I'm Drafted!

Tonight I found out that I was drafted by the Honkey Tonk Heartbreakers!

Photo Credit: Kassy Balli 

Photo Credit: Unknown.

The whole family was there to support me, and I wish I had gotten a picture of all of us at the draft party, but it was just overwhelming (and my kids were using my phone to play Pokemon Go).  I am usually awesome at taking pics of my kids, but when it comes to documenting my own life, I just check out. Anyways, I'll probably post more pics as I get them.

I'm definitely tired as I'm writing this, but I just had to make this post.

Glitter Done!

The Final Scrimmage

Last night, Smash Effect, who was a fellow rec-league skater, but now a Hustler, told me go 100%.  I tried my best tonight, but it was not by best. I am getting over a cold, I didn't get to eat dinner because the chicken on the grill was still half raw by the time I had to leave, and I had the shakes, maybe due to anxiety? Luckily Steve put an emergency pop tart in the car like 6 months ago, so I ran to the car before the scrimmage and took a few bites of the pop tart which helped a bit with the low blood sugar feeling. I took this picture before the scrimmage. 

Out of the 9 women who are in the training cohort, 3 of them are primary jammers. Only 1 of them was present tonight, Gory (who is an amazing jammer and person) had to drop out last minute and Diamond (who is also amazing and commutes from Houston, yes, Houston) had to work.  This scenario kind of forced me to jam a bit more than I had been previously comfortable with. Before the scrimmage, I had set a goal to jam 3 times each half... I ended up jamming every 3rd or 4th jam and with the help of my blockers, got lead several times!

Peacewar was on the opposite team and she was playing every jam! I said a little prayer. And then a miracle happened, second half, she joined our team! I definitely let out a sigh of relief when that change happened.

I skated my hardest. I skated for my trainers.  I skated for all the friends I've made along the way. I skated for myself.

I will probably be sore tomorrow. I had 2 big falls where I fell on my hip. I already see a bruise developing, but for some reason, I don't think it will look as awesome as it feels. (Derby bruises often work that way. It's the ones that just show up from nowhere that are the cooler looking ones.)

Team Taco went to Tamale house for drinks and tacos afterwards and on the drive home, my message feed started going crazy. As soon as I arrived home, I checked my phone for the anticipated e-mail. Nothing. Remembering that this happened last time, I logged on my computer and checked, sure enough, I got a message from Nine that said,

"Congratulations!  You have been drafted to one of the Texas Rollergirls home teams!" 

So that's it. I made it on a team. I get to find out what color I get to upgrade my Skater On Tap bandana to this Sunday.

It broke my heart when I found out about the women who were not drafted. In my mind, I had always thought, that if I made it in, all the others would too. I hope they will take advantage of The Skater on Tap program, which has been key to developing me into a better skater.

Quick shout out to Lethal, OJ, Grit and Mega who did an amazing job training the Homies. I attribute most of my improvement in the past few months to these awesome leaders, along with the other Homies who I had the opportunity to skate with.

The journey does not stop now. It's only begun and it's so exciting!

One More Practice Until The Draft

The timestamp of this picture dates back to Nov. 24, 2013. The person in the background (horrible picture of her, BTW) was the friend (Bad Asstatine) who got me into derby in the first place. This was my first scrimmage after assessing out of primer for the first time. Nathan was just 1 year old. I had just gotten a taste of derby but the season ended, and so I became pregnant with Hannah.

The timestamp from this picture dates back to June of 2016. At this point I had passed through primer again and skated for a few more months before TXRG lost the shed. But I remember one day, our trainer, Mo asked each of us what our derby goals were. One by one, people spouted out their goals: I want to be on the travel team one day; I would like to get on a home team, etc. When it was my turn, I gave my at that time realistic goal of just staying in rec-league to become a better skater. The idea of even skating at the level of my trainers seemed so far away to me. 

Well, fast forward to November of 2019: We have one more practice before I find out if I get drafted as a Texas Rollergirl!

