I am so excited, we are in Eastbourne. We traveled here last night from Hereford. Right now we are in a hotel getting ready to go to The Cage, that is where Eastbourne Extreme is played. It is an outside tournament.
The Cage is fantastic. It is just like last year, whistles whistling, skaters skating, it is amazing to be at Eastbourne, it makes me feel like I’m a hero.
My Dad asked if I could kit up to see if all of my kit was ok to play in or if we have to tape any of my pads up. Mum decided I needed new knee pads, they are actually elbow pads because my legs are so small.
Suddenly it was time to do the warmups. The coaches called us all down to the second track. The warmups went really well, we did loads of fun exercises and activities. We needed lots of time to get used to the floor. This is my first time playing roller derby at Eastbourne, last year I just watched the game This is also my first level 3 game. We do some more laps while we are waiting for our time to play.
OMG! It is time for the game. We are sat at our bench waiting for the first line up from our lineup manager. I mainly blocked but I did jam a few times. I found it very hard to jam at level 3. When I was level 2 I could get though the little gaps but now I am a level 3 the other players are so much bigger than me and they keep hitting me over. I get hurt a lot but that does not stop me from getting up and trying again. I only got through once or twice but I tried my best and gave it my all, I feel happy I did that. The game was brilliant and there were a lot of lead changes. At the end of the game I was very proud of what I had done well and know what I need to work on to get better.
Photo credit to Vinciane Piérart aka NSP 189
At the end of day 1 I had a treat by going to Pizza Hut which was amazing. After that it was time for me to go back to the hotel and have a nice sleep before watching Eastbourne Extreme day 2.
I’d like to say thank you to all the officials, announcers, photographers, organisers and every volunteer who made this tournament happen. 2 of my team mates officiated all weekend, ZebRoar and Marnie Moo’vOva, you are awesome!