Pimped out by my derby sisters

Rocket 95.1FM is my favorite radio station in Huntsville, and I never miss the Go Fish morning show on the way to work every morning.

Fish's sidekick, Ken, was just dumped by his girlfriend this past weekend, and they played the breakup on air. So by Wednesday, they decided to do a rebound radio contest to find Ken a rebound date. I was listening on my way into the office thinking... "What he needs is a derby girl!" and trying to ponder who on the team I could wake up at 7:30am to call in for the show.

But as I'm sitting there thinking this, MY phone rings. Its Bama Brewser, apparently I wasn't the only one who had the idea, only she had determined that it was ME that needed to go on and "take one for the team".... that I was the perfect candidate and that Oh by the way, she was calling Fish right now to give him my number. Yes, I have officially been pimped out by my league, folks.

Now, the Dixie Derby Girls have quite a reputation on the Fish morning show. Asian and Hell Razor have both given poor Ken a beat down before with a wooden paddle. (poor guy... those two don't even NEED a paddle to do some serious damage) So of course, Ken was already scared before I even arrived.

KEN: "How much can you bench?!?"

ME: "Oh, about 2 blockers...."

Fish was clearly enjoying his obvious fear, so I became the WILD CARD entry. (That's what HE said... I know!) I was the 3rd and final to show up at the studio on Thursday.

After a very quiet Ken asked a few small questions, the gauntlet was thrown down by Fish for an Arm Wrestling Competition. Let's just say score: eRacer X -2-, Ken -0- I tried to take it easy on him... honest, I did!

And for your viewing pleasure... you be the judge!





I offered up not just me, but a date with MULTIPLE derby girls. What guy turns down a chance to be a total stud with a bunch of HOT derby girls on his arms? Alas, I think he was worried he couldn't handle it and they chose one of the other contestants.

No Sleep + Derby = OUCH.

In all my years of athletic endeavours, I've come to depend on my unnatural level of endurance under pressure and my borderline masochistic tolerance of pain. But every once in awhile, my body is sure to tell me when its had enough with a big EFF YOU. That was the case at our first home bout this year, the Spring BLAST OFF. I knew that I had burned my candle both ends too thin, but since when is that ever a problem!?

My bout week was spent under chaotic stress and pressure of my biggest career tradeshow of the year in Las Vegas. 10 hour days on my feet, followed by hosting social events for our dealers and customers into the nights. I hadn't had more than 4 hours of sleep a night in weeks. (I did get in a quick practice with the Sin City Roller Girls while there though, thanks ladies!) Top that off, I wasn't leaving Las Vegas until 12:40 AM, the DAY OF THE BOUT. Yep, the redeye back east and landing in time to change, get ready, and get to the VBC for the Spring Blast off.

Our B-team was playing first thankfully, so I had time to get some pasta into my system, and drink a good amount of energy supplements in hopes of boosting my jet-lagged system for the bout. We would be playing the Panama City Roller Girls from Florida, and I was told they were a fast bunch. A quick look at the line up (I hadn't seen it at all since I had been in Vegas all week), and I was on jammer rotation for the start of the game.

Warming up, I was trying to conserve as much energy as possible. I didn't want to over do it and run out of my reserve fuel for the bout. Hindsight, that might've been my mistake. The bout started with CU Afterclass scoring a quick 10 point jam, I followed with 15 points and Wicked One another 5. I went in for 2 more jammer cycles, scoring 4 and 3 points respectively, and by that point we had built a pretty large lead and were switching to our alternate roster, which put me into block.

And that's where it went horribly wrong. I was playing power and got tangled up with a sliding blocker who cagged my skate and fell on top of my ill-placed knee. I hit the ground and couldn't get up. It hurt really bad, but I figured it was something I could walk off. They wheeled me back to the bench, and I sat there poking my knee for a few jams and getting the medic to wrap it with an ace wrap. I'm used to playing with some discomfort (ie.. if it ain't broke, it ain't nuttin), so near the end of the 1st half, I decided to go back in.

That lasted oh, about 20 feet. One of the PCRG blockers came at me at the front of the pack and I went to easily counterblock her, but when I pushed against my right knee, it collapsed underneath me and I went down hard again with shooting pain at the back of my knee. I knew I was done, my body gave me the big EFF YOU and decided it was through.