Anxious is probably an understatement.  I can tell when I've been thinking about something a lot because I start to dream about it.  Last night I dreamed about Math Pentathlon (because I'm coaching it and we had a practice today) and the draft. I dreamed that I was the only person not drafted. Yikes! 

I wish I could confidently say that I know that at this moment, I've got what it takes to be drafted. I mean, there are a few girls in the pool who I just know will be drafted. They are just that good. But I have doubt and some insecurities about my abilities.  There are practices where I leave feeling great about what I accomplished that day. (My hockey stops are improving and on slicker floors, I'd say that they are actually pretty good.) But then there are practices where I get blown across the line by Peace War, that I am reminded just how inexperienced of a skater I am.

In the past 6 months (since I last tried out) I've definitely noticed a big improvement in my skills. I am waaaay more stable as a blocker and can do a fair job of defending against a non-travel team skater. I've even become more confident as a jammer as I have become more comfortable on my toe-stops and have become stronger to push through walls.  I am agile. I'm starting to understand more of the big picture of derby, and I know with more game play and spectating, I'll start to be able to come up with strategy in the moment.

We scrimmage this Thursday. I'm going to give it my best. When I jam I'm going to imagine my baby is on the other side and fight. I'm going to track jammers by staying low and stable. I'm going to open up holes for the jammer by playing O. I may  will even hit a friend or two, or three. Oh, and if I make a team, I get to unlock an achievement reward: a new pair of skates.

Thursday. [breathe]

Jammer Focused Practice: Mind Blown!

Happy Birthday, Bohnnes! (It's probably spelled wrong...sorry)

Ya'll! Tonight was probably one of the most pivotal practices that I've had in my derby career. I'm tired, I have a long work day ahead of me tomorrow, but I have to document this before I forget. 

Awesome jammer-specific practice! I wanted to get a picture with Hauss, but she had to rush off to travel team practice. 

 So one of my derby idols, Hauss the Boss, led our practice tonight. I remember seeing her jam in the first derby game ever that I watched on Youtube and I was amazed with her agility, speed and sweepy line to line movements. Fast forward to try-outs, she has been nothing but positivity and encouragement. Unfortunately she is retiring (hopefully she'll come back soon) after this season, but I even had the privilege of chatting with her during a shift at the ticket booth and she is a totally cool chick! Best of luck Hauss, as you do all the adulting things!

Up until today, I have always found it difficult to get past a wall without the help of offense. Taking the line was pretty much a sentence for me to be knocked out of bounds, but today, Hauss broke things down and I feel way more confident taking the line to get past blockers.

You can definitely say that tonight's practice helped me fall in love with jamming a little bit more...

We first talked about ineffective practices of jammers. Then, she showed us a move that helps us move the blockers line to line, but then sets us up in a position to be explosive. You basically do a mohawk and then you put the toe stop down from the non-leading foot. We practiced that going line to line. It was weird at first, because it's the opposite of what I usually do, but I started to see how much more nimble and agile that helped me to be.

Then she taught us how to use the mohawk to whip our hips in front of the blocker, while using our opposite shoulder to catch them.  Essentially, you get to use the blockers momentum of pushing you to propel you forward.

The final skill that she taught us to do extended the previous skill a bit, but this time, getting low and sticking your butt out as you move away from the pack after the whip around.

One of our last drills was led by Lethal, another amazing all around derby player and trainer. She worked with us on juking

At the end of practice, we scrimmaged and I was able to get around the blockers using the skills that I learned tonight. A week ago, if put in the same situation, this would not be the case.

I'm excited to see what other skills are out there for me to pick up. I now feel more confident to jam and that's a win! Thanks Hauss!

The Interviews

So this afternoon, we had the "speed dating" style interviews. We met at the Highball, which is one of the league's sponsors. Each set of team captains sat at a little booth and we all took turns in a rotation and talked with each team for 5 minutes.

The most asked questions are as follows:
- Why Texas Rollergirls?
- Why are you trying out now?
- What sort of cross training do you do outside of derby?
- What can you bring to the team?
- How do you handle conflict and drama?

