“It’s really nice to play a game at home,” says North Coast Nightmares coach Chris “Skimo” Thomas. “It’s also really nice to win at home.”
Nearly 300 Terrace roller derby fans were treated to their first home win May 9, a 121-89 takedown of Quesnel Gold Pain City, giving the Nightmares the 2-1 edge in their three game series with Gold Pain.
Both teams brought a small roster around 10 players a piece – a typical team has 14, meaning it was a tiring game – with Quesnel picking up jammers from Prince George. Terrace also had to make some changes to its roster, with Slaybia and Bam!b taking on the roles of jammers because the team’s regular points mavens couldn’t attend.
“They did an excellent job. They definitely deserve a shout out for filling in a difficult role that they’re not used to. Very different job than being a blocker – quite a change of pace,” said Thomas. “Kind of a different speed and different mentality because everyone’s out to hit you.”
This win marks two in a row for the Nightmares, and Thomas feels confident the team has cleared its early season goal of no longer spending 15 minutes at the beginning of the game essentially warming up – and then coming out strong in the second half but fighting to erase a deficit – with a more vigorous warm-up and other strategies. And he now has the team working on more specific goals.
Nightmare Jessica “Marge Sins Some” Hogg says the team is coming out a lot stronger right out of the gate, leading to some close, exciting play.
“The first half was pretty close, it would have been an amazing game to watch. We were playing a very, very strong defensive game so our jammers were getting through,” she said. The first half ended with Terrace up slightly, 64-53.
And then in the second half “we shine,” she said. “Came back from halftime and just sort of took off... it was awesome. It was a really physical game, lots of big hits and big blocks.”
Both Hogg and Thomas gave props to the fans, and noted that the team’s hardcore base is beginning to show.
Hopefully, some of those fans will decide to take the plunge and join the team.
“There’s definitely fans that we see coming out to all of the games. We’re still a small team – we don’t have enough people to field a full team – so I’m sure some of our next players will come from the stands, people who want to give it a try.”
Next up, the Nightmares hit the road for a big tournament in Vancouver hosted by the Terminal City Roller Girls. They’ll go up against similarly-ranked teams from Whistler, the Sunshine Coast, and the Okanagan to sharpen their competitive edge.
After that, it’s back to the Sportsplex to end the season against the PG Rated Roller Girls – and if the last game was any indication, it's a game that shouldn't be missed.