Terrace’s North Coast Nightmares roller derby team fell to Quesnel’s Gold Pain City at their first home bout of the season – but if they’d had a few more minutes things might have been different.
The Terrace team rallied hard during the final half of the May 10 game, racking up between 20 and 30 points in the final two minutes to close the gap to a 95-78 final for Quesnel after trailing significantly for most of the game.
“The game from the perspective of playing on the track was a little too slow for us, unfortunately. We didn’t get our strategies in place until the second half, definitely with five more minutes the score could have looked a lot different,” said Nightmare Jessica “Marge Sins Some” Hogg. “They were tired and it was visible on the track, we could have kept going easily. It was unfortunate that the timer ran out.”
But it was still “a really great game,” she said. Not to mention a solid testament to how much the team has progressed over the course of the year – almost exactly one year ago, Quesnel beat the Nightmares by a margin of nearly 300 points.
“It was an impressive game as far as the low scores, last time we played them there was like a 300 point spread and they beat us bad,” she said.
“But that was also our very first competitive game as a team ... I feel like we’ve evolved and gained a lot of experience this season and it’s definitely helping us.”
They’ll be using their experience at the bout to continue that progression.
“They had some really tough walls that our jammers were having a hard time breaking through,” said Hogg. “So I think our coaches and our team will be focussing on some more offensive strategy for our jammers, making sure that we have blockers that are aware of there jammer, and playing offensively within the pack as well to help us get through those tough walls.
The crowd of close to 600 at the Terrace Sportsplex was in fine form, with a strong contingent of first timers and out-of-towners taking in the northwest’s burgeoning roller derby scene.
“The community support is amazing,” said Hogg. That includes the officials, support staff and volunteers who work at the games – the Nightmares had two North Coast refs at the bout, the rest travelled from Quesnel, and numerous other volunteers were on hand.
The Nightmares plan to give back to the northwest roller derby community, hosting a bootcamp in Smithers this summer, which could ultimately lead to more bouts closer to home as that team gains experience.
As for their next official game, they’ll be up against familiar faces. The Nightmares will meet up against Quesnel, this time in the Gold Pain City, June 28.