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!