#SettingGoals

Well, quick update: I didn't make it.

However, the league did create an entire new program for us (I like to think because we are just awesome and they want to keep us around) called Skaters on Tap. The deal is that we would become a part of the business, pay dues, have league jobs, and in return, we get to train with the league during league-wide practices. We also get to join the Homies, which to me seems like is made up of anyone who is not on the travel team, who want to travel and play other people outside the league.

So, for the past 2 months, I've been skating with the Texas Rollergirls

And it is freaking awesome!

I've been learning so much and I can actually watch a live feed derby game without having to play it at half speed. This to me is pretty big.

I still feel like Bambi on skates sometimes, especially when I am blocking on people legends like Freight, OJ, and Gravy, but I've been just doing the best that I can and I love how supportive everyone has been.

Fast forward to last night. We had a scrimmage night where we played each other with a few travel team players sprinkled in. I was so excited to test out all the new skills that I had picked up during these past few months of practice and to tell you the truth, I was completely overwhelmed.

By the 2nd jam my weaknesses were already exposed clearly and by the end of the night, I was completely bombarded mentally with all the things that I need to do better. So, I e-mailed my big Delirium Trigger and I asked her about setting goals. I think I'm supposed to be a jammer eventually, but I feel like I need to be able to block before I will be remotely close to being an effective jammer. Who knows, I may like blocking in the end... but anyways, I wanted to ask her thoughts about whether or not I should specialize in jammer skills or blocker skills, or if I should just learn both as I go.

She suggested both, but if I were working on blocker drills, I should be thinking about how to take advantage as a jammer.

And then she reminded me about reverse engineering when it comes to setting goals. After thinking about this, I decided to work on the following:

1) Making quick lateral cuts :
To do this, I will need to solidify my hockey stop, perform squats to strengthen the muscles, and work on consecutive explosive pushes ( as opposed to a single drive).

2) Being able to track and create a strong wall: 
To do this I need to strengthen my core and legs so that I can drop lower. Work on really feeling the jammer with my body and turning in/out slightly to catch any creepage. I also need to work on plowing hard into the ground. *I actually had a lightbulb moment tonight when MegaHurtz pointed out that I can turn my body a bit to catch the jammer before I square back up again. Also when anticipating a catch, Peace suggested that I start moving my feet so that I can get going faster. And gravy suggested that I bend over to make my body horizontal to give myself more area to catch an incoming jammer. I then put these pieces of advice into practice and now I feel like I am MUCH more stable.

3) More fluid and exaggerated jukes 
To do this, I need to work on agility and making quick lateral cuts (see #1) Once I can stop quickly on a dime, I should be able to juke and change directions a bit better.

4) better transitions between  toestops and rolling.
To do this I just need to spend more time on my toestops. I need to get over the fear of falling over flat on my face and just practice toestops to rolling and rolling to toestops.

Tonight's practice, we worked on #1,2,3 and by the time I left practice, I felt so good about improving in those areas. Now, are they perfect? No, but I can tell I got better and that's all that counts, right?

Last Practice? Results Tonight

The commute to practice is exactly 30 mins. So I've been able to polish off entire novels, meeting my 1 book a month goal that I set for myself even before Hannah was born. Tonight was my last practice as a new skater and I find out in a mere few hours if I will be drafted to join Texas Rollergirls. The book played, but I don't remember a single event that happened. My mind was just replaying moments from practice, really throughout the whole process.

If I don't make it, I totally would understand. There's other opportunities for derby in Austin and I can grow there.

But if I do make it, holly cow! To be able to skate with and learn from the best in the world, would totally knock my socks off. Every practice I see these athletic women doing amazing things with their bodies and it's always so inspiring!

All day my stomach has been doing flips the moment I think any derby thoughts. As I left practice, knowing that my derby career for the next few month was already predetermined (apparently the draft happened before tonight's practice) I sighed a breath of relief.

News to follow!