I couldn't put weight on my knee all day Sunday, but it seems to be doing a bit better today, and I'm hoping its just some muscular damage opposed to something worse.

Dixie ended up winning 192-63. Out of the 3 jams that I played as a jammer, I managed 22 points, lead all 3 jams and had +22 in my plus/minus total. I was pretty happy with that considering I had zero sleep.

Fingers crossed that my knee makes a complete recovery by next week... we have one of our biggest games of the season against #5 Houston on May 2nd!

Skate Mechanics: Tuning my Skates

This is only my 2nd season playing roller derby, but coming from an automotive racing background, one of the cool parts of derby that I like to tinker with (funds allowing) is skate hardware performance.

Now every skater has their own personal preferences, and its hard to determine what that might be as you're learning because to be honest, your form/skating style changes dramatically one day to the next during the learning period.

As for me, in my 1 year, 3 months as a skater, I am on my second pair of skates, my third bearing swap, and my 4th set of wheels Apparently, I'm hard on equipment. But in all fairness, I skated the heck outta that equipment every chance I got, so it was way above and beyond our normal season practice/bout schedule.

Changing out equipment and their different performance angles is a lot like tuning a car for me. Each component has a different overall effect on performance. Here's some of my experiences to date (your results might vary).

Starter Skate:

RW Outlaw Boot

Radar Tuner Hot Pink (Quik~94A)

Abec 9 bearings (yellow)

This was my first set of starter skates. I was super excited to get them right off the bat. They were fairly inexpensive ($130ish) and were leaps and bounds better than the rentals at the rink. First off, freshmeaties should know that getting your own skates improves your performance like 100,000% over the rentals. Those things are calculated train wrecks for derby. This setup got me out of Freshmeat land and over to scrimmage eligible. We practice on a hardwood rink surface, so grip typically isn't an issue as long as your wheels are kept clean. The boots never gave me blisters or any other discomfort and were extremely well padded. They felt like a cushy pair of sneakers. (incidentally, these are still being worn by my cousin, who has taken up derby in Ohio as well. She changed the wheels out and seems to be doing fine with them)

Bones Bearings:

My first upgrade not long into being scrimmage eligible, was to change the bearings out to Bones Reds Bearings. These are about midway up the bearing totem pole in terms of roll resistance and speed. My first set were used, and I just cleaned and oiled them well, and picked up a ton of speed over the ABEC-9 Yellows that came with my starter skates. These seemed like the most beneficial investment in terms of noticeable skating difference.

After skating in my first few bouts away, I noticed that I had a real issue on the slicker floors. This was when I started really checking into compounds and wheel grip ratings. Most of the DDG's used Radar Flat Outs on the slick polished concrete floors. I also was noticing that the bulk of my skates and the flex of the nylon plates were really making me feel less stable in jamming. I think my skates might've been a tad on the too big side. So, about 6 months into my young skater career, I decided to upgrade to a new skate.

Riedell Vixens

Riedell 165 Boot

Powerdyne Triton Aluminum Plate

ABEC 7 bearings (blue)

Radar Flat Out Black (Grip ~88A)

I bought these from the Riedell vendor at our Rocket City tournament, so I got to try them on while skating the polished concrete surface. The very first thing I discovered, I had to go down 2 sizes, not just one, to get the right, snug fit. Once I put them on, the more pronounced "speed" setup is apparent. You HAVE to skate in a normal skaters stance with these. They also feel a whole lot more secure. But those wheels and bearings? Felt like I was stomping through mud... the Flat Outs had a lot more grip than the tuners, and I took those bearings right out and replaced them with my Reds. That did a whole lot better, but when we started practicing on the hardwood, I had to skate twice as hard to overcome the grip on an already grippy surface.

Radar Mojo Wheels:

After a few months, I had already started noticing wear on the Flat Outs. They indeed worked great on polish concrete, but where as my speed was coming along, I felt I was still lacking in the agility department while jamming, and often tripped on my own wheels trying to shuffle through the pack. I borrowed a set of Radar Mojos, the slimmer (38mm vs 44mm), aluminum hubbed version of the Flat Out. They were heavier, but I felt much more agile in the pack and my juking and lateral cuts dramatically improved. I was sold. I used these for the last half of the season up until now. They've done well, but I still notice I'm slipping a little at high speeds on polished concrete.