Other more interesting questions included:
- How do you react when someone makes you angry on the track?
- How do you feel about being told what position to be trained as?
- How do you feel about being a benched player?
- What sort of commitments do you have outside of derby?
- What hobbies do you do outside of derby?
- Would you be willing to lift weights besides doing body pump?

I pretty much kept it real, even exposing some of my weaknesses to the captains when appropriate. I figured, they need to know what they are potentially getting involved with. Being so vulnerable and open about my weaknesses actually affected me more than I thought it would. I think at times we try to bury our weaknesses, focusing on our strengths, so when those weaknesses are brought to the surface, it does not make you feel too fabulous.

The Hells asked me to give them a 1 statement elevator pitch about myself. I was a bit surprised because the other captains basically asked me specific questions for me to answer. Bragging about myself was probably the most nerve-wrecking part of the interviews.

Given some time to think of it, I think this is what mine would be.

I am creative and I like to solve problems. As a "Jack of all trades" who loves to learn and figure out how things work, I always give it my best. 

While we were waiting for our next interview, we had some time to mingle and one of the questions that we discussed was who would be your top choice. Everyone was reluctant to share, but eventually we all did. I already had given some thought about who would be a good fit on what team, so to hear their answers was kind of a neat confirmation of my suspicions.  (My predictions for the mid-season try outs were mostly wrong, but it's fun to think about.)

When I went into the interviews, I also went in with the mindset of figuring out what role each team could potentially play in my derby journey and interestingly, I've come to conclude that each team would contribute something very different to my growth path... which is pretty amazing in itself.

All this speculation is fun and super exciting, but I need to get drafted first.

6 more practices.

- 

Half way through try-outs!

Silly Picture! Photo Credit: Booty Queen

Practice with the Honky Tonk Heartbreakers
Today we skated our final home team practice with the Hearts. The practice was a bit more lower in intensity, but for the most part 50% of the practice was what we did with all of the teams. I like that there is some consistence across the league, but that each team also has the freedom to do their own thing their own way.
The Hearts are definitely a Hufflepuff team, on the Enneagram, as 6w7 or a 7w6.

I've skated with many of the girls on this team this summer when I skated with the Homies, so it was a very comfortable environment for me. Trigger, one of the captains, also happens to be my "Big" and has been super supportive throughout this journey.

For each of the practices, I've been mostly blocking, but jamming a few times here and there. As I am trying to figure out what position I like best (I feel like I'm both still pretty weak at both positions), I have been gravitating towards working on blocking because I feel like any derby player needs to be a decent blocker.

I've been watching a lot of footage, specifically watching Hauss, OJ, Trigger, Zook, Darbie, and Grace on how they get through strong walls and I've learned that 1. It's ok to be hit out, and that sometimes when you get hit out, you gain a little bit more control of the situation and have a better chance of getting through. and 2. When a jammer is really stuck behind a solid wall, offense is key to get her out.

I'm still working on my hockey stops. Now I'm working on making them more sharp and snappy and also improving on my weaker, outside hockey stop. For blocking, I'm really trying to focus on getting low and making as much body contact with the jammer as possible. And then when jamming, I'm really trying to add in more jukes and fakes before I hit.

Today I didn't do my best with blocking, but I was able to get out of the pack a few times with the help of amazing offense from blockers. I even got whipped twice by Manecki, something that has never happened to me before. She basically was able to see an opening, grab my shirt and swung me around an opposing blocker and then I got through. I really enjoyed skating with her today. She's got a calm intensity vibe and really knows the game well. #derbygoals.

Tomorrow, we have interviews with the captains. I was told that each person basically goes before a panel of captains and are asked a bunch of questions. I'm actually super excited about this part of the try-outs and hope that I can remain authentically me and not revert to mirroring the people I talk to.

So then, we have 6 more practices until we find out if we get drafted and then the draft party is at the Highball on Nov. 24th from 3-6 pm.