Team Practice with the Hearts

Tonight I practiced with the Heartbreakers and I was super impressed with the team culture. They actually had me take on the jammer role for the drills and I didn't die, so maybe I'm more of a jammer type.

Oooh, so I also jumped over defense for the first time. It was kind of like an apex jump, but just on a straight away. I was kind of surprised that I actually made it, and it was definitely a confidence booster for me. I was however getting stuck behind walls a lot. I'm still fall victim to Jamnesia as I get stuck in the zone and forget about the star pass option. Overall, it was a fun night and as always, I learned a lot about body positioning.

So after skating with the Texas Rollergirls, just for fun, I've actually assigned each team an Enneagram number, and since you are not supposed to type people, I'm just going off of my perception of each team. The Hotrods are like 8's. The Hells are like 1's, the Hustlers are like 4's and Hearts are like 6's. Of course these are just generalizations because within each team, there is a range of personalities from 1-9, which is why the derby culture is so amazing!

One More Week of Try-Outs

So this past week has been pretty full of derby for me. Following last Tuesday's post, I joined in on the Hotrods' practice on Thursday, had league practice on Saturday, scrimmaged with the home teams on Monday and then had practice again tonight. On Thursday I'll be joining the Heartbreakers' practice, followed by a Saturday practice and then one last Tuesday practice before finding out if we are drafted or not.

I'd say at this point, I'm encouraged enough to say that there is a small chance that I may be drafted. While I still feel like I am the least experienced on the team, I am a quick learner and I think that is a plus.

Practice with the Hodrods was very intense. OJ led the practice and we learned about pack scenarios and positioning. I learned through that practice when you should be at the front of the pack and when you should be at the back.

On Saturday, we worked more on Offensive blocking and we practiced different types of catches: hooking and posting.

On Monday, we scrimmaged and I really got a chance to 1) feel how weird the flooring is at Austin Sports Center (it's like floating laminate tiles) 2) practice offensive blocking in game scenarios and 3) learn about body positioning when blocking the jammer at the front of the pack. I ended up getting lots of penalties for track cuts, but I know I'm taking more risks with taking the outside or inside lanes as a jammer. I just need to have more explosive starts. I currently feel like I'm just a split second behind and that I have lead blocks on my feet.

Tonight's practice focused on power. Tear coached us tonight and I always love listening to her explain things. She is so aware of body mechanics and can really break things down and trouble-shoot what you are doing or not doing. We worked on loading our legs a certain way and then moving the opposing blocker out of the way. Power comes from "chambering" or loading up our body in a way so that we can gain momentum during the hits.

I also learned that I need to get lower. -- said no derby player ever.

I look back to the first few practices and I feel like I am more in my element. I'm more at ease and I am feeling so encouraged by the other women. Remember when I wasn't sure if I was in love with the idea of derby or the actual playing? Well, it's even more clearer to me now and it's pretty evident that I'm in love with the actual game...and the people.

I remember when Sum asked if I wanted to try-out. I quickly told her, "I just can't. I have 3 kids." Now I can say "I need derby in my life because I have 3 kids!"

Bruises are starting to become more apparent, and today one person actually asked me about mine (which I thought would've happened earlier). It's funny how they look so bad, but I really don't even remember how I got them.

I've been trying to catch some games on youtube when I can. I typically will watch the games at 75% speed and at that speed, I feel like I can better follow what is going on. I'm going to keep trying to watch more games when I can, and hopefully I will be able to watch (and know what's going on) at regular speed soon.

Try-Outs Part 2

Rain has dampened our practice schedule so we've had less time on skates with canceled practices here and there. We've been really working on offensive weaving, to help open up space for the jammer. The first skill that we have been working on are lateral cuts in to take someone's space followed by containment (by sitting).

I'm finding it difficult to get the power needed to take someone's space. I think when I cut in, I am pretty much faced with enough force that I simply contain them, not really moving anyone out of their space at this point. But on the flip side, I'm not being launched when I get hit, so that's a gain for me.