Atom Stingers:

Well, this weekend we're headed to play the Oklahoma City Victory Dolls. We were pre-warned that their venue's floor is the slickest that many have ever encountered. My last skate session with Nashville had me stumbling and sliding everywhere, and since I'll be most likely jamming this game, I didn't want to take that chance. I called up Sin City Skates, and spoke to Ivanna. I wanted to keep the narrow 38mm wheel, but wanted to go gripper than the 88A of the Mojo. The Suregrip sugars (85A) and the Radar Shadows (80A) are the only two grippier wheels I could find, and both came in only the wider 66mm sizes. Ivanna then explained that all the Radar wheels went by their own hardness rating (grip, gripper, quick, firm, etc.) The Mojos were actually the equivalent of a 92A in another brand wheel. Same with the Flat Outs. So I decided that a true 88A would probably be the best bet. Ivanna recommended the Atom Stingers, worn by the 2009 National WFTDA champs, the Oly Rollers. Atom is also the official wheel of the WFTDA, so I figured I'd give them a try.

They are on my skates and ready to go, so I'll report back after this weekend and let you know how they do! Wish me luck!

Beating the Brakes off the Vette City Vixens

Anyone that knows me, knows that I'm a DIE HARD Ford Racer. Although I can appreciate all kinds of horsepower, the one car that I absolutely can't stand is the Corvette. It probably has more to do with the stereotyped driver than the actual car, but its enough to have ignited a long-term hate relationship with any Corvette newer than oh, about 1963.

So that in mind, you must understand my mentality heading into our first 2010 expo home bout on the Redstone Arsenal against none other than the Vette City Vixens from Bowling Green, KY. This wasn't just about derby anymore... this was the deepest of rivalries. Ford vs. Chevy. Corvette vs. Mustang. Whatever you want to call it, this was eRacer X on a MISSION.

As the first home bout of the season (unofficially... the regular season kicks off April 17th), this was a special expo bout held for Arsenal/NASA employees and their families and friends to come out and watch the action for free. Our hope is that they would see how wickedly awesome derby is and buy tickets for our regular season... and we might all pick up some new fans. There were quite a lot of fans at this bout, and I'm pretty sure that we succeeded in the goal of picking up some newbie fans. I signed a few autographs for the kiddies and took lots of photos with them, so I expect they'll be asking Mom and Dad to bring them back. (photo: a young fan with my jammer panty on her head... isn't she a cutie?)

Now, to be fair, Vette City is a brand new derby team. This was their first public bout. You'd think we'd show them some kind of mercy. Mmmm, No. They are a great bunch of girls, and they have lots of promise, but derby is derby my friends, especially when its an auto related rivalry for me.

So I would start the game wearing the bright pink star. After going back and forth last season between jammer/blocker, it appears that I've been marked a jammer for this season. And what a way to start 2010... with a 19 point jam! I ended up in the box twice, once for a major elbow and then another right away for an illegal procedure 4th minor that sent me right back to the box (I wasn't behind her hips apparently... I got a little antsy!) But I did score 2 separate 19 point jams, which is the highest single scoring jam I've ever had to date.

Dixie ended up beating the brakes off Vette City, 219-50. The afterparty carried over to the Benchwarmers, and was a ton of fun. The Vette City girls are a great group! I look forward to skating against them again when they've got some more play time under their belts.

Part of my personal goal/training plan is to really analyze my performances by studying the numbers after each game. This is how I ranked for this bout:

• I played 11 jams out of 32 in the bout (34.3%).
• Of the 11 jams, I was declared Lead Jammer in 9 (81.1%)
• I scored a total of 83 points in the game, an average of 7.55 points per jam
• My plus/minus total was +64, that means 64 positive points during jams I played.
• I ended with 1 major elbow, a 4 minors box trip, and 2 left over minors at the end of the game. That's actually a pretty sloppy game for me, I tend NOT to collect any penalties at all.

