Today is a bittersweet day. I'm preparing for my very last home season bout of my rookie year and I'll admit I have mixed feelings about it. I am excited to be joining my team to defend our place as champs and to finish up this season undefeated. I'm nervous about how I will perform in this evening's game and I'm beginning to feel the pressure.
I could never have imagined that I'd become this close to my team and league mates and that this crazy, wonderful world of derby would mean so much to me. Keep your eyes open for the follow up post. I just can't even begin to articulate what is going on in my heart and mind right now.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Feelings of Mediocrity
Is it possible to have an overwhelming sense of mediocrity while your team succeeds in winning a tough game, moving on to the championship game? Absolutely! This bout this past Saturday was a fight to stay ahead of the other team. By no means was it my worst game, but in each of the previous games I've felt as though I made progress.Whether it was just the other team's dedication to making us work harder or my own lack of skills that night, I certainly could have done better.
On an extremely positive note, towards the end of the game I was put in a power pack (a pack that is stacked with your best blockers and jammers to help keep the bout from sliding out of control) a couple of times. As a rookie, I realize this is probably one of the most amazing things that can happen to me this year and I'm thrilled my captains had enough faith in me to put me in at that time. This season, we've been lucky to not have to rely on power packs much. We typically start each half with a power pack and then rotate through the rest of the team for the remaining half. Our team has been so strong this year.
I'm going to really focus on my pack work and hitting the next 2.5 weeks so I can really lay out some of those pesky girls in pink!
On an extremely positive note, towards the end of the game I was put in a power pack (a pack that is stacked with your best blockers and jammers to help keep the bout from sliding out of control) a couple of times. As a rookie, I realize this is probably one of the most amazing things that can happen to me this year and I'm thrilled my captains had enough faith in me to put me in at that time. This season, we've been lucky to not have to rely on power packs much. We typically start each half with a power pack and then rotate through the rest of the team for the remaining half. Our team has been so strong this year.
I'm going to really focus on my pack work and hitting the next 2.5 weeks so I can really lay out some of those pesky girls in pink!
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Semi-Finals
Tonight is the home season semi-finals for my rookie year. I can't believe this year has flown by so fast. It's 8:16 am and I've been up for almost 3 hours. I made the mistake of staying up too late last night because I thought, "It's no big deal. I don't have to get up or even set an alarm". I've learned my lesson. Whether its the nerves or just age creeping up on me, I couldn't sleep in, despite not even getting 6 hours of sleep. What to do for the next 12 hours before I need to be at the venue?
Well, I've played some facebook games, I'm currently writing a blog post (guess there is some benefit to not sleeping in; you'll have to forgive if my steam of consciousness jumps around a bit, but I blame lack of sleep.) and I'm also waiting for my nails to dry. I don't paint my nails on a regular basis because the polish never stays on for more than a day, no matter what I do. But it is one of my rituals, I suppose you could say, for bout preparation. I always try to use team colors and change up the design as much as possible. Today's polish design is a colorful french manicure. If only I had steadier hands.
Tuesday is my birthday (yeah, me!) and I'm going to celebrate tonight at the after party. I am a true believer that whatever your age, you should definitely take the time to celebrate yourself, and what better day to do that than your birthday. I actually celebrate for at least a week, so starting today makes sense. Also, what better place and time to do it than at a party where many of my friends will be having a great time already? Who says getting older sucks? I'm smarter, happier and more confident than I was in my 20's, so bring it on!
I think it's time to do some skate maintenance for tonight's bout. I'm going to risk messing up my nails in order to have freshly cleaned and lubed bearings. Come back for a recap of the bout and see if we've managed to retain our undefeated status and go into the championships for 1st!
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Time to be a Teatotaler
Today starts my week of complete abstinence from alcohol. For those of you who know me, this is tough, but worth it. I am not a superstitious derby girl, but I have become dedicated to being an athlete. I'm sure many in my life would have a hard time reconciling this to who I've been for the last 10 years, but it's been a great change for me. A week may not be enough, but I think it's worth it.
So, next Saturday is the semi-finals for our home season. There is so much riding on this single elimination bout (yep, you read that right, single elimination). As my team is currently undefeated, a loss for this game would mean playing in the grudge match for finals and a disappointing break for our great run so far this year.
There are a lot of people looking forward to seeing my team lose. And while the team we are playing is currently seeded last in the league, they should NOT be underestimated. They are definitely out to prove themselves, and they have the talent to do it.
So I'll spend the next week eating right, practicing, not drinking and preparing myself for the tough fight we have ahead of us next Saturday. I can't wait to get on the track and knock some girls down!
Update on my stats for the last bout: 3 Jammer Take Downs (JTD)! Woot! My goal for the last bout was to have 2 JTD's. I couldn't be more excited about these. I feel like I'm moving onward and upward in my overall goal to be a blocker to be wary of on the track. Not to mention, 2 of them were "sherrifs" (a hit that can often lead to a direction of game play penalty if not executed correctly).
Also, today's practice scrimmage was awesome! Both my team and the opposing team were short on numbers because many of our teammates are currently competing for WFTDA rankings (go Gold!). It was a great scrimmage and also so much fun! This league makes me smile. And I jammed twice. Thanks to my pack for being so awesome and keeping the other jammer stuck while I plodded my way around the track.
So, next Saturday is the semi-finals for our home season. There is so much riding on this single elimination bout (yep, you read that right, single elimination). As my team is currently undefeated, a loss for this game would mean playing in the grudge match for finals and a disappointing break for our great run so far this year.
There are a lot of people looking forward to seeing my team lose. And while the team we are playing is currently seeded last in the league, they should NOT be underestimated. They are definitely out to prove themselves, and they have the talent to do it.
So I'll spend the next week eating right, practicing, not drinking and preparing myself for the tough fight we have ahead of us next Saturday. I can't wait to get on the track and knock some girls down!
Update on my stats for the last bout: 3 Jammer Take Downs (JTD)! Woot! My goal for the last bout was to have 2 JTD's. I couldn't be more excited about these. I feel like I'm moving onward and upward in my overall goal to be a blocker to be wary of on the track. Not to mention, 2 of them were "sherrifs" (a hit that can often lead to a direction of game play penalty if not executed correctly).
Also, today's practice scrimmage was awesome! Both my team and the opposing team were short on numbers because many of our teammates are currently competing for WFTDA rankings (go Gold!). It was a great scrimmage and also so much fun! This league makes me smile. And I jammed twice. Thanks to my pack for being so awesome and keeping the other jammer stuck while I plodded my way around the track.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
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!
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!
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
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.
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.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
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.
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