Pack Member Down

In my previous post, I failed to mention that one of my teammates was badly injured in that game. I wasn't really ready to talk about it at that time, but now I'm up for it. I've never been in a situation before where someone I was with was injured in front of me like that. I knew it would happen at some point, but knowing and actually living through it is something entirely different.

To make matters worse, this particular teammate is also a member of my pack. For those who don't know, the pack for your own team is the 4 blockers who go out and skate together. On our team, we have packs that typically work together, getting to know each other's strengths and weaknesses to really play a good strong game. You become a very close knit group within your own team.

I can't imagine what those first few hours and days were for her, but I know one thing. This woman is strong, both physically and emotionally. She broke her tibia and fibula. I saw her less than a week after her surgery and I'm amazed at how she's taken it all in stride. Of course, she is upset that she won't be playing with us for a long time and that this happened so early in her career, but her determination is inspiring to see. Not only did we get to see her, but she even had the entire team over for bout viewing. We descended upon her home, grateful to have the chance to see her and hang out and it was great seeing a smile on her face.

I'm going to miss seeing her lovely face on the track, but I know she'll be around, cheering us on as we will support and cheer her on during her recovery. Fingers crossed this is the last injury for a while. We ninjas need some good vibes right now.

And of course, seeing is believing. I always knew this was a dangerous sport that I got myself into, but this really brings it home. This entire experience threw me for a loop, but I too will come out stronger for seeing it as well.

Love you KMS!

Undefeated!

Last week Friday was my 3rd home season bout and I must say, I am very pleased. Not only did my team win, retaining our undefeated status, but I played a great game. I feel like I've made the next step to becoming a great player. I'm not there, but visible progress is so exhilarating.

My first jam out on the track was, admittedly very bad. My track awareness was horrible and I'm not certain that I even came close to touching the jammer. That being said, I took my captains and teammates advice and treated each jam as if it was the first, not letting my disappointing performance in that jam affect the following ones. And it paid off.

This was my best game to date, and it really should be at this point in my career. I went on to perform some pretty awesome sheriff's (a quick jab of the shoulder backwards into the chest of an opponent), two of which caused the opposing jammer to go down.

This game pretty much took me from a space taker on the track (granted annoyingly in the way to the other team) to a real hitting blocker. I look forward to continuing my growth as a hard hitting blocker.

And on the humorous side, there were quite a few times I was hit by the opposing blockers attempting to either take me out or just get me out of the way where I either didn't move or they bounced right off me. I love it!

Can't wait to hit some more! And I'm anxiously awaiting the stats for this most recent game and in my career as well.

Derby on the Road

It's been too long since I last posted and I have a game again tomorrow, so I'll keep this one short. Last week I was in Atlanta and I got the opportunity to skate with the Atlanta roller girls. Not only did I have a great time, but I learned some new drills that I can't wait to bring back to my teammates. This is what derby is about.