So some of the girls I skate with like to do “derby thoughts” on facebook after good practices or scrimmages, and they inspired me to get on board. Mine came out a bit stream-of-consciousness, so please ignore the tense changes and such. I decided to just minimally edit it and leave it fairly raw.
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August PFM scrimmage:
I woke up at 7:30 am, nervous, and with an unhappy tummy. My GI tract loves to show support by not functioning optimally in times of stress. We had a complete lack of bread products on hand, so I made biscuits. Then I sat quietly, drank tea, and watched roller derby for several hours, hoping to magically absorb the jamming knowledge of Suzy Hotrod, Bonnie Thunders, etc. When I was finally able to convince Thomas to get up and eat biscuits, I made him practice some new moves with me, in our underwear. Here’s my fave video from the morning:
Getting ready helped. Putting on the outfit I selected the night before and getting my Vamp face on gets me in the right frame of mind. Say what you will about modern derby athleticism and all that, but I think the beginning of this revival got a whole lot of things right. Boutfits and derby personas are really helpful for girls like me, who didn’t come to this sport to be athletes per se. Fishnets and booty shorts? Yes, please! It’s a lot easier to do all of this in character. I really love that PFM allows us this outlet.
Gearing up with everyone during our monthly meeting is always nice. I got to try out my new arm bands this scrimmage. They worked out quite well, AND they match my helmet. 😉
Photo by Robert Bakie, armbands by SkateGEEK
Doing warm-up with an audience freaks me out a bit. I’m not really into this aspect, but I’m glad that we do get to show the results of all our time and efforts to select friends and loved ones. I remind myself that they’re really only there to see their person.
Even though I really don’t want to go out in the 1st jam, I do. This is the first time I’ve played my first jam and not felt like I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Also, the first time I didn’t ask myself repeatedly, Why on earth did I think I could do roller derby?! Mod Quad is coaching us and when we come back to the bench she is super excited and high fives us. She will do this throughout the game. This is really nice.
At some point early on, I smash my face into the helmet of Ruu Thless Phoenix, and I feel my eyebrow swelling as I’m sitting at the bench. Later, Stormy informs me that she thinks she’s broken her toe, but that she taped it up, and is good to keep skating. There’s a new girl on our team, and she goes in for her 1st scrimmage at the second half. You can tell she is hooked. I love roller derby so much.
The game goes great. Under the advice of our coach, we are coming up with strategies for each jam based on the wants and needs of our jammer, and it’s working pretty well. When jamming, I don’t feel as worn out as I did in my past scrimmages. Today is my fifth. I received no cut track or forearm penalties for the first time. I am not using T-stops on the track at all, also for the first time. My plow stops have finally improved enough that I’m able to incorporate them into my game play. I even got to use one of the moves I practiced that morning with Thomas (kind of)!
The game ends. It went by fast. I’m usually so relieved when that last whistle blows, but this time I’m slightly disappointed. That felt great. I still felt lost in parts, but I can tell that I’ve improved. I might actually be getting the hang of this thing after all. I’d been spreading myself pretty thin lately, skating with three different groups, and it was so nice to reconnect with my original home team. I love these girls.
I think part of my nerves about scrimmaging were due to the fact that I suffered two minor injuries recently, and I am so glad that I leave without any today.
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As always, thanks for reading! Here are a few cat pictures for your trouble…
Vampira Bitely
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Ganon
Midna & Ganon
Midna
Vegan Derby Cat Party 