“Hi, I’m Rosie and I’m not going to take extra breaks at boot camp anymore.”
Me and my big mouth. I feel like I need to enter a retraction or something. But to be fair, they were very short breaks, roughly 20 seconds, and a direct result of a belly flop that bruised my ribcage and made it difficult to breathe. Trust me, I have no desire to look like a wimp.
It’s easy to get hung up on how you are perceived when you’re skating around in minimal clothing. If you look at it in a certain way it’s reminiscent of a familiar nightmare. But the truth is, nobody cares what you’re doing and if anyone does comment, it’s best to say thank you because it’s probably for your own good.
Experienced skaters look super cool—fearless swerves, screeching plow stops, beautifully executed jumps and stomps. And so, looking completely uncool out on the track can present a discouragingly stark contrast. To be honest, I despised myself for about 80% of boot camp this weekend. The other 20% was when I remembered to stop being a self-involved baby and have fun. Because I love roller derby more than dignity.
Rose City Rollers and the WFTDA in general is a complex and high-functioning mechanism that runs on genuine camaraderie. I’ve never encountered anything like it. Being a part of this caliber of community is addicting. Amanda Goodman, of Fresh Meat, once told me that derby attracts people because they can see themselves in the game. We can sense that distant self that will be a force of awesome. That’s one of the things we all have in common and why we are here doing our part to make it work.
This week, we got to start from scratch. Basic skills encompass drills like pacelines (EEK!), crossovers, stops, and falling on purpose. Like almost everything, derby skills build on themselves, making a solid foundation extremely important. It’s great for all skill levels because this foundation can always be improved or expanded upon. As Effy Stone ‘Em, boot camp attendee and resident darling of Wreckers, puts it, “Even though I’ve been skating for a year, all this review of the basics is still so helpful. I’m just incorporating it in other ways.”
Drills were led by a slew of amazing coaches, and we got to skate with Fresh Meat. I know I’m not alone in saying that it was both an honor and a reason to challenge ourselves. There is so much wisdom circulating in the hangar that if those walls could talk, they wouldn’t know where to begin. They’d explode and splatter inspirational words all over Oaks Park.
I’m so pleased that my Darling status has been made official by publication
Your words are beautiful, Rosie.
Thanks for sharing!