1/3 of the Way Through New Skater Training

On Thursday, our practice got rained out, so we did some derby talk about hip positioning and most people went on to get tacos. I think our group name may very well be Team Taco. So then, today we were invited to practice with the Hotrods.

Hotrods Practice 

So many people who have played a pivotal part in my training are Hotrods: Lethal, Sum, OJ, Nine. I also skated in rec with Grace and cheered her on as she got drafted into Texas Rollergirls, made Travel B team, and then Travel A team. Many of our league's leaders are also Hotrods. 

During mid-season try-outs, I attended a small Hotrods practice because the travel team was away. At that time, I had decided that the Hotrods were an 8 on the enneagram. Well, I'd also like to add 3 to the mix: The achiever. The way they set up their practice shows just this. They got down to business, and were very efficient with their time. Practice was intense.  

At our social hour after practice, there were some icebreaker-type questions and a big topic was food and then we ended with the Hogwarts house question. Surprisingly, maybe not so surprisingly, but many of the hotrods are fittingly Griffyndor or Slytherin. 

It's so interesting how the league is made up of a conglomeration of people, but then when you get down to the teams, there's really distinct personalities that fit in each. 

We focused much of the practice on wall work: catching the jammer in various situations. My goals coming out of this practice as a blocker is to work on staying low when I am adjusting my body positioning. I'm doing fairly well tracking the jammer, but when I hold her, all it takes is a quick bump and I'm standing too tall to be as strong as I would like to be. 

As a jammer, I want to work on more explosive juking and changing of directions. It's very difficult for me to get around a group of 3-4 blockers especially when I have no O to help me through. I also need to work on line work so that when people push me out of bounds, I can maybe use their momentum to propel me forward on the track as I do a fancy spin move or something. 

I'm going to continue to strengthen my legs and I'm going to start doing some footwork/toestop work on the days I don't have practice or a chance to get to the gym. 

This coming week we have 2 more practices and then we skate with the final team: the Honkeytonk Heartbreakers. Then, after that we have 3 more weeks of practice, followed by the draft party. 

Hips Don't Lie

My awesome "Big" Trigger noticed that I was carting my gear around in a laundry basket. She got me this rad skate bag! Thanks Trigger! 

In the past 11 days, I have put on skates and skated for 7 of them. My pads definitely need a good washing. Currently, I have bac-out, which is an enzymatic cleaner soaking through the foam, working its magic against the funk, and then I'll put them through the wash and let them air dry before practice on Tuesday. It's still pretty hot outside, so I'm pretty sure they'll dry up really quickly.

Skating with the Hells
Today, we skated with the Hell Marys. Despite what others have told me, I found their team environment to be super friendly and I really like that they focus their practices on drills -- because in the long run, that's just going to make you that much better. We worked on tracking and hitting a person rolling--something I am very nervous about doing. I know what you are thinking, you play derby, you hit people...but the protective instinct in me doesn't want to hurt them, so I think it makes me extra focused on executing the hit just right, so it's not done in a dangerous and reckless way. Basically, I over think it. We have not spent a lot of time on hitting, so this drill today was super helpful. A few things to remind myself when I'm tracking and hitting another player:

• Look at their hips and get in front of them just a little. 
• Make contact with your hips and side meat. 
• Swoop down low, and drive with your outside leg, up and out. 
• Position yourself to contain. 

As I'm typing this, it seems so easy. But when you throw skates and moving feet into the mix, things get a little complicated. You have to stay low step up and in at the right time, come in a good angle, and all the things. 

We also did a drill where as a team, you have to travel either to the front or back of the pack while the other team is preventing you from doing so. This was the ultimate test for me because I committed so many penalties, (mostly directional and then leaving the track so I can join my pack in the back). 

This is another reason why I love derby it's definitely a complicated sport and it keeps me on my toestops just thinking about it. 

Scrimmage against TFR

October 11th 2019

When I first found out that Fifi-nomenon and Jackie Daniels were on TFR, I basically had heart palpitations for a few moments. Grit, along with others reassured me that it will be just fine.