Overall, I feel I'm starting to get a little better jamming. I'm trying to develop my style a bit, and photos are helping me see areas I need to work on. One big accomplishment for me this bout has been getting my jammerline start more proficient. I've always been kinda awkward on the start, and never felt I had a starting procedure that worked for me until now. I did some research on toe stop running starts and duck walk starts, and what I saw was that there was some wasted momentum in the way I was trying to run on my stoppers. So I played around with something I'm gonna call the ToeStopDuckyHop start.... its too difficult to explain in words, but it basically means I'm almost running sideways off the line and straight into a power push 3 -4 hops later. Its probably wrong, but its a lot quicker than what I was doing before, so I'll keep it for now.

Up Next: WFTDA Sanctioned bout against the Oklahoma City Victory Dolls on my 30th birthday, March 27th.

Dixie Derby Girls Examiner

Well, its official... Huntsville now has its own dedicated section on Examiner.com for Dixie Derby Girls news and other derby related reporting.

And guess who is the writer for the section??? Yep, yours truly!

The website, which organizes and features hyper-local news related to your community, has implemented a Dixie Derby Girls Examiner section into their sports category. I'll be posting bout reports, news, and other related articles to the section.


Please check it out! Dixie Derby Girls Examiner

Make sure you subscribe, and leave comments while you're there!

Down & Derby in Phenix City

Ahhh, the first bout of the season! Always good for some butterflies and a few opening night jitters. I figured that starting the season off at a mixed-team scrimmage bout was a great way to get back into bout mode without some of the pressure of a sanctioned, points earning bout against our WFTDA competitors.

The teams were a mixed group comprised of skaters from Burn City (Auburn, AL) Tragic City (Birmingham, AL) Chattanooga, and of course Cakeface Killa, Erica SLAPton, Brigitte Badonkadonk and myself from Dixie. The bout was a memorial bout for Sally Slaughter from Tragic City Rollers and Danger S of Tallahassee Roller Girls, and the proceeds were donated to Spread the Love for cervical cancer research.

Trying to organize a line-up with 14 people of all different teams isn't the easiest thing to do, so there was a little confusion before the bout on how to get everything rotating smoothly. I ended up Jamming and playing middle-outside blocker in the 6 line-up rotation. I'm almost not used to that much bench time between jams, so it was refreshing not to be winded up on the jammer line. The track was concrete, and wasn't too slick at all, which made it a really fast surface to skate on. Overall, that was great, ...except for coming off turn 4 when you have less than 4 feet of out-of-bounds room to try and stop in. Let's just say I got a nasty blister from carpet burn of slamming into and sliding down that wall. Ouch!

Performance wise, for a group of girls who have never played together before, I think we did great as a team. We traded point exchanges back and forth most of the game, and came out just short in the final jam when our jammer was sent to the box. Personally, I wasn't having the best game... especially blocking, but I managed a 12 point jam, took lead jammer several times, and only went to the box once for a track cutting major. I've had some persistent shin-splints this season, and I felt like I just couldn't get my skates solidly beneath me this game. I have some major work to do before our first DDG bout for sure.

The other great thing about this bout is that it was held in my old stomping grounds in Phenix City. I hadn't been back much since I left in 2007, so it was great to have my old friends come cheer me on down there. I'm pretty sure they didn't quite know what to think of roller derby. Thanks for coming and watching!

The after party was held at the Sports Rock, but unfortunately I didn't attend that one, so I don't have any excitement to report in that department.

(Photos: Melissa Humble)

View eRacer X's Photo Gallery

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DERBY WORLD TOUR NOTE: Phenix City, AL (Burn City Rollers) becomes stop #12 on the Derby World Tour.

Charter 1 Team Success!

Mission #1 in 2010 Complete.

The Charter team results for the first of 4 WFTDA Charter submissions have been selected. My first goal of 2010 was to be selected for the Charter Team. YAY! I am one of 20 girls on our team to make the Charter!

What's a charter? Well, all sanctioned WFTDA games must be comprised of teams made from Chartered WFTDA members. Teams can only list 20 girls at a time on these. All of our "All Star" and most travel bouts are WFTDA regulated, so that means that I've made the first step towards being part of the All-Star team for Dixie.

