Roller Derby is one of the hardest things I have ever done. The ups and downs of derby can be draining and rewarding, both physically and mentally. (Sometimes, I have to take a step back and remind myself that my self-esteem (or lack thereof) is not and should not be contingent on how I am doing in derby.)
In the last year, my partner and I set of on a new adventure together and moved down to Tampa. I am lucky enough to have made the all-star team, the Tampa Tantrums. In my brief time on it, I have been reminded repeatedly why I am totally in love with my new team and so, I wanted to share some of the things that have happened.
1. The Clover Cup in Dallas held a lot of firsts for me. It was my first time playing roller derby on a big level, my first tournament, my first time as a full WFTDA skater, my first time playing a team as big as Houston, or even Omaha for that matter, and it was my first time playing as a Tampa Tantrum. And overall, it was a pretty awesome first experience.
Warming up for the game against Houston, I think I had a big stupid grin across my face the entire time because I was so frickin excited to play them (because of all those firsts). And scared. Mainly I think I was scared. We started the game short two main blockers, one of whom had to fly home for work, another who was injured in a previous game and ended up needing to go to the hospital.
A few jams in, it was starting to look like it was going to be a good game. But then one by one, our jammers got injured. We started the bout with 3 jammers. By the end of the first period, we had one. Every time a jammer was got hurt, we had to switch around our line ups, turning blockers into jammers. After our third jammer was taken off on a stretcher in the 2nd period, when our team was down to 10 players, we huddled together to figure out who would be jamming.
Here's the amazing thing...everyone pulled together. Everyone stayed positive. And everyone worked as a team, even though we lost by over 100 points. It's struggles like this that build a team. And this was the moment I first realized how amazing my team really is.
2. In our recent bout against the Atlanta Rollegirls, our pivot was putting her panty on. The cover hit her in the eye and flipped her contact out. The contact was somehow found, but by that point it had been rolled over and was split in half. Another skater promptly took a contact out of her own eye to give it to our pivot. That is some serious derby love.
3. We, as a team, have recently begun singing together. In Bella Trixx's words, "I didn't know I signed up for Roller Glee." Well, she did. And personally, I think it is the best thing ever. We have a few main songs in our repertoire (though our playlist is growing all the time), with the first (and my favorite) being To Be With You by Mr. Big. We actually used it as our skate out song when we played Oly last week. (Um, yeah, I said when we played OLY. Remember above in #1 when I said Houston was the highest ranking team I had played. Since then I have also played high ranking teams such as Naptown, Nashville, Rat City, and Oly! Totally amazing. And none of which I would have imagined a year ago. I mean, when Oly began their cheer of Oly! Oly! Oly! Oi!Oi!Oi!, I almost started to cheer along with the 'Oi's' because, well, every other time I have seen them has been as an awestruck fan.)
In our bout against Jet City, one of our skaters was hit in the face hard enough that she got a really intense concussion. While she was laying on the floor, waiting on the paramedics, she was slurring her words and fading in and out of consciousness. She requested that we sing. So we did. We stood and serenaded her with To Be With You. During our song was the first time she was able and actually trying to stay awake and conscious.
I love that my team comes together during these moments, the times when things are about as crappy as they can get. It makes me proud to say that I am a Tampa Tantrum. And lets me know that my lows of derby are worth it because I get to be a member of an amazing team where the highs are so much better.
P.S. I feel like I can't really leave this out. We have recently begun to wear fancy pants. I mean, really, who doesn't love them some fancy pants?!
In the last year, my partner and I set of on a new adventure together and moved down to Tampa. I am lucky enough to have made the all-star team, the Tampa Tantrums. In my brief time on it, I have been reminded repeatedly why I am totally in love with my new team and so, I wanted to share some of the things that have happened.
1. The Clover Cup in Dallas held a lot of firsts for me. It was my first time playing roller derby on a big level, my first tournament, my first time as a full WFTDA skater, my first time playing a team as big as Houston, or even Omaha for that matter, and it was my first time playing as a Tampa Tantrum. And overall, it was a pretty awesome first experience.
Warming up for the game against Houston, I think I had a big stupid grin across my face the entire time because I was so frickin excited to play them (because of all those firsts). And scared. Mainly I think I was scared. We started the game short two main blockers, one of whom had to fly home for work, another who was injured in a previous game and ended up needing to go to the hospital.
A few jams in, it was starting to look like it was going to be a good game. But then one by one, our jammers got injured. We started the bout with 3 jammers. By the end of the first period, we had one. Every time a jammer was got hurt, we had to switch around our line ups, turning blockers into jammers. After our third jammer was taken off on a stretcher in the 2nd period, when our team was down to 10 players, we huddled together to figure out who would be jamming.
Here's the amazing thing...everyone pulled together. Everyone stayed positive. And everyone worked as a team, even though we lost by over 100 points. It's struggles like this that build a team. And this was the moment I first realized how amazing my team really is.
2. In our recent bout against the Atlanta Rollegirls, our pivot was putting her panty on. The cover hit her in the eye and flipped her contact out. The contact was somehow found, but by that point it had been rolled over and was split in half. Another skater promptly took a contact out of her own eye to give it to our pivot. That is some serious derby love.
3. We, as a team, have recently begun singing together. In Bella Trixx's words, "I didn't know I signed up for Roller Glee." Well, she did. And personally, I think it is the best thing ever. We have a few main songs in our repertoire (though our playlist is growing all the time), with the first (and my favorite) being To Be With You by Mr. Big. We actually used it as our skate out song when we played Oly last week. (Um, yeah, I said when we played OLY. Remember above in #1 when I said Houston was the highest ranking team I had played. Since then I have also played high ranking teams such as Naptown, Nashville, Rat City, and Oly! Totally amazing. And none of which I would have imagined a year ago. I mean, when Oly began their cheer of Oly! Oly! Oly! Oi!Oi!Oi!, I almost started to cheer along with the 'Oi's' because, well, every other time I have seen them has been as an awestruck fan.)
In our bout against Jet City, one of our skaters was hit in the face hard enough that she got a really intense concussion. While she was laying on the floor, waiting on the paramedics, she was slurring her words and fading in and out of consciousness. She requested that we sing. So we did. We stood and serenaded her with To Be With You. During our song was the first time she was able and actually trying to stay awake and conscious.
I love that my team comes together during these moments, the times when things are about as crappy as they can get. It makes me proud to say that I am a Tampa Tantrum. And lets me know that my lows of derby are worth it because I get to be a member of an amazing team where the highs are so much better.
P.S. I feel like I can't really leave this out. We have recently begun to wear fancy pants. I mean, really, who doesn't love them some fancy pants?!
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