And then I lined up with Fifi-nomenon on the jam line. 

Considering we only had 10 players on our team for this scrimmage, we did Ok.  Our jammers were getting tired/injured towards the end of the game, so I started wearing the star a bit more then. I never got lead jammer, but I learned a lot of offensive strategy from this game. At the beginning, I was constantly being randomly just knocked down out of nowhere. I was also able to plan ahead and track the opposing jammer a bit more. I held Jackie Daniels for at least 3 seconds! 

You can probably tell, but throughout the game, I had several fangirl moments where I would just stand with my mouth basically agape after witnessing greatness from some of the TFR skaters.

And then my friend Jammit skated the entire scrimmage WITHOUT TOE STOPS. She is an amazing skater and probably the most positive person you could ever meet.

It was also super cool to see a few of my buddies from rec league. Railgun and Chile were all friendly faces in the opposing team, which made things a bit less nerve wrecking for me.

At the end, I really felt like I was having fun and at the 4th whistle of the last jam, I was actually kind of disappointed that the game had ended. TFR girls have such a great attitude and I really enjoyed skating against them. 

Try-Outs for the 2020 Season Begin!

On October 13th I started the try-out process again with 9 other women. And out of the 10 of us, we all made it on to the next round. This was great news because I really like all 10 of these women and would've been sad to see any of them to not make it. I technically didn't have to attend the official try-outs, but I ended up going because extra time on skates is always a good thing. 

We went through the basic skills: stops, skating in pack, blocking drills, jamming drills, and ended with a scrimmage. It was a full 2.5 hours of skating. 

Comparing this time around with my previous try-out experience, it was almost like night and day. I can really see how much I've improved in the past 5 months. I feel way more comfortable on my skates, I can do a hockey stop now (still working on going towards the outside) as long as my wheels are hard enough for the surface, and I feel more confident in my blocking and strategic thinking on the track, and I'm getting stuck less when I jam. I felt more confident this time around. 

I used to get knots in my stomach every time I even thought the word "derby." I wasn't sure why I felt those sensations, but I think I was still very nervous. I'm happy to say that I don't get those knots (as often) nowadays. 

The women I skated with have skills that ranged from skaters on Team Texas to a skater whom I skated with briefly in rec. Since then, one of us has decided not to continue, so now we have 9 skaters in the pool. 

We snapped this quick picture before the rain poured down during our orientation/1st practice. We are missing 2 skaters, but this is the 9 of us. 2 people are driving up from San Antonio and 1 person is driving in from Houston for. every. practice. Now that is a lot of dedication! 

Heavy storms joined in on our first practice, so we just had a land conditioning practice. The second practice was back to basics with stops and skating form. I need to work more on my left  outer edge. Lethal suggested that I skate in small circles when I can to get me more confident with that edge.

The Hustlers
Besides our Tuesday and Thursday evening practice, we will be invited to skate with each of the home teams. Today, we skated with the Hustlers who are a very fun, glitter obsessed bunch of women. I finally got to meet the famous PB&J who also happens to be one of the Hustler coaches.

Afterwards we had lunch at a local taco place and on the way there, I spotted this crazy sight...only that the tail was actually sticking straight up into the air. I took this pic on the way back and by then the tail had fallen down more horizontal. It was a crazy sight. Anyways...sorry. Just felt like sharing. 

The lunch was fun. Being a mom I'm pretty well versed in the latest child-raising theories and mom hacks, but I am pretty in the dark about anything remotely related pop culture. I think the hippest thing that I know is the baby shark song... oh, and I know the floss and what it means to be "woke". So, I had a quick crash course to update me on some of the latest things. I now feel just a little bit cooler. 

The captains asked us questions like which Hogwarts house? (Hufflepuff) Dog or Cats? (Dogs) and How do you feel about glitter? (Awesome, as long as it's biodegradable l, because plastic glitter is horrible for our aquatic ecosystem). We ended the lunch with good-byes and hugs. Yay Hustlers! 

