’t all we did this Summer? Well, we also had our second round of Brit Champs to get our paws into. After our home leg of “BC” got cancelled due to the insane snow, we had to play our 3 games in our 4 team structure within 2 months. This kicked off in May with London Rockin’ Rollers in Glasgow.

CCR all got on a train, sleepy eyed clutching massive cups of coffee, and headed up north (even more North than Newcastle!) to take on the awesome LRR. We arrived in Glasgow, headed to the venue, strapped on our kit and got on track. CCR and LRR have met on tracks many a time, and each time they give us a great game. We were able to play some newer skaters during this game, which was a great experience for all involved. CCR came home with a win. First ‘BC’ game done and dusted!

Our final ‘BC’ game was to be a double header up in Liverpool against the hosts and Glasgow (that’s a lot of black and gold in one place). I had the pleasure / daunting task of bench managing …annoucing, skating, bench, I’m determined to Roller Derby bingo all the roles!

Last min preparation for this game took a slightly different tact as England (the football team) had exceeded everyone’s expectation and got out of the group stages so while I’m not saying we watched the Columbia game huddled around a phone instead of skating… we sort of did, but this win also meant the Quarter Final would be on during our game (cue me preying for a bad phone signal in the sports hall!)

It was hotter than buttery toast in Liverpool but with a sack of Tip Tops (yeah, not ice poles) and a ton of water each, the team took on all that was thrown at them and grabbed not one but two wins, making CCR the gold medal recipients of Tier 1. Thanks goes to all the teams we played. We took something from each game. I’d love to mention everyone but think I’ve rambled on enough, but the whole 20 pulled together and last week we had our trophy in the post to cement our achievements and boost us into the next few months at CCR.

The next few months will of course be dominated by the WFTDA Continental Cup, but we’ll also by continually building our B team with a range of scrims and closed games. Plus continuing our commitment to training officials with our Ref bootcamps and supporting other roller derby events – I was in A-coruna on the mic and Rollin’ Rat was blowing them whistles. October’s MRDA championship in Salam USA will see IllBilly’s SDRD bid for a medal on their 4th appearance at champs.

Other highlights this summer included:

Eastbourne Extreme – 3 of CCR’s newer B team / rookie skaters took part in this annual outdoor scrim in the baking sun – nice one Power, Debbie & Darcy!

CCR hosted a Ref bootcamp and scrim – full on track fun was had with skaters from all over the land officiated by 15 new “zebras” including 3 juniors.

Plus loads of scrims for both the A and B team, recruitment days and our very own Dr. Knock got married to the wonderful Randy – AAAaaww.

Wowzar that’s a lot of stuff! Hold onto your mouth guards, this year is only going to get better!

With love VC x”

Photos courtesy of Floyd King Photography.

Wow, this Summer has gone by fast; one minute we’re cancelling games due to the snow, next we’re getting our factor 50 on as we go up and down the M6 and now, well, it’s almost ‘PSL time’ (that’s pumpkin spice latte). Let’s reflect on the last few months here at CCR towers, in the words of the illustrious Verry Cherry #69.

“After a stellar start with international trips playing in France and Germany, it was time to focus on more ‘local’ games (and by local we mean 4 hours up the motorway – we know this means nothing to you Stateside but in the UK, this is far). Our first game was in Newcastle to play a team who are almost level with Arrg in terms of the amount of times we’ve met – the lovely, Newcastle Canny Belters!

Our Head Coach, Illbilly, was back fresh from playing at the Men’s World Cup (with a silver medal to boot) and it was time to put the months of training into practice and focus on this season’s goals. We wanted to continue building on our strengths, and continue to play challenging teams. The game was hard fought, Newcastle are built of strong stuff! They are tough and focussed, but CCR pulled off a win, with a 72 point differential. High fives all round!

I’m going to jump about the time line here like the dude from Quantum Leap, bear with me! #warning #whattimelines #disruptingthespacetimecontinuum #1955?

Next in the pipeline, we had 2 sanctioned games, with two teams we have never played – Steel City from Pittsburgh and Lille from well, Lille.

First up, was Steel City in May as the expo game in Euro Clash (hello Newcastle, again). After watching Tiger Bay and Blitz Dames grabbing weighty wins from them we went into the game feeling determined, like we had a job to do – and do a job we did! CCR worked hard (I can say this with pride as I was LUM for the day) playing smart, steady defence, patient offence and quick-witted jamming! At the final whistle, we were able to obtain a 245 points differential, giving us a win to take way in our pink and black bag!

Back on home turf, in our one and only home game this entire season, we hosted a double header with our A Team vs Lille and our B team vs Hallam Hellcats. I wasn’t at this game as I love Guns and Roses more than CCR so went to Download Festival, cue me (a few ciders down) sitting in a tent with Rollin’ Rat screaming at the CCR Forum waiting for updates while trying to explain the rules of roller derby and the WFTDA ranking system to our fellow campers.

First up, was the A Team game vs Lille. Although we had never met Lille before we knew there were a strong team not to be underestimated. It was a close game as both teams played strong and strategic. After 60 minutes, and after a few more Dark Fruits for me, CCR had claimed the win with a 24 point difference.

Next came the B Team game. We had recently welcomed new skaters into our B Team roster including Mim the Merciless, Honour Rampage, Rita Skate Worth, Darcey Daydream and Violet Disregard. The new look B Team took on hard hitting Hallam and came out victorious with a 56 point differential. More cider followed.

After a whirlwind couple months, we were excited to move up the WFTDA rankings. We had worked hard, travelled for many hours, played some challenging games, this was exciting. In the early hours of July 12^th, with our WFTDA rankings at #57, we were invited to play at the WFTDA Continental Cup hosted by our “this town is big enough for both of us” neighbours Birmingham Blitz Dames. We accepted. There is no more glamorous place than Telford. We can’t bloody wait!

Part 2 of The Cherry Diaries coming soon!

Click here for the FB event to Continental Cup on October 27th-28th 2018!

Game Photos from Floyd King Photography

Other Photos from Verry Cherry Productions