The next goal is to be selected as one of the 14 skaters pulled from the Charter team for the active roster each game. Only 14 girls can be on the active roster turned in before the bout. That means I'll be competiting with the 20 Charter members for a spot on the bench for each game. The first biggie coming up is the Oklahoma tour on my birthday weekend.

Time to step up the training!

Down & Derby in my old backyard.

There's nothing like visiting your old stompin' grounds and catching up with your old friends after being gone for several years. Even better when your return is to take part in a kick-butt Roller Derby event that you can invite old friends to come watch your new found passion!

Coming up on February 27th, I was asked to take part in an exhibition bout with the Burn City Rollers (Auburn, AL). The event is titled "Down and Derby" with all proceeds going towards the Spread the Love Charity.

Spread the Love is a 501(c)(3) charity organization to benefit those fighting cervical cancer and promoting awareness of the disease and the importance of early detection. The fundraiser is in honor of women like Tallahassee Rollergirl Danger S. (Stephanie) who are battling the disease. (A battle that I hits close to home for me.)

Even better, the bout isn't in Auburn, but in Phenix City, Alabama... minutes away from my previous address from several years ago. I'm very familiar with the area, and miss many of my friends from the Chattahoochee area. I'm inviting them all out to witness my derby alter-ego in action and to catch up while I'm in town.

Down and Derby Exhibition
February 27th, 2010
6pm EASTERN
$5 admission at door

Gr8 Sk8 (up the hill behind Big Lots)
1031 Hwy 280 Byp
Phenix City, AL 36867
334-448-8848
view map


*Fold-up chairs/ seat cushions recommended

Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, DODGE!

It's that time of year again, folks. The much-anticipated time of year when you can round up 10 of your rowdiest friends and throw them in the cage for all-out ball-busting battle for Dodgeball supremacy.

16 teams will dodge, duck, dip, dive, and DODGE their way through the tournament. The last team standing wins cash and our utmost respect (and believe me, that's a bunch.) Think you've got a team that contend? REGISTER HERE.

For those that want to come watch the assault (and believe me, its BRUTAL), you can catch the fun half-time antics as well as all the other excitment for $5 general admission.

5th Annual Dixie Derby Dodgeball Tournament
Saturday, March 13th noon
Lowe Mill (Below Flying Monkey Arts Center)
2211 Seminole Drive Huntsville, AL

See you there!

Broken Hearted Wheel Melt

Last night was the 3rd Annual Broken Hearted Skate-a-thon. Its a great event where each skater raises pledges per laps (or simple flat donations) to help the American Heart Association.

This year, I was challenged to skate over 250 laps in the 2 hour skate-a-thon time frame, or as my friend so nicely put it, he wanted to know how many it took to make my "little skate wheels melt". Well, I took that challenge, and was ready right at 6pm to start the wheel melting, dizzying warp speed lap journey.

In 2009, I tried counting my laps to myself as I went.... yea, that was a disaster. I apparently can't count past 5 in my head without forgetting what number I was on. So this year, I had a little hand held clicker that I could click each lap to keep track. I knew I had to do about 125 laps an hour to make the goal.

I started off strong, trying to keep a good pace. About 45 minutes into it, my back was aching pretty good from the left-turn leaning and crouched skater-stance. But check-in at the hour marker had been on course for my wheel melting goal. A quick stretch out, a little truckin' music, and I kicked it into high-gear for the last half of the skate-a-thon.

About 5 minutes left, I finally threw in the towel to seek out a quick back massage for my achy back! I called in my lap count, and waited to hear what my ranking was at the end of the tally.

For the 2010 Skate-a-thon, I skated a total of..........................

::DRUM ROLL PLEASE::

316 LAPS!

Oh yes, not only did my little skate wheels melt, but so did my poor legs and feet. I can hardly walk today, and I have all kinds of blisters on my feet from the aforementioned melting. (ewww, gross!) And although I didn't even need a defibrillator on site or a transplant heart from the American Heart Association, I sure did need an epsom salt bath, a heating pad and some shock therapy when I got done!

The finally tally of how many laps we've done as a league whole and how much we've raised overall for the skate-a-thon will not be released until next week when all the pledges are collected. I'm really excited to see what we raised for the AHA and how many laps we finished as a group. I think I came in 2nd or 3rd in overall laps skated as an individual.... yay! I'll keep you posted!

