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 The Springfield Honda Newcastle Eagles, Guildford Heat, Westfield Sharks Sheffield and Scottish Phoenix Honda Record Rocks all progressed from the BBL Championship Playoff Quarter Finals games to reach the illustrious Basketball Finals Weekend at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham at the end of April.
The Basketball Finals Weekend is the culmination of the 2005/06 UK Basketball Season involving professional men's and women's teams from the top leagues in the UK.
The weekend was certainly packed full of adrenalin-pumping entertainment both on and off the court which left spectators on the edge of their seats. And as always the Rockettes played a major role in this sporting extravaganza!
This is one exciting competition where the winners of the two Semi-Finals return the next day to compete for the BBL Championship Playoff Crown – cheered-on by the UK's top Pro-Sports Dance Team 'The Scottish Rockettes'.
So you want to know exactly what happened? Well here is Rookie Hazel to give you all the details…
Hi Guys
Well it's Playoffs time and us lucky ladies are heading to Birmingham to shake our bootie at the Final. The Rocks have done us proud this year and made it through to the Semi-Finals, well done guys. Since we are ever-devoted to our team we decided we would make an effort, get out of our beds early and travel down to Birmingham in time to cheer the boys on at the game.
We all got up bright and early and headed for Carole Anne's flat where she was waiting looking very glamorous in our chariot for the weekend… a wee white mini-bus!!!
Pack light Carole Anne says… You mad?!! You're talking to a bunch of cheerleaders here! We can't travel without our tan, make-up, curling tongs, pom-poms, boots, endless supply of outfits – that we def won't need but want to take just in case – need I go on? Lucky for us the bus was bigger than last time.
Off we set in high spirits on our road trip. It was a gorgeous day so our shades were on, windows down and music was blaring with us singing like a cat's choir along to our fav tunes. A few pit-stops later (usually for poor Carrie), we were nearly at our destination. This was where the fun started, imagine 12 beautiful cheerleaders (that's us incase your wondering) trying to discreetly get changed into jeans and our Rockettes t-shirts on a mini-bus without upsetting (or delighting) fellow drivers or getting Carole Anne stopped by the police, oh how glamorous and classy we are!
We arrived at the NIA and headed in to cause some mayhem. We stopped-off and screamed some support to the Rocks boys who I'm positive were happy to see us (aye right!) and headed off to do our bit for charity before we settled down to watch the game. The tournament was raising money for a charity called 'FranksLastWish' so us girlies grabbed our buckets and pestered the life out of every passer-by until they had emptied their pockets and our buckets were full, we are angels eh?
The game was about to start so we grabbed our seats with the other fans and all I can say is we 'screamed our lungs out' in support of the Rocks. We def got over-excited at times, jumping out of our seats (in fact poor Carrie totally missed hers and ended-up on the floor, oops!) and starting chants but hey that's what we're here for and… it worked! The Rocks won the game against Sheffield and gained their rightful place in the Final against Newcastle Eagles. GO ROCKS!
(Oh, I nearly forgot, Foxy fell over a barrier in front of us… I shouldn't laugh at other peoples' expense but it was damn funny eh girls! Sorry Foxy x)
Now slightly hoarse and dizzy from all the screaming we set off to find our hotel which Carole Anne had been informed was only across the road! We grabbed our bags (cases I should say) and set off. Well after 20 minutes of walking and still not coming across the hotel, you've got to wonder if some people's idea of 'across the road' differs slightly from the norm :). There we all were stomping down the busiest street in Birmingham, which by this point was packed with people out on the town for a Saturday night, and we're knocking them out the way with our bags and looked slightly flushed and sweaty! EVENTUALLY we found our hotel, a few miles further away than we'd have liked but since it was gorgeous we didn't mind in the end.
Quick change and we hopped-out for some food at a lovely wee Italian restaurant the girls normally visit. Had a glass of wine, a good gab and then decided as we had such a big day on at the Final we should all head to bed for a good rest and some beauty sleep (not that we need it of course).
Up bright and early the next morning we all met over breakfast and I have to say, pre make-up, tan and straighteners we're still all gorgeous, (you owe me girls).
