Derby is the New Knitting.

Apologies. This is an old post that was stuck in my drafts folder. “Last night” in this context means “three months ago.

I tried out for the Roller Derby last night.

Last Fall I read some random report on the internet about the resurgence of roller derby. And I was intrigued. I’m not sure why, but Roller Derby sounded like an awesome sport to be a part of. Plus I’m not exactly “athletic”, so a sport that actually valued my skating prowess and size seemed like a good idea. All those years of figure skating may pay off here (Mom and Dad are thrilled, I’m sure.) So off I went in search of more information, only to find that there is a local league here in my city. I emailed the recruiting address and waited. I waited until a couple of weeks ago when they sent out a notification to a group of new recruits that tryouts would be taking place on Feb 7. Last night.

So I went to a couple of public skate sessions at the local rink to get some practice. I went to a bout to make sure it really was something I was interested in. I ordered the gear online. Once the order was placed, there was no turning back. I HAD to tryout.

There were exactly six days between the time I officially said I would be attending tryouts and the actual tryout. Six days for me to obsess over all things Derby. I read about how other leagues run their tryouts (some have multi-day experiences). I read about people who didn’t make the cut. I read about people who did make the cut and the first practices they attended. I read about how often leagues hold practices (anywhere from 2-4x per week). What I did not read about was exactly what went on at tryouts…

The Wednesday before tryouts our league held a meet and greet where current derby girls came out to the local roller rink and skated with new girls. They answered any questions we had and basically tried to help us to be comfortable with both the league and the recruitment process. I showed up all by myself, freaked out about meeting new people and spent most of the night skating by myself. I met a couple of girls and whatever questions I remembered I asked, but I was way too nervous to know what I should be asking. If I could go back and do that one again I would have gone with a list of questions. Maybe not on paper like a True Fan, but at least prepared questions so I wouldn’t have to go home wondering about how Saturday’s tryouts would go. Then again, all I had to do was wait for tryouts to find out, so really not a big deal. Mostly it would have helped to calm my anxieties.

So. Tryouts. We were scheduled to start at 7PM. I got there a couple of minutes before 7. Everyone was sitting in the lobby of the space waiting our turn as the ball hockey guys who rent the space before us finished up.

And you’re going to love this part: This entry has been sitting in my drafts folder since February. It’s now May 17.

Let’s make this quick: tryouts were scary but I made it in! I’ve been skating with the CRDA fresh meat since February. You have to do three months as fresh meat before you can take benchmark tests and become eligible to play in an actual bout.

Our benchmark tests are a week from today.

Derby is wonderful and fantastic. I’m writing this from my hotel room at derby bootcamp. I’m icing my back which feels AWFUL and I’m getting ready to fall asleep for a long long time. After 6 hours of hardcore derby practice today, many of us skated in a rookie bout. After the rookie bout was a “big girls” bout. It was awesome. We came from behind and took the lead in the last jam.

Filed under all about me, derby, world travels | Comments (2)