Kalamity James - 88
Playing Since: September 2009
Likes: bashing people about, nights out, lie ins, and circuit training
Dislikes: people that flap, getting injured, Christmas
Positions: pivot, blocker, jammer
Sponsor: Funky Butt Club
Page: www.facebook/com/kalamityjamesnrg
- When was your first bout? First bout was in April 2009 against Auld Reekie Roller Girls’ Canon Belles. What a baptism of fire! I’d been skating about 8 months and it was pretty much everyone on the team’s first bout. We were all petrified on the coach drive to Edinburgh! It was also one of my favourite bouts, even though we lost we came a very close second, and it didn’t feel like losing at all.
- Who is your favourite player for Newcastle Roller Girls? My favourite player for NRG has to be my derby wife Bettie BasHer. She’s good at all positions, I like her shouting at me on track, it makes you focus! She also has in my opinion the best jammer on blocker dog fight skills on the team! Just when you think an opposing jammer has made it out of the pack, Bettie chases them down and takes them out. The fact that she is my derby wife is just an added bonus.
- Who is your favourite skater in the world? My all time derby crush is on Kamikaze Kitten from London Rollergirls. I fell in love with her skating style at 2010’s Fistful of Rollers – LRG vs. Texas Roller Girls’ Hustlers which followed a bootcamp held by Texas in the capital. She is such an aggressive skater, and always fully commits to whatever move she’s trying to execute. If I can be half as good a skater as her I would be very happy indeed! Her performance during the Montreal vs. LRG match at the 2011 East Region WFTDA playoffs absolutely blew me away. I like that she’s also lovely in real life, she gave me a program for Fistful of Rollers when I only had a fiver and they had no change on their merch stall!
- What is your proudest derby moment? Argh! there are so many! The first comes courtesy of Von Sleaze during our first ever win against Dolly Rockit Rollers in the summer of 2010. The rest of our line up were being very naughty and were in the bin, including our jammer, but between the two of us we managed to hold off the full five players from Dolly Rockits, that was pretty special. Being awarded Best Jammer during our match Thwack to the Future against Sheffield in September 2011. I got injured just before half time and only played one jam in the second half so I couldn’t believe it! I really took it as recognition for all the extra work I had put in to specifically be better at jamming. It made me a little weepy, and it wasn’t just the codeine talking! My third proudest moment was being sponsored by the Funky Butt Club. It made me feel really proud that somebody who had no affiliation to derby wanted to get involved and wanted to back and support me as they liked the way I skate. Oh and I should say having my mam, Grandad and brother cheering for me from the stands every home game is pretty special. My brother has even joined Tyne and Fear because of me skating!
- What is your most embarrassing derby moment? My most embarrassing derby moments are probably when I get a little overexcited and forget who my own jammer is! I can’t remember which game now but I think there were two occasions where I tried to block my own jammer! At least we won the game though, I would have been devastated if we’d lost because of my mistake. My other most embarrassing derby moment was during a black vs. white match held by Lincolnshire Bombers, I had just been released from the bin and saw my jammer struggling to get back to the pack as she was tired, I gave her a whip and promptly ended up straight back in the sin bin for engaging with a jammer outside of the 20 feet!
- What’s your set up?
- Skates/Plates/Stoppers: Riedell Vandals, with original stopper and a riedell leather toe cap
- Wheels: Radar Shadows
- Protection: 187 pro knee pads, anarchy elbow gaskets for practice 187 pros for games, Roces wrist guards, ProTech Dent mouthguard, TSG helmet.