Tomorrow we skate with the Hell Mary's. Oh by the way, I never realized that all the teams in the league have names that start with "H." That's just crazy sauce. Hustlers, Hotrod Honeys, Honkey Tonk Heartbreakers, Hell Marys and Homies. 

Scrimmage vs. Chainsaws

I got lead jammer once (and scored points) tonight when the Homies scrimmaged against the Chainsaws (TXRG's travel B team).

How did I do it? Well, first of all, my blockers did an amazing job and holding the other team's jammer. And second of all, I imagined that the Chainsaws took my baby. In a video on how to be more aggressive, Miracle Whips suggested that you imagine that the other team has your cat and you need to get it back. Well, I hate have a strong aversion against cats, so I imagine that my baby was on the other side of the blockers and that I had to get to her. You think I'm joking...

Haus the Boss complimented me on my smart playing, specifically times when I would pass the panty or call off a jam. Haus the Boss y'all. She has been so encouraging and I am sad that she's retiring.

Overall, I need to still sit lower. I think I did an OK job of tracking the jammer, but when push comes to shove (haha that's a pun), I still am not strong enough to contain her by myself.

Another thing I need to work on is getting low and pushing up and out when playing offensive.

I had to privileged of  playing with Freight Train, Nine Lives, and Peace War. Freight brings a sense of calmness on the track. Nine plays smart and is great at communicating, and Peace War ups the intensity in the game.

BTW: I changed out my toe stops to some super gumballs. Oh my, I love them! I feel more confident and I feel like I can really just bounce back after getting hit out. But bad news is that when I was tightening the hex nut to hold them in place, my plate got cracked a bit, right at the front where the toe stop is.

Why I Derby

I thought it would be fun to flex the brain muscles, or would it technically be fire the brain neurons...anyways, I wanted to really reflect on why I derby. So here it goes.

1. I love skating. I started skating in the second grade. My dad put a pair of skates on me and I learned on top of a bomb shelter in a Taiwanese military village.

2. Derby is hard. Thinking back, picking up a new skill or hobby has always been relatively easy for me. I'm a quick learner, but I really love the challenge that Derby is providing me. Being able to stand firm as a 150 pound skater accelerates towards you, all this while on 8 wheels, is definitely no small feat to accomplish.

3. I'm facing my fears and finding my identity. All my life, I've been a people pleaser, and I've changed my personality to fit with others. I'm using this stage in my life to finally figure out who I am. I am a 9 on the Enneagram, which explains this behavior, but I want to do better. I am so inspired by my children as they fearlessly jump into the swimming pool, or attempt a jump on their scooter. I want to face my fears of insecurity, safety, and failure; overcome them; and come out the other end a better person. I also want my children to see me do all the tough things and be able to persevere through the tough times. Life will be tough.

4. I love the community. Derby community is probably the most encouraging and inclusive group of people ever. Once you get past the tough girl persona put on by many of the colored-hair and tattoo covered women, you find someone so loving and accepting inside.

Well, that's it for now. I'll think of some more and add it to the list.

Boot Camp

Today I was able to attend the pre-tryout bootcamp with the league. First of all, I didn't think I was going to be able to go because I had no one to watch Hailey during the camp. I posted on the board last week and got no replies. Then, this morning, Zook messaged me and asked me if I still needed childcare. I replied with, "sure!" and then I asked her what her rates were and then she said, "Don't worry about it." I was completely surprised, speechless and so grateful for the love and support that came from this gesture.

The boot camp was pretty much what I expected: we ran through the basic minimum skills and ended with some jam starts with different twists. One scenario, we added an O and then another scenario, random people were assigned to go help out or defend against the jammer.

After 4-5 months of officially skating with the league, I feel like my confidence level and skill level have improved so much. I no longer feel like Bambi on skates and usually, I have a pretty good idea of what is going on, on the track. This is a good feeling.

Official try-outs are on October 13th and then there's regular new skater training for about a month and right before Thanksgiving, we find out whether we get drafted onto a team or not.