Roller Derby in a mainstream music video

Check out this music video by Halestorm, "It's Not You," featuring roller derby. Love it!

Derby Art by Maggie Gosselar

This is a drawing done by Maggie Gosselar, one of the newest skaters with the Rock River Rollers. Though I've never been a rockstar skater, I certainly enjoy feeling like one!




Maggie's drawing is based on this picture:

Roller Derby - How to Skate Sideways

Another skill I am dying to learn to do--skating sideways. I've seen other skaters do it and of course they all make it look easy. First, I need to figure out how to get my body to stand this way OFF skates! Learning new skills is one of my biggest motivators to keep attending practice every week.

Roller Derby - How to do a leg whip

Ah...the leg whip. This is the skill I am currently determined to master. Perhaps not all that practical during a close bout, but certainly a crowd pleaser. Bonnie D. Stroir of the San Diego Derby Dolls (one of my many derby idols) demonstrates proper form.

Cheerios Roller Derby TV Commercial

I realize that not everyone is excited about roller derby becoming part of the mainstream, but this commercial, with it's taste of derby on a non-practice night, cheered me up.

Roller Derby Explained

I just love this animated video, created by the Gem City Rollergirls, that clearly explains the basics of roller derby. Check it out.

"I Can! I Have! I Will! I Am!" by Bunnie Low-Browski

I just read an inspiring article in the Spring 2010 issue of USARS Magazine. Derby girl Bunnie Low-Browski writes about the transformation many of us experience after derby gets its hooks in us. That same increase in self-confidence that has worked its way into my own life as I have come to not only embrace my inner bad-ass, but also to let her out to play in the non-derby aspects of my life.

The first quote that caught my eye was this: "Who is this sporty revolutionary you've become?....She smells like sweat and she isn't apologizing for her matted hair....Before we know it, roller derby has changed us, blossomed us into tall and proud battalions." I saw my first derby bout and knew I had to be a part of it. I was a dedicated couch potato with absolutely no skating ability who joined a local league as a fresh meat skater, wobbling around, shaky as a newborn lamb and scared to death of falling down. After a year and a half of working hard learning how to skate, but still sitting on the sidelines, I finally made it onto the bout roster. I wasn't the best or most aggressive skater, and I fell down A LOT. But every time I got back up, I got a little more of that "I Can! I Have! I Will! I Am!" that Bunnie talks about.

Bunnie goes on to say that the way to keep this growth coming and to move from whiner to warrior is to practice positive thinking. Just as we improve our physical endurance, strength, and agility by spending time working out, on skates and off, we also need to exercise the parts of our brains that keep us motivated and positive. Not only should we be, but we ARE "...stronger and smarter than those thoughts that try to cripple us."

So, the next time you start to hear those voices in your head that tell you you're not strong enough, smart enough, good enough--WHATEVER--shut them up by taking Bunnie's advice: "You have to be your own number one biggest fan and you have to do it now and every day." If you fall, get back up; revel in the kind of inner strength and confidence that only comes when you struggle past your limits and discover that "I Can! I Have! I Will! I Am!"

Takin' hits and takin' names

Well, sorta. Taking hits and not falling...much.

Right at the start of my first full season of roller derby, I am still not entirely sure whether I want to stay with the newbies or get out there with the big girls. So last night at practice, several of the returning skaters, dying to practice hitting, got out on the track. I was left on the edge of our makeshift track, watching the skilled skaters move onto the track and the newer skaters head to the outside. I looked longingly at the safety of the far end of the rink and then thought, "Am I a woman? Hell yes I am!" And braced myself for the carnage to come.

So today, though I have no bruises to show for all the pain and suffering, I see a visit to the chiropractor in my very near future. Thanks a bunch, Bombadee. Derby love to you too.

More Roller Derby Basics

Can't get enough of roller derby basics? Check out this article from HowStuffWorks for a short tutorial on bouting, rules, etc.

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/roller-derby.htm

Rollergirl: Totally True Tales from the Track by Melissa "Melicious" Joulwan

Roller derby is back, but very different from the banked track derby that many people remember from the 70's. The reimagination of derby as a flat track, skater-run sport started with a single league in Texas in 2003. Today, there are leagues of smart, strong women all over the country ready and willing to step into their skates and knock a bitch down.

Melicious traces the fascinating history of flat track roller derby, starting with the founding of the Texas Rollergirls in 2003, and continuing through the Dust Devil National Championship in 2006. Quotes, stories, and profiles from real rollergirls, in addition to fast-paced derby action, make this a book that will be almost impossible for skaters or fans of derby to put down.

Melicious describes her immediate enchantment with the sport after seeing a bout and her subsequent trip to the rink for her first practice. I could relate because I had the same reaction. Even though I hadn't been on skates since middle school (a loooong time ago), my local team has welcomed me and is patiently teaching me how to hold my own on eight wheels.

I highly recommend this book to skaters of all levels. Melicious combines a detailed history of this exciting sport with stories from skaters that explain exactly why so many women are willing to pay money for the privilege of working so hard and risking injury in order to participate. Humorous and informative.

Not sure you understand the basics of women's flat track roller derby? Check out this animated video posted on YouTube by the Gem City Rollergirls, featuring music by Uncle Leon and the Alibis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T8izdlc-dY

Great stuff!

Learning to fly

I've been roller skating outside on the bike path all week, getting ready for RollerCon. Skating outside is much harder than it looks and I feel like I'm creeping along, sweating my ass off, but never really getting anywhere.

Disheartened at my lack of progress, I headed over to the Diva's home rink, The Skatin' Station, for a bit of Friday night fun. It wasn't too crowded, which was nice. I was the only adult on skates and several kids looked amused as I strapped on my pads and adjusted my newly stretched skates (aaaaah, bliss...).

Big difference from the bike path! That feeling of zipping around the rink like a cold beer on a hot day is addictive. I almost felt like a jammer as I weaved in and out around the slower skaters. Granted, nobody was trying to block me or knock me down, but for someone who could barely stand up on skates a few months ago, this was an incredibly empowering feeling.

Since the rink wasn't crowded, I eventually started to practice falls in the corners. After one extremely smooth right knee 180 (yeah, I was proud) I stopped to adjust my laces. A young girl skated over to me, very concerned, and our conversation went like this:

Girl: "Are you okay?"
Me: "I'm fine. Believe it or not, I fell on purpose. I'm just tightening my laces while I'm down here."
Girl: "Oh." She thought a moment and then added, "Why would you fall on purpose?"
Me: I was thinking, "Ah, Grasshopper, good question. And why would you put on a pair of roller skates and dare a whole posse of tough bitches to try to knock you down? And why would you get back up and do it all over again? Because it's the most fun you can have without breaking the law, that's why!" But what I said was, "Because the more you fall down, the more opportunities you have to get back up." Pearls of wisdom, I tell you, pearls of wisdom.
Girl: "Um, okay." And she skated away, but watched me for the rest of the night and applauded every time I did a fall.

I am such a rock star.