Liverpool Roller Birds, the team and administration as a whole, are committed to pushing harder this year to become the Top Level team we know we can be.  It will take hard work, determination, a bit of a humble stance, and the ability to say “We need to learn”.  That part is really easy, because LRB’s board has followed through on that determination! Two short weeks ago, we had the skill, expertise and knowledge of Team England’s Coach in our training hall.  Last night, we had the privilege of the coaching advice of perhaps the most dynamic skater in the North West, Tori B!

Tori has also been recently named as one of the few,  proud, rostered players for Team England. Tori is mainly known for her jamming skills, her ability to avoid almost every hit out there and her speedy race around the track that racks up all the points!  Naturally, we were expecting the coaching session to be focused on those skills – and believe me, they were! – but there was a surprising amount of information given about the cohesiveness of the team, strategy and blocking (including valuable zone defense coaching that the whole team plans to put to use!). After all of this fantastic information (and a little bit of a clue on how she gets by our blockers when our teams bout!), we can’t quite believe how much we’ve learned and how much it will help our game this season.  Cannot WAIT to try all this out, hone it in practice and put it into play on the track!

After these two sessions with high calibre coaches, only two weeks apart, we’re not sure who owns the team Derby Crush any longer.  After the Ballistic session, we were sure it couldn’t be supplanted, but I heard more people last night saying how amazing Tori is and calling her their derby hero… Hrm.  Sorry, Balls!

Skate fast, hit hard!

–Cali Floor’Ya