The North Coast Nightmares defeated the Rated PG Rollergirls 256-88 at their first home game on Saturday.
It was their second game in 2018, with their first 89-230 loss to the higher-level Prince George Northstars, an official team of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
But coach Chris Thomas (Skimo) says they felt good about the results in both bouts because they beat the expected score ratios twice.
“The team is getting a lot better at timing, offence and defence transitions. We’ve been working on that lately, and they proved it at the game,” said Thomas, referring to the team’s ability to run offensive strategies at the same time as stopping the opposing jammer.
The Terrace-based Nightmares are now ranked 41 in Canada, a solid climb from the 72nd place standing they held last May.
“The last three years it’s been a solid climb,” said Thomas, noting that four years ago they were ranked 182 at the bottom.
READ MORE: Nightmares roller derby team climbing the ranks
“It’s definitely slowing down now, because as you get higher, it becomes harder and harder to continue that trend,” he said.
Ranking is done Canada-wide, and North America-wide, and is based on the scores of every bout against another ranked teams.
Thomas says scheduling bouts against other ranked team has been the other challenge, with six to eight scheduled some previous years, but only two more coming up this season.
Those games are both June 9 in Whitehorse, where the Nightmares will face the Yukon Roller Girls and the Denali Destroyer Dolls.
The Nightmares will also host a home tournament in Terrace May 5, with four or five bouts against unranked teams. That will include a bout against TOAST, the Thompson Okanagan all-star team, which includes a few prior Nightmares who moved there.
jackie@terracestandard.com
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