1 Month Update

I wish I could say that things are going awesome. But the whole limbo status on jamming or blocking is really making me anxious. After our scrimmage on Monday I had a goals meeting with our captains and I was told to focus on both jamming and blocking. So, I could take it as a compliment and go with the idea that I am a versatile player, or most likely, the case would be that I just need work on all the things and lots of it. I'm pretty sure it's the latter.

So, as you can imagine, this does not leave me feeling great about myself right now.

Hurdle #1 
I lack experience. Everyone on my team has had at least 1 year of experience playing derby on a team. I have 0. In fact, I've played in less than 7 scrimmages/games in my whole derby career. I've been in the rec league for a long time, so I've been able to pick up skills pretty well, but when it comes to game play, I'm like a baby.

Solution #1: Watch more derby, specifically games that involve my team. I've been watching higher level derby and each team has very specific strategies that I can't implement right now because it's not what my team does. But I know it'll be helpful when I get more seasoned...just not right now.

Hurdle #2
I weigh 125 pounds. I know people in my league who could easily squat, bench press, or leg press double, triple, and even quadruple my weight. When it counts, I could easily be tossed across the track.

Solution #2
Even if I gained another 10-20 pounds, it would not give me a noticeable boost in performance. I really need to work on strength and agility and always getting lower to be more stable. I'm going to look into getting a workout to do on my own at the gym. It's not going to be as fun/interesting as zumba or body pump, but I think it'll give me the extra umph that I need on the track.

Hurdle #3
Our team already has a lot of jammers, but the thought of not being able to jam again crushes my soul.

Solution #3a
The team needs me as a blocker so I'll develop more as a blocker for now.

Solution #3b
I really try hard to develop both skills and mainly block but also jam occasionally (if that is OK with the team).

Solution #3c
Focus training as a jammer, and while I may not play in games much this year, I'll be ready next year.


I wish that when the derby sorting hat determined my home team, it would've revealed what position I would be best suited for as well. 

I have a lot more hurdles to get past, but currently, I think these are the big ones.  I'm glad to have solutions for each of my current hurdles. The last one will need some flushing out, but I now have options.

I have to remind myself not to compare myself to the skaters who have skated almost a decade. While they make it look so easy, I know that they all went through what I'm going through. One day it'll just click. I'm hoping that day comes soon.

Miso