I have to work tonight :( It is Halloween and that means time to do Pumpkin Patrol. I work for Rogers and every year we patrol the street to make sure your little trick or treaters are safe and sound! While I am busy at that my team mates of the Dieppe Roller Derby will be pushing shopping carts through the streets of Dieppe collecting non perishable food items for "Trick or Eat". There is no practice tonight however making sure our kids are safe and making sure that local food banks get the focus and donations they need so much is very important and sounds like a pretty good reason to cancel a practice.
Oh yes ladies and gentleman there is something for everyone at the Dieppe Roller Derby! Right now our league is focusing on developing our women's teams but yes men do play roller derby too! Right now we have 4 men plus our coach and they are training with us, learning the game and will be refs and maybe even coaches as we grow. But what is in the works is just as exciting to watch unfold as our women team is our men's team. Like Hits n' Sass, Camokaze Killers is slowing becoming its own too. We have watched these guys grow as we have, they have learned to skate, earned those ninja bruises and of course get the crap kicked out of them by a bunch of girls....LOL So for my male readers if your interested in becoming a part of this unique squad send an email to brad@diepperollerderby.com! Plus us the girls don't mind another guy around to smack on the butt when you do a great job....hummm I mean give you a pat on the back...LOL
Our guys are great! And when I say great I mean fantastic! They are such good sports and even let us get away with dressing them in Tutu's and high heels only on very special occasions...LOL They show up and help at all of our fundraisers and even volunteer to help wonderful causes like "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" a fundraiser supporting against Domestic Violence a group that is very near and dear to our hearts as we the Dieppe Roller Derby works very close with Crossroads for Women. Roller derby is about empowering women and what better way to give back to our community!
Let me introduce you to the boys ...:)
"Shreddy Crocker"
Hasn't picked a derby name yet so we will
call him "Hasn't Picked a Derby Name Yet"...lol
I have been very lucky thus far in my Derby Journey not to have ended up all bruised and battered looking LOL Until now! I am sure that all the drills that we are doing now involving contact have a lot to do with it, I mean I guess its a given considering the pace has stepped up a lot since moving to A squad. We aren't just learning to skate anymore its all about learning the game and technique now. Getting knocked over by my teammates is bound to make me a little tender at times, but is still sooo much fun!
So we call them "Ninja Bruises", Bruises that are derby related but your unsure exactly what you did to cause them, they start off light then get pretty crazy looking. These are pics of my first one. I should also add that being bruise free this long I have earned 4 moew just like these! So let just say my legs are looking a little Black and Blue ...LOL
We are in the process of the girls getting individual shots taken for our player profiles. Thanks to my friend Cindy Johnson for helping us out and taking some fantastic pictures! Here are some of the ones from my photo shoot taken last month....Am I starting to look the part?...LOL
Finally we have graduated to scrimmage practices, time to play with the pack and start to learn the rules and game play of Roller Derby...Finally time to learn how to block..aka hit....who knew I would like that part so much but it's F@$cking awesome! (I will explain in another post how to block and what is legal and what is not.) The first couple of weeks I had to sit out due to a broken toe (not derby related). I can not tell you how bad it sucks to sit there watching and not get to practice. This week I did get to do some pack drills, turns out I may have a pretty good bootie block (this will be most helpful...LOL), I even took my shot at jammer for a couple drills...that was a lot of fun, we all should learn to do it and we will, but I think I enjoy the blocking most of all.
Last night we were doing some pack drills. One jammer, 5 blockers on the track.....I am making way around the track as part of the pack and Vigilante Banshee falls (she hurt her ankle quite badly a couple practices ago and reinjured it last night...hope your feeling better today girl!) ...it was either skate right over her or do a Pornstar (aka Four Point Fall) Heres a little clip explaining the Pornstar but you have to picture it with Vigilante on the floor and me flying over the top of her legs while landing into a darn good Pornstar ..LOL
I get up and go again, smiling at what I think was a dam great Pornstar!!.....And it happens, I wipe out again however this time not with such grace....Im going around the turn, wipe out land on my butt, and my head bangs on the concrete floor. I hear Coach Pixel Ninja "Are you OK can you keep going?" I bounce to my feet, shake my head and off I am again saying "Yup, Im good".......make a couple more turns around the track, smiling having fun then BOOM....wipe out again!...This time right square on my butt with my head hitting the concrete so hard it bounced! I hear a huge "Ohhhhh" from my teammates and I hear again from Coach " Are you OK?" I roll over on my stomach, laughing and crying at the same time...."I'm OK but I'm done for tonight"! I am fine, no concussion or anything but it did leave me dazed and confused for a couple of minutes, and a stiff neck today!
All I can say is my helmet prevented a potentially serious injury last night! It is however very important to always wear it and to wear it proper adjusted to fit you and straps done up. It happened so quickly I would hate to think what would have happened if I didn't have one. Our helmets are lined with softer foam than bicycle helmets and are made for multiple impact use. The helmets also are designed to cover more of the back of your head which is ideal for the unexpected backwards falls that can happen in derby, especially while learning to skate. It is not recommended to buy a second-hand helmet as it can be hard to tell if a helmet has been damaged in a crash.
.....I think I maybe should move the new helmet further up the list on my wish list, just to be on the safe side. :)
The world of Roller Derby is a very colorful one! Full of vibrant neon, bright bold colors....Derby fashion is a style all of its own...knee socks, fishnets,short skirts, Tutu's and bootie shorts (which are really underwear and are worn on the outside of your pants...LOL). The Halloween Store is like Bloomingdale's for the Derby Girl!
Those of you that know me know that I am a pretty conservative person and from business casual to Derby is quite a stretch for me...LOL...But here I am obsessed with buying "stuff for derby" I have more booties shorts and socks than Walmart...LOL...This new found confidence Roller Derby has given me shocks even me!...LOL
A funny story for you though, I am getting ready for practice one night and I am outside my house packing up my car and my friend drops by for a quick visit...she and I are standing on the sidewalk having a chat and a truck goes by and the poor guy almost ran into the telephone pole trying to get a look, pretty sure I was a bit of a distraction standing there with fishnets and bootie shorts...LMAO, my neighbourhood will never be the same again...LOL
Any who, I have lots of catching up to do on my blog but for now here are a couple pics of a few of my recent additions to my Derby wardrobe :)
This is my scrimmage jersey
The number is wrong but it works
Will be 007 soon :)
