PORTRAIT N°18 - ANAIS LE BELLE

Anais Le Belle , alias Bonnie Tagueule or Bobo, is a Roller Derby player at Paris Roller Derby.

Can you introduce yourself in a few words?

My name is Anaïs, my derby name is Bonnie Tagueule, and I'm usually called Bobo. I'm a blocker/pivot on the Paris Roller Derby All Stars team.

When did you start playing roller derby? Was it your first sport? What got you into it?

I started roller derby in September 2013, I will soon be able to celebrate my 10 years of derby! Since childhood I have always loved and practiced co sports. Before derby I played basketball and handball. It was a friend who suggested I come and watch a derby training in Caen, I even told myself that it was not at all a sport for me, it took me a year before I started!

Can you quickly explain the discipline for people who are not yet familiar with this sport? Roller derby is a team sport, on quads (roller skates) and contact. The principle: Two teams (consisting of a maximum of 15 skaters) compete on a track (flat oval track). In play, on the track, there is one attacker for each team (jammer) and four people in defense for each team also (blocker) SPOILER ALERT: there is no ball. To score points, the jammer must exceed the hips of each blocker and it is one point earned for each blocker exceeded. A match is 2 x 30 minutes of play with a 15-minute break and is broken down into periods of 2 minutes maximum which are called "jams". And if there are fouls called, it's a 30-second penalty in the Penalty Box. The winning team is the one that scores the most points!

Which teams did you play for?

I started roller skating in Caen in September 2013 with the Leopard Avengers for 6 years, before transferring to Paris Roller Derby where I currently play.

You were recently selected to be part of the European team for a tournament in Portland featuring the world's best teams. Can you tell us more about this gathering and this European team?

In November, Rose City organized a tournament requesting the participation of a European team, to do so there was a promotion team, composed of about fifteen skaters from the biggest European teams. It was the first time we played together! We are really happy to have been able to participate in this event which brought together very big teams like Montreal, Denver or Rose City (world's number one team). We won 2 matches out of 3, so we can say that Europe was well represented during this tournament!

What do you feel when you play?

It's a feeling between stress and excitement. I'm always very eager to play. I always have the desire to progress and the desire to build something beautiful, both individually and collectively.

Your best memory of a match or competition?

One of my best game memories was in Winston-Salem, with PRD, we went to make the playoffs. It was a first for me! And for our first game, we faced Santa Cruz, according to the statistics we had a 3% chance of winning against this team. And we won, by 3 points! It was incredible. We broke the bracket!

Your best off-field memory?

I have a lot of wonderful off-field memories, including off-field moments, team trips, team building (whether with Caen or Paris), and after-parties. One of the memories that really stands out is when I went to Manchester to watch the Roller Derby World Cup with a friend. It was an incredible weekend, with an extraordinary atmosphere and teams with superb levels of play. It was a great time! Alongside my role as a player, I am also a coach; I prepare bootcamps (days or weekends of intensive training) for teams that want them. And every time, it is a huge pleasure, meeting new people, new cities, passing on my knowledge and also sharing great moments, whether in France or abroad.

Which sports car do you like the most?

There are several sportswomen that I admire, Gaby Williams & Marine Johannes for basketball, Alicia Putellas for football, in the derby Loren Mutch who I find incredible.