Big thanks to my supporters this year, whom helped me raise my pledged amount to over $200 for the AHA:

• Steve Barone
• Jennifer Stern
• Will Agee
• Bob Sykes
• Kris Combs aka Hell Razor
• Jimmy Pogue
• Robin Bernstein aka @RollerWomyn
• John Ramspott

Its not too late to help! Chip-in below until the 17th. Its tax deductible, and you're really helping a great cause!

Survey

A Public Service Announcement:


WFTDA, the national sanctioning body behind today's Flat Track Roller Derby movement, is hosting a survey to help aid in demographic studies, etc.

This short survey will help all leagues know more about our audience and how we can improve our sport.


Please take a moment and complete the survey for us.


We want Roller Derby to take over the world!

Training: Week One

Out on the interwebs, the theme among most roller derby skaters is simple this time of year: TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN.

If there really is such a thing as a derby off-season, January probably is the closest thing you'll find. Admittedly, this skater took to the couch for most of the holiday season, and for various reasons, only just returned back for week one training. (Slacker! Yes, I know...)

In any case, one of the big things I've read many teams (including DDG) are doing is to document your personal short-term and long-term goals.

I've got one main goal this year... skate with a vengence.

I started last year not being able to skate at all. I got beat up one side and down the other. I learned. I paid attention. I hustled. I skated every chance I got. I was overlooked often. I flew under the radar. And by the end of the year, I felt like I had fought the hard fight to have my skates underneath me finally.

But 2010 is the year where I will NOT go unnoticed.

My short-term goals:

1. Really improve agility. Step, step, step, step! I want my skates to be as natural as shoes underneath me. I want to be able to move in every imaginable direction quickly and gracefully. I picked up some fancy-pants footwork drills on one of my many guest-skating practices, and its really been helpful to me. I can practice during open skates even. Just quickly switching all different directions from left-right, backwards-forwards.
   
2. Get LOW. I always thought I was skating in derby stance, until I see photos of me from bouts. Then I realize I look like a Redwood Tree.... standing TALL and UPRIGHT. Bad deal! So, my immediate goal is to get down, get low, and STAY there. That's going to require some core strengthening, as my lower back is already feeling my lower stance attempts. (Photo Caption: TIMBER! How to skate like a tree 2009 edition NO MORE.)


3. Bootay blocking perfection. I realized midway through last season that I wasn't effective as a blocker the way that I was taught. I am not built the same way, and cannot deliver near the blow that many of my DDG teammates can with a shoulder block. So, I honed in on the swooping-bootay block. A quick cut across the track and a snap of the bootay, and away they go. I've managed it in practice a few times, but need to get better at applying it on different surfaces. Seems slicker tracks and faster, more jumbled packs are very difficult for me to setup naturally. I need to practice quicker cuts and setting up in more congested packs.

And the long-term goals:

1. Speed/Endurance. I'm off to a decent start here, but not nearly All-Star jammer worthy. The goal for All-Star jamming is 18 laps in 2 minutes. I'd also like to do 5 laps in under 40 seconds. Right now, I feel my physical endurance is okay, but my back aches pretty badly around minute 3 of the 5 minute drill and I can't stop hacking a lung afterwards. Translation: Core, Core, Core and some breathing exercises to help with the cold air and exertion.


2. Mental Game. I spent the entire Regional tournament studying the mental game of derby. If there is one thing that I learned in 2009, it was the SMARTER team would prevail. I am really studying tactings and blocking strategy as well as game mechanics to increase my game attentiveness. Our jammer in the box? Speed up. Their jammer in the box? Slow down. I want the game to be second nature... something I don't even have to think about, more reflex and reaction than thought out strategy.


3. Score, Score, Score. Translate all of the above into a hard fought second whistle performance, and what my end result hopes will make me the go-to jammer for points scoring. I want to be the one who can get through the pack repeatedly, cleanly, and reliably. I want to be known for being fast and durable. I want to be the one my team can count on in a tight scoring, buzzer beater of a bout.

I'm only into week one of preseason training, but I plan on trying to document my personal goals and progress on a weekly basis. The only update I can give as of right now is that my slacker self left my skates in the trunk of my car during the holidays, which means that the cold/hot weather caused the leather to shrink and I am fighting a break-in period All. Over. Again. So not cool.