Last practice I had a wide eyed moment when I saw an amazing jammer just zip through the pack like it was nothing. She was aggressive, fast and didn't let anyone get in her way. They called her OJ. So curious, I looked up to see what team she played and I didn't find anyone with a name related to orange juice, but then I see a picture of someone who resembles her, and it was Olivia Shootin' John. I had a fan girl moment. I got to skate with THE Olivia Shootin' John!

So tonight, as I was gearing up, guess who sat down right next to me?!?! Anyways, we talked mostly about alternative schools, but it was cool to be talking to a derby celebrity!

The drive to every practice has me feeling nervous. I really want to make a team, I really love skating derby, but there's a part of myself that knows I'm such a newbie and I don't want to let whatever team I join down. The girls have all been super encouraging and I usually leave practice feeling ok and not beat down. Sometimes when I am doubting myself, I ask myself, do I derby because I love it, or do I want the status that comes with being on a premier team?

When self-doubt settles in, I often think the latter. Maybe I just want to be able to say that I got selected on a team, prove to my friends that I'm good enough. But once I strap on my skates and join the other women on the track, I feel so alive, liberated, and it is then when I know without a doubt that I do it because I love the sport along with the encouraging and accepting culture that surrounds it all.

Before skating with the league I was pretty set on joining a certain team. Mainly because most of my closer derby friends are on that team. However, after skating with different skaters and getting to know more girls, I think I would be happy with whoever takes me. The hot rods are an amazing team of diverse women from all walks of life. The Hustlers are relaxed, but they work hard at the same time. Hell Mary's have the reputation of being more strict, but the women who I've skated with are all super friendly. And then the Heartbreakers have an amazing team full of mentors who I've looked up to during my time in the rec league.

I found out today that the try-out period has been extended an extra week. This means I get more derby time and will have the opportunity to learn so much more. I still have a pretty good feeling that I'm going to get cut this time around. Of all the women trying out, I am the least experienced. Like Hellgha said, "Fall is a better time to join because you start fresh and have a chance to grow with your team." During mid-season try outs teams are looking for skaters who are ready to go. My only chance of getting in is if they want to pick me and plan on growing me through this season so I would be ready to go next season.

A part of me still feels guilty about leaving Steve to take care of the kids while I go play roller derby. But I need to not feel guilty. I have to remind myself that I'm doing this for me, but also for the kiddos too.

I still have 6 practices left! I'm going to try to learn as much as I can and see where things take me. So excited!

Mid Season Try-outs

On Sunday 4/28, I tried out for TXRG in their mid-season try outs. 4 Blisters around my ankles, a few small bruises, and a little bit of muscle soreness later, I ended up being moved on to their new skater training pool.

We started the practice with basic skills...check. I feel that the rec league prepared me pretty well for this portion. But then when we went on to drills and scrimmaging, I felt so nervous and was very timid to let others down, so I played it safe and mostly blocked. However, a few times I would decide to jam, I ended up getting out of the pack, earning lead jammer status. Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves, because I'm pretty sure it was the other blockers who did a good job and got me out of the pack. But nonetheless, it was moments like these that gave me a slight confidence boost.

Fast forward to tonight, the first new skater practice. First we had a brief 20 minute orientation on how the training will go and then we started the warm up and proceeded to drills. Note to self: work on hockey stops. These things are pretty much a must in modern roller derby. Plow stops are slow, maybe good for people who are beginning, but at the premier level, they really need to be a skill like breathing is.

To tell you the truth, I left practice tonight discouraged. The skaters seemed to be so much better than I am. I truly am a baby in the derby world.  I think I really just need more time scrimmaging and playing derby (and I've got to nail those hockey stops).  I have a pretty good feeling that I won't be drafted onto a team this time around. I simply don't have the skills needed to jump in and start playing at this elite level. However, I do love derby and I am going to use this as a chance to improve and become a better skater, regardless of the outcome.

I'm not going to worry too much, but instead, follow my motto of try my best and let God take over. If I'm meant to be drafted into the premier league this time, great. If not, I'm ok with that too. But in the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy all the derby.