zomfg, we're in the New Times!

*This post has been edited at the request of the League Which Shall Remain Nameless (LWSRN)*

< - > New Times event listing for the < - >!

Guh, I haven't even posted here yet about how I joined a roller derby league and all. But, really, if you know me, you know all that already. But if you happen to be a stranger who stumbled across this humble blog somehow whilst trolling teh intarnets, here's the whole deal:

Last September, I went to < - > (I forget what they were calling Tuesday nights at that point) at my local rink, and I saw some fliers recruiting skaters for a roller derby league that was starting up here. I had been pretty surprised when I moved here to discover that the area didn't already have a league, despite being such a large metro area. So I was psyched - I could get in on the ground floor, and not have to compete with a bunch of girls who'd been doing derby for years! Pretty sweet.

So I joined up, and we all started going to open skates at local rinks three nights a week. We named ourselves the (LWSRN). We bought good derby skates. We got a coach, < - >. We started private-rink practices in November. We chose derby names (I am < - >), we chose team names (for teams that will form at some point in the future, when we have enough skaters to form more than 1.5 to 2 teams), we had a yard sale fundraiser, we got insurance, we started paying dues... basically, we started the long process of establishing ourselves as a league.

Then I was away for most of December, all of January, and most of February. When I came back, a bunch of girls had quit (I will not speculate as to why), but a different bunch of girls had joined to take their places, and there was still a pretty big core of skaters who'd been in since the start. We had a couple confirmed referees. < - > brought in < - >, her speed skating coach, to be our skating technique coach. I had a lot of catching up to do, having not skated for like, 2.5 months. But I've been working hard (< - >'s technique tips have helped a lot). I've got my coordination back, anyway, even if my endurance is still shit and I am still the slowest skater in the league. That's pretty much going to be a constant - I am never going to be a speed demon. Luckily for me, speed is not the only thing that counts in roller derby.

So, anyway, that brings us up to today. Our league's first bout is < - >. It's called the < - >, and it's going to be a tournament between us, (Another League Which Shall Remain Nameless), and (Yet Another League Which Shall Remain Nameless) (the (Other League Which Shall Remain Nameless) were supposed to play, too, but they had to cancel on us. From what I've heard, they've basically folded into the ALWSRN league, so there was no sense in trying to send a separate squad). We had a private practice scrimmage against the ALWSRN last month (we won, < - >), but this is going to be our first public bout. I didn't skate in the scrimmage, since it was only a couple weeks after I got back from being away for so long, so this is going to be my first bout, period. I am very excited - and very nervous.

Aside from the fact that this is going to be my first bout, here's why it's important to me that I actually skate in the < - >: it's going to be the only bout I'll have the opportunity to skate in for quite a while, since I'll be out of town for two of our next three scheduled matches; and it might be the only interleague bout I get to skate in, ever. Since none of the participating leagues are WFTDA-certified yet (we are all pretty new), we're allowing expanded rosters of up to 20 skaters for this tournament (usually teams are limited to a roster of 14 skaters for any given bout). When we become WFTDA-certified and have to put together a travel team for interleague bouting, there is pretty much no way I am going to qualify for it. So this might be my only chance to be in a bout with girls other than the ones in my league. I've gotta skate in this thing, I've just got to.

The only thing that might hinder this particular aspiration of mine is the fact that, last Sunday at practice, I took a bad fall and twisted my right knee - not too badly, mind you, but badly enough that I know it's not really solid. One more fall exactly like the one I took on Sunday, and I'll probably tear something important, and that would be really, really, very bad. So I got a knee brace for practice on Monday and Tuesday, and it helped in that, when I fell on the same knee (twice!), I did not hurt it in the same way, but I hurt it in a completely new and different way (an impact to the top of my tibia, as opposed to a knee capsule ligament twist kind of thing). Basically, my knee's fucked up. If I were really smart, I would not skate on it for a while. But, for reasons outlined in the previous paragraph, I really, really want to skate this weekend. I figure, if I do manage to mess up my knee even worse during the bout, I know I'm not going to be skating in another bout for months, anyway - I'll have time to let the thing heal. If I injure my knee again in a non-critical way, I'll remove myself from skating for the rest of the day. If it doesn't feel better by the next day, then that's it, I'm out of the bout, even if I don't absolutely have to be. I'll play it as safe as I can with this knee, at least.

So, yeah, that's essentially my roller derby story to date. I posted a gear profile in a (blog elsewhere), if you're at all interested in the equipment I'm currently using. I need to post a follow-up to that, tho', as I've changed a few things since I wrote it. And now that I have made this introductory derby post, you can expect to see a lot more babbling about derby on here, since it's about all I do and about all I think about these days. :) And man, if you are in the < - > metro area this weekend, or if you know anyone who is, come to the < - >, or tell your friends to come!! Admission is free on Saturday and only $5 on Sunday! Tons of bands! Open bar - < - >! Post-match derby girl < - >! (Seriously!) You will be so, so sorry if you miss this!!

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