What about you? What are your training goals for 2010?

Broken Hearted Skate-a-Thon

Can you spare a little change?

Its time for our Annual Broken Hearted Skate-a-thon, where we skate our very festively-dressed bootays off to raise money for the American Heart Association.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

You can come skate laps for Broken Hearts with us on February 10th at Roller Time Skate Rink (707 Arcadia Cir. Huntsville, AL) for a $10 donation (+$3 for skate rental).

OR

you can make a one-time donation online! I've made it super easy... just click below to donate via paypal.

Donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE!

How I discovered Derby...

....Though the real question is how DIDN'T I discover it before!?

It had been over 15 years since I had really been on roller skates (save for some inline skating about 10 years ago), but some of my favorite childhood memories were from putting on my aunt's old roller skates in our garage and pretending to be the next Nancy Kerrigan on roller skates.

Then when I hit my tween years, I managed to earn a few extra bucks cutting the lawn to head up to the local skating rink with some of my peers at school. I wasn't allowed to do it very often, and I couldn't really stay late on Friday nights or the All-Night skates like my friends, but I LOVED going to the rink and watching all the kids who got to spend countless nights there on the floor shuffle skating, speed skating, and even a little couple skating... (which at 12 is a really big deal folks!) I wanted so much to join the speed team (when they were actually still on QUADS and not inlines... boy, I'm old!) but the parents really weren't very accepting of that idea.

High school came and quickly thereafter adult life... and though I missed skating, there aren't too many opportunities for going skating as an adult that doesn't include a child of some sort. I think we may have tried once in my early 20's to go back to a rink and skate for nostalgia sake, and felt ENTIRELY old bag loserish. That pretty much ended any ideas of me skating again until maybe I ended up with a kiddo of my own one day.

Then in late 2008, I read a few updates from a local Huntsville Twitterer about skating. Intrigued, I asked what she meant and where was she skating that was adult-no kids friendly. She told me about the Dixie Derby Girls... the local women's flat track roller derby league. Color Me INTERESTED.... a place where adult women can not only skate, but play a badass sport like roller derby?!? Really? In HUNTSVILLE, AL?!?

It took me all of a week to show up at my first practice. I was mucho worried about the fact that I hadn't been on skates in over 15 years, but its supposed to be like riding a bicycle, right? On with the rental skates and some borrowed league pads and I was wobbly rolling around on my first night (Photo is actual first night evidence of craptastic rentals). I wasn't wall-hugging bad, but I wasn't exactly the picture of poise and grace. Good thing that derby is wonderful about teaching the basics and making you relearn the right way how to skate.

So about 3 months of Freshmeat training ensued... learning how to stride, how to stop 3 different ways, how to fall correctly 4 different ways, crossovers, stepping, stance... you name it, we learned it. And a brief vomit-inducing assessment later, and I was scrimmage eligible.

And that's where the hand holding ended. It was straight into scrimmage with some fiercely intimidating chicks who showed NO quarter for a newbie. I became VERY acquainted with the floor. In fact, the floor just might've been my best friend for much of the first half of the season.

I know every team has their powerhouses, but I can objectively say after skating an entire season that I truly believe that Dixie has an entire TEAM of powerhouses. The hardest hits I've ever taken have been from my own players in scrimmage... at first it was brutal. But, in the end, it made me so steady on my feet that hits from other teams were weak in comparison and while it still slows me down, at least I've managed to NOT stay crawling on the floor any longer. I may have even learned to put a few on the floor as well along the way.

Now, a full season later, I'm wondering how I didn't know about the sport before. I've met incredible people, had extraordinary opportunities to skate with some great competitors, and have learned a whole new sport and adopted a whole new lifestyle. I've even managed to recruit a few freshies of my own... my cousin in Ohio just became scrimmage eligible and I'm still working on my baby sister getting out there to skate too.

The 2010 Recruitment cycle is about to begin, and its really come full circle for me... now, I get to happily watch as I move out of the rookie shoes into the seasoned vet group and another group enters into the discovery and wonderment of roller derby. They have no idea what's in store for them, and how greatly the sport will impact every aspect of their lives.