Not an Athlete, But Becoming Athletic (part 2)

Derby has this way of absolutely taking over your life.  Mostly in a good way.   There's a common saying in derby of, "I can't, I have derby."  It's totally true.  When there's not practice or a game to play in, there's a game to go watch, or league photos, or a committee meeting, or fill-in-the-blank. 

My original league was on the smaller side, and we got to a point where we were a big fish in a little pond, meaning we had been around long enough that we could beat almost every other smaller league around us.  But the few times we had competed against anyone in WFTDA, the governing body of roller derby, who hosts regional and national competitions, we had our asses handed to us.  When I first started playing again, I struggled to work my way up on the travel team.  There are 14 skaters allowed on a team during a game, and for my first few games back, I was #15.  As I continued to lose weight, and my speed and endurance improved, I began to climb up the roster.  By the time I made the decision to move to St Pete, I was a solid skater for the All-Stars.

However, I moved from a big fish in a little pond to a pretty decent sized fish in a much bigger, better pond.  Tampa has been ranked high enough to compete at regionals for the last few years.  While their position has varied, they have been everywhere from 6^th to 9^th place in the South Central region of WFTDA.  My number 1 goal with playing with Tampa was to make their travel team, the Tampa Tantrums, which I did!  I also made my 2^nd goal of making a roster.  We have a tournament coming up in a few weeks and I am on the roster of 15 they are taking.  Time will tell if I make my 3^rd goal of getting to actually play in a bout with them.