We glammed ourselves up and headed to the Arena, this time by taxi and not on foot thank God, although this in itself was hysterical. Thankfully the taxi I was in made it to the Arena quick smart, the others weren't so lucky and took the girls on a road trip to the NEA (wrong arena)! On arrival back at the NIA the taxi drivers then tried to charge them a fortune to which as you can imagine the girls took offence, anyway to cut a long but very funny story short it resulted in a lot of shouting, queueing traffic and empty purses – never a dull moment.
As I mentioned, we are professionals, so we'd arrived at the Arena a lot earlier than everyone else so we could have a rehearsal on court and make sure we all had everything clear in our heads so the day ran according to plan and we give the best performance we can.
Let the games begin…
There were a few finals running on the day, the 1st Division Men's and Women's Finals as well as the Rocks game. We provided tunnels and cheered the teams onto the court and then added some glamour for their presentations.
Foxy – our favourite mascot – was there as usual and entertained the crowds by basically causing mischief, oh and bless him, the wee soul bought us girls a massive box of cookies which we then hid from Kat M and claimed we'd eaten them… she was not amused but saw the funny side of it when we produced the box with some cookies left just for her, anyway. Thank you Foxy for the cookies, we love you loads.
It was just about time for our big game so we squeezed ourselves into our sexy uniforms (God, I love mine), curled/straightened our hair some more, added some more make-up and loosened-up, then we were off.
Our first routine was 'boots' where we get to play with cowboy hats instead of pom poms (yippee). It went down a storm and the crowd were amazing, what a buzz we all had afterwards, the atmosphere was great and I have to say thank you to the Rocks fans who were singing their hearts out for us and the team.
One of the hardest parts of working at a Final is that we have to be un-biased which is a nightmare when your team is taking part, think some of us could have done with some duct tape to shut us up, eh Cha!!!!
The game was great and at half-time we were leading by about 10 points, the fans were going mad and we were all getting a bit excited. No rest for us though – we were on court with Foxy keeping everyone amused, firstly he done his usual trick of running the length of the court, jumping on a trampet and dunking the ball although this time he managed to jump FOUR Rockettes as well… impressive Foxy… although I was terrified for my life. Then he had a dance-off with Claire… bless him he tried hard but sorry Foxy our Claire is way too good and bendy to compete with but 10 points for trying.
Unfortunately the second half didn't go according to plan and Newcastle managed to take the lead and win the game much to our horror!!!!!
Ever the professionals we smiled and gave their team and their fans a good cheer, they had put on a good show. Our poor boys though, they were gutted, it was awful watching them collect their 2nd-place medals and see them have to watch Newcastle lift the trophy, I know all the girls felt for them… but hey second place is nothing to be ashamed of, I know that all the Rocks fans and Rockettes were really proud of the team so to the boys 'thank you for a great season – you did us proud and hopefully next season we'll prove we deserve to be number one. Keep up the good work, we're all behind you'.
Well that was it, excitement over. We packed up our stuff and headed back to our luxurious chariot!!!! (I'm thinking of some fundraising over the summer Carole Anne – I'm pretty sure I can raise enough for a luxury coach, sign-written in diamantes, what you think?)
We had a long sleepy journey home but we'd had a great weekend, hopefully we'll get to do it again next season.
Lastly before I stop boring you all I just want to say a big 'thank you' to my fellow Rockettes for a great season and amazing memories.
Carole Anne, you've been a great coach and you have the patience of a saint thank God, you should be proud. Kat M, thank you for squeezing me into that suitcase, we had fun eh! Carrie, thanks for helping me look beautiful and all our nights out. Claire Bear you're a sweetie, thanks for the e-mails and getting me through the day. Karen you're a gem, thanks for everything. Clayr you're nuts, thanks for the singing!!! Kat F, thanks for just being you, you're the sweetest girl I know. Kelly thanks for being totally off your head, you're hysterical and so cute. Cha, there is only one of you, you're unique and nuts, thanks for the laughs. Nic thanks for the arms, oh and the cinema! Linz our little redhead, thanks for the chats, you're an inspiration. Love you all loads x
Have a great summer.
Big hugs,
Hazel xxx
     
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