Fresh Meat Diary: Crashive Aggressive

My new life as a freshie Roller Derby girl has been wonderfully exiting, energizing, physically and mentally therapeutic and just plain FUN! I was hesitant to start, thinking that I was too old (29), too out of shape, too busy, and too new to the sport. It just didn't make logical sense to try to relearn how to roller skate after 20 years, and try to join a team of VERY skilled players of a sport I knew nothing about.

I learned about the team from a customer at work, a member of the team, Rocket Hips. At the mention of her team, I said that it sounded super fun, and she said that I should try it out. After going to a game to watch, and a few more encouraging visits from Rocket, I finally decided to take the plunge.

At my first practice I realized that most of the girls were starting from scratch, too. Most had not roller skated since they were kids, too, and some had never skated before! We trained from scratch and I was amazed to see how quickly we caught on. My first practice was on Sept. 24th 2012. On Nov. 26th I took my basic skills evaluation and passed! I am a member of the Killa Crew of the Killamazoo Derby Darlins. It's a dream come true! Let me explain...

As a child, I loved to roller skate. I would skate in the house, and now and then, we would go to the roller rink in a nearby town. I would race around the rink haphazardly, and never learned how to stop. If I needed to stop I would simply crash into a wall. After a session of high impact abuse to my toes, the toe nails on my big toes would turn black over then next few days and fall off. One of the first things we learned at Fresh Meat practice was to stop. I could have used that info when I was a kid. When I was around 10 years old, the roller rink closed. Roller skating faded from my thoughts as I began playing basketball, football and baseball with friends. I loved sports. My family lived in a very small town in North Idaho, and me and my sister were home-schooled. I was not able to play sports in school because of this. I have wanted to play a sport my whole life, and now here I am, almost 30, finally fulfilling this dream! By the way, this isn't just any sport, it has everything I love. I love the speed, the hits, the strategy, watching the amazing skills, and knowing that I will eventually have those skills.

Everyone on the team is so welcoming and supportive of new girls. They have answered so many questions, encouraged us, let us borrow wheels and equipment, and taken time to get to know us. It's a great second family. My three kids and hubby have been very supportive of me in this adventure, and I can't thank them enough! Roller Derby is a lot of hard work, but it's also amazingly fun. Watch out for me in the coming years as I improve and build up my skills. I'm going to KILL KILL KILL!

Color photo by DB Family Photograpy.