All-Stars Take the Win on Home Turf

Charlotte Roller Girls All-Star’s jammer Do U Juana was the first to take the line against Little City Roller Girls skater Lil’ Capone. Both teams worked on defense forming walls of 4 skaters against the opposing jammer. Do U Juana was able to win her battle first stepping through on the inside line to earn lead jammer status. Lil’ Capone emerged not far behind and both skaters made a mark on the board picking up a single point for their teams.

Next up was All-Star’s jammer Shawn Shank Redemption against Little City’s Dee Veeus. The All-Stars forced a quick start to the jam by taking a knee at the jammer line. Shawn Shank Redemption broke through the pack first after that maneuver, but forfeited lead jammer eligibility on a minor penalty. Little City’s jammer quickly ended the jam after breaking through Charlotte’s wall of purple and being awarded lead jammer status.

Charlotte took a knee again at the jammer line, allowing All-Star’s jammer Rosie Cheeks to skate around the pack to the outside and earn lead jammer status. She picked up 3 points and called off the jam before Little City’s jammer, The Jenerator, could earn any of her own.

Da Bomb Chell, speed skater and jammer for the Charlotte Roller Girls, continued the momentum for the All-Stars when she earned lead jammer status and another 4 points for Charlotte, against Little City’s skater Joy Bomber.

Do U Juana returned to the track in the next jam, against a new Little City jammer Miss Thang. Do U Juana broke through the pack first with a half-track advantage over Miss Thang and added 2 points to Charlotte’s total.

Little City jammer Lil’ Capone had the first major success for her team when she earned lead jammer status against Shawn Shank Redemption after jumping the inside line and picked up 9 points in her two scoring runs while Charlotte’s jammer struggled in the pack with Little City’s blockers. The All-Stars did gain 2 more points at the end of the jam due to Shawn’s efforts.

Rosie Cheeks advanced Charlotte’s score another 4 points, after earning lead jammer status with an assist from blocker Emmylou Harass, in the following jam against Little City’s The Jenarator.

Joy Bomber took on Charlotte’s Da Bomb Chell in the next jam. Joy Bomber earned lead jammer status, but only emerged with a quarter track lead over Da Bomb Chell, who quickly caught up and forced Joy Bomber to end the jam with both teams scoreless.

Do U Juana added another 4 points to Charlotte’s total in her next turn on the track, as Charlotte Roller Girl’s All-Stars blockers Emmylou Harass and Amy Fister held Little City’s jammer Dee Veeus at the front of the pack.

Ten minutes into the first half, Shawn Shank Redemption returned to the line against Lil’ Capone. Charlotte started the jam with only two blockers in the pack. Shawn Shank Redemption laid a good hit on Lil’ Capone, but that didn’t stop her from breaking through the pack first, but earning a minor penalty in the process and forgoeing lead jammer status. She picked up 9 more points for the team from Tennessee, while Shawn struggled with the opposing blockers in the pack throughout the jam, bringing the score to 20 to 19, with a one point advantage to Charlotte.

Charlotte opted for a quick, no-pack start in the next jam allowing Rosie Cheeks to pick up lead jammer status and 4 more points against Joy Bomber. Da Bomb Chell added another 2 points when she donned the star in the next jam against Dee Veeus.

In the next match-up Miss Thang earned lead jammer status against Charlotte’s Do U Juana and added 4 points to Little City’s score. The Jenarator continued the momentum for Little City, earning lead jammer status against Rosie Cheeks. However, she lost sight of Rosie and allowed her to match the 6 points she scored.

Da Bomb Chell increased Charlotte’s lead by another three points in her next turn on the track. The following jam lasted a full 2 minutes as neither Do U Juana nor Joy Bomber was able to earn lead jammer status. Charlotte skated with a deficit of 2 blockers for much of the jam but that didn’t stop Do U Juana from earning 9 points. Joy Bomber matched her score with 9 of her own.

After a brief referee timeout to assess penalties, Charlotte jammers Shawn Shank Redemption and Rosie Cheeks increased the All-Stars total by another 5 points in the next two jams as their blockers Hellin Felon and Foxy Pound laid big hits on Little City’s jammers Madame Mayhem and Dee Veeus, who earned 2 points for her team.

In the next jam, Little City’s jammer earned herself a trip to the penalty box, leaving Da Bomb Chell on a power jam, where she added another 10 points to the All-Stars’ score, despite being down two blockers.

