PVRD 2012 Season Opener: Bout Preview

Today the Dirty Dozen take on Vermont Men’s Roller Derby — Bombers and PVRD’s two women’s home teams, the Florence Fightin’ Gals and Quabbin Missile Crisis, go head to head in the opening bout of the Pioneer Valley Roller Derby season.

How do captains Will Jettison, Celia Casket and Pink Panzer expect this double header will go? Across the board, the three captains say they are “pumped” and expect the co-ed team from Northampton to bring a lot of talent and ferocity to the table.

Will Jettison:

I am really pumped about the 2012 Dirty Dozen as we go into our first bout of the season. We have a lot of new team members who came onto to Dozen with a lot of talent. We’ve been pushing really hard in the off season getting ready for 2012. We have really jelled as a team and have a much deeper jammer rotation than we have for years. I believe we are going into the best season yet for the Dozen.

We are ready for the Vermont Men’s Roller Derby – Bombers. We know they have some big hitters and jammers that will capitalize on any mistake we make. But the Dozens teamwork is second to none and I am confident that mistakes will be absolutely minimum this year.

Florence Fightin’ Gals captain Celia Casket said that, although skaters were switched from the lineups last year (so some of your favorite women in blue may now be women in red) the resulting teams are evenly matched and competitive.

“There are some amazing lineups to be had on each team,” Casket said. “I think this should prove a challenging and fun home season.”

Casket also said she was thrilled to have Williston’s Lossone Rink as a venue this year. Last year, the Western Mass Destruction played the Sufferjets of Ithica in the same space.

“The crowd there brings a wonderful energy to our bouts. They are responsive to play as a veteran spectator would be,” Casket said.  “Their enthusiasm is fantastic, and it just makes the game so much fun to play as a skater.”

Meet the 2012 Board of Directors

In the annual changing of the guard, Pioneer Valley Roller Derby members elected a new board of directors on December 12.

The new board members range from skaters who’ve been with PVRD since the beginning to skaters with less than a season under their belts; from a head ref with a flair for pastries to a yarn-loving treasurer; from a critical care nurse captain to a social media manager.

So, just who are the league representatives this year?

Dirty Dozen’s Toughest Challenge: MRDA’s Big Apple Beatdown

Dirty Dozen Captain, Will Jettison, predicts his team will face their toughest challenge yet when the boys in camo head to Long Island for MRDA’s Big Apple Beatdown on October 22, 2011.

The series of tough bouts — with the top six men’s teams in the country competing — begins for the Dozen with a 11:15 am bout against Puget Sound (Tacoma, WA). The tournament, an inaugural championship for the Mens Roller Derby Association, will have playoffs in the evening, with the championship bout at 7:30 pm. The Dirty Dozen are going into the tournament with a fifth place ranking.

In his recent Derby News Network article, Justice Feelgood Marshall said that the Dozen “have a challenging but attainable goal in the first round as they need to take down Puget Sound to advance.” Marshall also noted that the men of Pioneer Valley is one of the Beatdown’s shortest rosters with 11 players.

That doesn’t bother Jettison, who says that for the past two weeks the team has focused on “what we need to do to win.”

“Part of this involves building on what we have been working on all year,” says Jettison.

For more information on the MRDA Championships, head on over to the website of the hosts, the New York Shock Exchange.

Can’t make it to Bethpage, N.Y.? No worries! PVRD will be posting updates on Twitter and Facebook throughout the day. The bouts will also be live streamed on Derby News Network.

Dozen’s Experience Stops Quads in Connecticut Win

Quick stats:

Dirty Dozen 138, Connecticut Death Quads 37
MVPs #4 Zak Sabbath and #49 Bazooka Joe
Connecticut Roller Girls 71, PVRD Women 38 (30-minute)

PVRD vs. Connecticut:

Outnumbered two-to-one on the bench, the Dirty Dozen were able to leverage skater experience to stop the Death Quads with fast jamming and effective blocking. Quick starts at the whistle worked against the Quads, as the Dozen formed walls of blockers in the back of the pack and all but hid their  jammers from view. Cycling kept the opposition in check, although a few holes on the inside line gave the Quads’ jammers just enough room to squeak by and score.  By the half in Waterbury, the Dirty Dozen were leading by a 52-point advantage,   70 to the Quads’ 18. The Dozen increased that lead in the second half to bring the score to 138-37. Captain Will Jettison later said that the evening was “an incredible demonstration of the talent that is the Dirty Dozen.” Bazooka Joe snagged the Dozen’s MVP award for the night, but the unofficial, most-impressive-injury award went to Dr. Spankenstein, who left sporting a particularly impressive shiner thanks to a wayward helmet.

On the women’s side, props go to Honey Badger, Hot Head Paisan, Lis Macrum, and Molly Musket, who went up against Connecticut in their first PVRD interleague play. Cali Burr, returning to the track after taking time to complete her Massachusetts Police Academy training, was also a welcome (re) addition. The ladies of Pioneer Valley Roller Derby spent a hard-hitting 30 minutes against a mixed Connecticut Roller Girls team, but came up short by a score of PVRD 38 to CTRG 71.

Will Jettison #84

Age: 43

Hometown: Pownal, Vermont

PVRD team: Dirty Dozen

 

Endless jammer is Will’s favorite derby drill, since he likes to block with the pack.

Left alone on a desert island, Will would build a banked derby track in the sand because “beach roller derby would be the ultimate fun.”

In Will’s secret lair, you’ll find guns and guitars. “I gave up Rock and Roll for Derby but I still play around when I get the chance,” says Will. “And all real Vermonters have guns, just ’cause.”

 Will is making a run for the Guiness Book of World Record as the world’s tallest derby skater.

 Will has always loved to skate and confesses he’s wanted to be on the Dirty Dozen since he saw the team in 2008.

Find out where you can see Will in a bout or give him a big hello on Facebook.