Captain Slaybia's Reflections on the Championship

Izabell Ringer, the championship trophy, and Slaybia Majora

We asked Heartless Heathers Captain Slaybia Majora for her thoughts on winning the championship, and she graciously responded:

Champions - the word keeps echoing in my mind and I have had a dopey grin on my face since Saturday. That was probably the single most amazing game I have played in since I started skating 3 years ago.

I admit going into the game I was a little worried and by the end of the 1st half I was ready to puke. A 7 point lead in derby is negligible and nothing to be relied upon. I knew the game was going to be close and that we would have to fight tooth and nail for it the entire time.

Looking at the team during the break I saw smiles and laughter and felt a relaxed attitude which made me a wee bit dubious. We were getting ready for the fight of our lives/derby careers and the Heathers are having a good time, not the typical reaction to a high stress situation. We had a quick meeting before going out again saying to step up the intensity, get mean, play harder, this is the last 30 minutes of your life and so on and still they were smiling. It was starting to freak me out. But, of course, the Heathers are the red-headed step-children of the league so I should have known the mood would be the opposite of typical.

In the 1st half there was a slow building of intensity and teamwork that helped us hammer away at the Betties. During the 2nd half that slow progression was upped tenfold by each and every Heather pushing herself and her teammates to the next level. The team was looking like a well oiled machine out there with players rotating, recovering and hitting the crap out of opposing jammers. Our bench was cool and collected and not a single player looked over played or tired. I think this is what really won us the game. Our bench is deep so we could basically throw any blocker or jammer out there and we didn't have to put all the strain on the top players. Players felt confident working with their teammates and thus everyone's self-confidence was heightened and we played an extremely smart game.

I'm not saying the 2nd half was an easy one. There were moments that made me feel like my insides wanted to be outside and that reminded me of our game against the Betties earlier this season. We always seemed to manage to pull ourselves together though and then rally for another jam.

I was truly amazed by our performance on Saturday. All that we had worked on as a team came together beautifully. Every single player brought their best game to the track and brought home this victory. I was a Heather during the 06 Championship and can tell you this one felt so much better. The Heathers, our support staff, and our awesome fans have my undying love, affection and gratitude. This past year has been a hard one for me and winning this Championship is the first time I've felt genuinely happy in a while. Thank you to everyone for helping with this win. HPV!!!!!

Slaybia Majora