They had 225 reasons to be happy about, in fact.
The Lil Chicago Roller Derby team won for the first time this season, beating the Battlefords Lunachicks 225-182, at home on the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre track.
“It is a good time to celebrate for us,” said Krista “Addy 2D Juster” Michelson. “With the new team this year, it has taken a lot of work (and) a lot of sweat, but we are starting to gel as a team. I think you could see that on the track.”
The Jawbreakers were specifically ready for the Lunachicks after watching quite a bit of video.
“We have been studying this other team for awhile. We have been studying their moves and which players we had to watch,” explained Michelson. “We worked our strategy around them and it all came together nicely.”
Having seen what the Battleford team would bring helped bring in a strategy they implement and be successful with early on in the bout.
The Jawbreakers rushed out to a 128-80 lead at the halftime break. They did let the Lunachicks back into the game in the second half, but pushed hard in the last couple of jams to keep that gap wide enough.
One of the reasons they were able to keep scoring was the play of jammer Mackenzy “Q-Tee McWiskers” Vida.
Vida is 16-years-old and is the youngest player on the team. She is just old enough to play with the senior team.
What was special about Vida’s play in the senior game was that she had already played — and dominated — in the junior game earlier with the Lil Chicago’s Most Wanted team.
“It wasn’t as bad as I thought,” Vida said of playing both games. “I was warmed up by the second game and ready to go, but now I am feeling it.”
Vida has been skating for three years and skating is something she personally thinks she is good at.
Although the senior team is much more physical, Vida is confident in her ability to play both levels.
“It is fun with both, but I don’t really notice a difference between the two,” she said. “I have played with teams that have hit as hard as the seniors. I am pretty comfortable with it now.”
The transition from junior to senior appears to be going seamlessly for Vida and she credits the help of the Jawbreakers for that.
“They are very accepting and supportive,” she said. “They are always there for me and checking up on me. I am really happy to be skating with them.”
The Jawbreakers have dedicated a lot of time this season into their training as a team and individually — on and off the track.
“This is just our second bout at home, but so many of us have religiously heading out of town or out of province every weekend to hit up scrimmages and bootcamps just to improve ourselves and bring it back to the team,” stated Michelson. “I think that is what is helping us gel as a team. We are all contributing on the little things that we are picking up everywhere.”
The Jawbreakers will face off against the Redneck Betties in Swift Current before hosting the Prince Albert Outlaws next month.
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