I have Many Skills (Well...almost)

Plough stop, t-stop, double whip, weave, crossover...and the list goes on. When I first got here, there wasn't really any rugby going on so I figured I'd give roller derby a try! I haven't been on skates in years but the website said there was loaner gear. So, Monday four weeks ago I ambled out to an outdoor basketball court, strapped on a pair of mismatched skates and pads (and a helmet too, for those of you who worry) and wobbled to my feet. The first thing we learned was how to fall. Well, fall safely, that is. I definitely needed that part...the how to do it safely part. The falling part I had down pat! It could only get better from there :-)

There is so much more to this sport than I ever imagined. Before you can even think about actually being in the league and in matches, there is a nationally standardized "skills test" to pass. Some people take a full year of practice before they're ready. Plus, apparently there's a written test harder than any ref test I've taken before! I found this fact out when I showed up to my third practice and they were handing out tests!

After turning in my likely abysmal written test,  I had no illusions that I might actually pass the skills portion but figured it would be fun to try anyways! Since there were so many of us, as it became apparent that some were not ready to test, one of the leaders would pull them aside and send them over to practice with other newbies. I only got to 25 for the "27 in 5" part where you have to skate 27 laps in 5 minutes. Max (one of the leaders) asked me how many practices I'd been to. "third one" I replied, expecting to be sent to the side but she let me skate on. I was wobbly as I tried to continue the skills but I hadn't been pulled out yet! Eventually Max grabbed my shirt "I've got a new name for you" she said as she pointed me to the practice area. Since I had tried skills testing on my third practice, she has now dubbed me "third base". The jury is still out on whether the name will stick or not :-)

So, after three weeks of learning to fall and weave and becoming more and more steady on skates I didn't think it could get any more fun...then I went to my fourth practice. I made it to 26 and a half laps in the 27 and 5 practice and we spent all evening elarning new things and perfecting old ones. My stops finally actually work, I'm learning backwards turns and crossovers and we spent a good portion of practice jumping over and around things! Then at the end, Mars taught us a break-dancing pose :-) maybe I'll try to get a picture of that one for y'all.

So, I don't really have skills yet but I've now got my own skates and pads so I can practice more than once a week. The team is a great group of girls and Mondays are definitely now my favorite day of the week!

New skates!

So, I already broke a pair of shoelaces and apparently the tape is important. Or maybe its just cool, I'm not sure.