With 4 minutes and 57 seconds left in the first half, Little City called a timeout to re-group. When the bout started back up, Do U Juana earned lead jammer status against Lil’ Capone, but was sent to the box for a major track cut after only earning 3 points. Lil’ Capone racked up 13 during her power jam.

Dee Veeus and Joy Bomber continued the momentum for Little City adding 5 more points to bring their total to 58. The last jam of the first half saw Do U Juana take lead jammer status over The Jenerator, picking up 4 more points. Charlotte entered the half with 64 points.

When the bout resumed, the Charlotte Roller Girls began to gain speed and slowly started to increase the point spread from the mere 6 points that separated the teams at the half.

Do U Juana was back on the line against Little City’s jammer Anita Parton, who was at a 2 blocker disadvantage. Do U Juana added 3 points to the board.

Little City jammer, The Jenarator, picked up lead jammer status and 5 points in the next jam, but allowed Da Bomb Chell to earn 3 points on a power jam after getting herself sent to the box for a track cut, taking advantage of the All-Stars blockers impressive strategic command of the pack.

The All-Stars reset, sending Rosie Cheeks to the line to finish the power jam and add another 8 points to the board. Charlotte skaters Do U Juana and Katch Her in the Rye both earned lead jammer and added a few more points to the board after Lil’ Capone earned a trip to the box for an illegal procedure for taking down All-Stars skater Foxy Pound after the end of the jam. Shawn Shank Redemption took the star next and finished the power jam with Lil’ Capone standing in the penalty box. Shawn quickly earned lead jammer status and picked up 2 quick points before ending the jam.

With a little more than 20 minutes left in the game, Rosie Cheeks and Dee Veeus both picked up 3 more points. Next up, Da Bomb Chell and Little City’s jammer Psycho Simatic skated a full two minute jam as Psycho Simatic broke the pack first but failed to earn lead jammer status. Da Bomb Chell struggled with the Little City blockers taking multiple hard hits to the ground. Little City earned 13 points in that jam narrowing the points gap to 10, with Charlotte at 89 and Little City at 79.

Lil’ Capone began to have penalty troubles in the next few jams, allowing Charlotte to start to pull ahead significantly. It started with a jam against Do U Juana who took the outside lane to gain lead jammer status and add 17 points to the board while Lil’ Capone sat in the box for a major track cut on Charlotte Blocker Vibrant Thing. Shawn Shank Redemption took the line next and earned 5 more points as Lil’ Capone was sent to the box for a second track cut shortly after rejoining the game from her previous penalty.

Penalties began to compound for both teams with Rosie Cheeks starting the next jam with a 2 blocker deficit. She decided to make up part of that gap by staying in the pack and playing defense herself for a while, despite having lead jammer status. Lil’ Capone added 2 points to Little City’s score in that jam.

Do U Juana was the next jammer to have penalty problems as she went to sit in the box, giving The Jenerator lead jammer status and 10 points.

Lil’ Capone took the line again in the next jam, but was sent to the box for a back block, leaving Do U Juana on a short-lived power jam before she was sent to the box for a back block as well. Do U Juana earned 3 points and Lil’ Capone added 9 to her team’s total.

With less than 8 minutes left in the jam Shawn Shank Redemption earned lead jammer status and 4 points over Anita Parton, during her second turn on the track for Little City. Charlotte began to take advantage of their points lead as Shawn stalled for time on the track before calling off the jam.

Several penalties earned by Little City jammer Dee Veeus in the last jams of the bout wrote the end of the story for this game. With a little over 5 minutes left in the game, Dee Veeus left Rosie Cheeks on a power jam after a major cutting the track penalty. Rosie, who failed to earn lead jammer status herself picked up 14 points. Do U Juana took the track next and earned lead jammer status, while Dee Veeus finished her time, but didn’t have a chance to add any more points to the board before she called off the jam as prompted by coach, Lace of Spades.

Shawn Shank Redemption took the line in what was to be the last jam of the night, with Little City’s jammer standing in the penalty box with less than 10 seconds left to serve on her penalty. Shawn Shank Redemption was sent to the box, however for an illegal procedure as Dee Veeus rejoined the game. She added 12 points to Little City’s total before being sent back to the box for a major back block. Shawn added 6 more points to the Charlotte Roller Girl’s All-Star’s score.

The bout ended in slight confusion as the referees called a timeout with 15.4 seconds left in the game. As stated by the WFTDA rules, when an official timeout is called with less than 30 seconds on the clock, the game officially ends. The final score was 148-117, with the All-Stars taking the lead.

(All photos by Gene Lazo Photography)