I was passing out some flyer's with my sister-in-law when we ran into one of her old high school friends. It turned out that her friend was Cherry Chainsaw who played for the Cherry Bombs in TXRD (Texas Roller Derby) based in Austin. Cherry Chainsaw told me all about it and that I should try to come to tryouts. I thought it sounded so cool so I thought why not?!
I went home and rented the movie "Whip It". It's a great movie and just so happens to help with the rules too :) I found out when tryouts were, went and bought a pair of roller skates (skated on them once before tryouts haha) and showed up to tryouts. I don't think I've ever been so nervous for anything in my life! I hadn't roller skated since I was little and they were the metal kind you strap on your shoes :)
The tryouts were absolutely brutal but I felt good about it and did indeed make it. Through out the next several months the new girl team trained really hard to prepare for the draft. My favorite practice was when the trainers brought out one, two and then three couch cushions and stacked them up to jump over. My first time I completely yard-saled, but the second time I cleared it and landed on my skates! So proud :). I also forgot to mention the track is banked not flat, which throws another dynamic into everything. Some other things we learned were things like cross overs, skating backwards, blocking, taking shots, hits and game play just to name a few. It was a lot of fun.
So why am I not playing anymore? I got hit hard from the side in the knee. It didn't heal for about 5 months which kept me from doing a lot of things. I didn't like that. So after so much deliberation I decided I wanted to take care of my body and stop playing. I just didn't think people would get so seriously hurt so often. 4 or 5 other people dropped out around the time I did for knee, ankle or arm injuries. One girl twisted her foot so much it snapped the bottom of her fibula bone in half. The track had to be taken apart just so the ambulance could get to her.
As fun as derby is, it wasn't worth it to me. It's sad, but at least I got to play for a while. I just like to do too many other activities in my life to give it all up for just one sport.
I however still occasionally go to the bouts and support my friends. If you've never gone, I recommend it. It's a knock down drag out good time. :)
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