By AmericanHurl Doll
The Wipeouts at the B-Legit Tournament in Sacramento, CA
This month, San Fernando Valley Roller Derby’s B Travel Team, the Wipeouts, got their first ever taste of tournament action as they headed to Sacramento to play in the B-Legit Tournament, hosted by SAC City Roller Derby. The team was excited to hit the road as this was also the farthest they have traveled together to play. They were really looking forward to some high caliber competition and the B-Legit Tournament did not disappoint.
The Wipeouts played with a limited roster due to some travel constraints for their usual players, and for some of the girls, it was their first ever bout against outside league teams! Every player, including their bench coaches, Dovahkill and Terror, gave their best, brought the heart, and left it all on the track. The Wipeouts played a total of three regulation bouts, with two games on Saturday and one game on Sunday, against more experienced and well established teams including Loco City, Sac City, and Monterey Bay. The exhausted Wipeouts fought hard and kept the games fairly close, even leading at halftime in one of the bouts, but ultimately they were unable to grab any wins. They definitely succeeded in earning the respect of their opponents and, of course, had a blast doing it!
The B-Legit Tournament was a wonderful team bonding and learning experience for the Wipeouts in dealing with all the variables that arise when you are far from home. Whether it’s dealing with having less players than usual, coping with exhaustion as you play in one jam after another due to an injured or ejected player, or even finding an open place to eat at 11:00pm at night when you are starving and in an unfamiliar town -- that's all part of the magic of travel team derby! The Wipeouts have definitely been bitten by the travel bug.
Keep an eye out for them, you just may see them repping the Green and Blue in your town very soon!