Recruitment Day - June 24

If you have ever even amused yourself with the idea of joining derby or are interested in reffing or the game in general, you need to come to our recruitment day.
We're going to scrimmage with our best players to show you how the game is played, conduct a Q & A session, and then host an open skate.

We are hoping to recruit a couple refs, statisticians and as many girls as possible for our upcoming Fall season and to clear up any misconceptions about the sport and/or the league. The fall season will be Sep 8, Sep 22, and Oct 6 at the Portland Expo.

MRD Recruitment Day is June 24
5:30-7 pm
Happy Wheels on Warren Avenue in Portland.
Be there.

Falling

In derby, it is incredibly important to fall small, meaning when you get knocked down or fall on your own accord, you don't take out anyone else on the way down. We practice a series of falls (single knee, baseball, and double knee) in order to keep from doing so.
Although we practice falling, there are times when it is near impossible to fall small - when girls trip you, when girls fall directly in front on you, when your feet are knocked out from under you, etc. The lovely Mainegler brought to my attention that I manage to fall in such a way - even in those impossible situations - that is safe and does not put anyone else in harms way.
I contemplated this one for some time before I realized it's a mental thing - being able to fall properly. Things kind of slow down for me in a moment of crisis, almost like slo-motion cinematography. This allows me to think about what do in the mili-second I have to take action. I realize this impulse doesn't happen for everyone and a lot of people just panic and allow anything to happen rather than taking control.
In almost any situation (derby or non-derby), panicking makes everything worse. In a derby situation you usually have at least a second of realization that a fall is happening and you may or may not become involved. Panicking usually means you are about to be involved. If possible, you need to use that second to assess the situation and move accordingly. For example, Goldie Headlocks was knocked down directly in front of me while I was skating at a fast pace. Because her fall was surprising I didn't have time to skate or leap out of the way. My only option to avoid falling directly on top of our skinniest and miniest player was to dive over her. This inevitably knocked the wind out of me, but kept Goldie from getting crushed.
If you fear falling, then panic will always happen. It is impossible for our brains to operate rationally when a very strong emotion occurs - which is why I never make decisions when I'm feeling passionate about anything (those decisions are almost always regretable). If you can keep from panicking your brain can think about how to react when you are about to fall.

Westbrook Practice

Today marked our first outdoors practice of the season. Last year the girls practiced at an outdoors rink in Westbrook, near the Dana Warp Mill, and decided to do so again this summer. With my allergies, fair skin, and sensitivity to sunlight, I wasn't looking forward to it.
Early this morning, 9:30 am, about half the league met for drills and endurance training. Trouble & Strife was responsible for running the practice and came prepared with a broom to sweep up broken beer bottles. The rink apparently wasn't as bad as last year, but did have glass chunks sprinkled all over - making it a little dangerous for falling drills - and a rather large rocket-penis along with some classy little messages spray-painted on the right end of the rink.
Geez. I'm glad I brought my kid along. The last thing I wanted to do is answer "what is that, mum?" that would inevitably follow after viewing this "art" work. Good thing she never noticed it. We did, however, use it to our advantage: the rocket-penis became a point of reference during hopping drills. "Okay, one more jump over the penis and then we're done," T&S yelled on our last lap.
Training was quite effective given our limitations. T&S had us working a wall drill, where two girls skate next to each other and one calls out "one inside" or "two outside" and both girls simultaneously hop once to the left or twice to the right, staying as close as possible. I was working with Olive Spankins and we figured out just how to work this to our advantage in a jam. If we were creating a wall in front of the pack and the jammer was behind us on the inside, we could easily hop outside to fake out an opening for the jammer and then hop right back inside to close the gap. I can't wait to try it with the Mom Bomb, my blocking wall partner - our wall is near inpentratable.
We also worked on whipping. I realized to maximize strength in a whip, I can widen my stance as the jammer grabs onto my arm. I must use my core strength, rather than arm strength, to pull her forward. As I pull her forward, I pull in my legs from the wide stance to keep from touching skates with the jammer. Pulling in to a tight stance also helps use my full body to pull her through. (Picture a baseball player batting, except instead of hitting a ball, she is pulling someone forward.) What's important to remember is that once I'm in that tight stance after giving a whip, I need to stay low and be ready to take a hit, as I can't look behind me and give a whip at the same time. Any other blocker could use this to her advantage.
So, all was not lost on me in the first outdoors practice. I suppose I'll have to stop crying about sun exposure if I want to learn anything! Although, I'm still not looking forward to tomorrow night's outdoor practice.

MRD vs. PVRD

Maine Roller Derby bouted Pioneer Valley Roller Derby twice (which I skated in both): once at Topsham Roller World (1/14/07) and again in Amherst, Mass (2/24/07). We were victorious in both bouts. Here's what we wrote on our myspace site about the January bout:

"The fierce women of Maine Roller Derby (MRD), Maine's first and only women's flat track roller derby league, defeated western Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley Roller Derby (PV) league in their first public scrimmage. This was MRD's second public showing of this hot new incarnation of the sport of roller derby to Maine.
The event took place at Roller World in Topsham, Maine, on January 14, 2007, and was full of nail-biting excitement as MRD and PV battled point-for-point to end the first period in a tied scored of 25 to 25. It looked to be a tough match. As the second period started, however, it was clear that, while PV had a lot of very hard hitters, MRD's speed and endurance could not be beat and they soon widened the gap. While all of MRD's jammers and blockers played very well, exceptional jamming by MRD's three top scorers, Vexacious D (31 points), Breezey (25 points), and Killer Quick (21 points), helped keep MRD ahead of the game during the second and third periods. Noteworthy blocking by Punchy O'Guts and The Mom Bomb, aided by some especially hard hits from Patty O'Mean and Goldie Headlocks, helped to clear the track of PV blockers and get their jammers through.
PV braved the long drive through inclement weather, bringing most of the players from not only their women's team, but their men's team as well. The men of PV showed great support for the women's team, shouting encouragement during the entire match. PV's most effective jammers, Piss N' Mona, Andy Nihilate and Beast Infection, gave MRD's jammers a run for their money on several occasions. And, while PV proved to be extremely hard-hitting on the whole, MRD took some particularly hard hits from Andy Nihilate, Beast Infection, Juggernaut Bitch, Pixie Scabs and Pink Panzer."

This bout was quite a thrill. Pioneer Valley's skaters are huge. With the exception of teeny, weeny Piss N' Mona, I think they're all over six feet tall. I thought they were going to cream us for sure, but after the first period I stopped looking at the score and just played the game. We had quite a lead and there was no reason to worry. Our endurance definitely won us the game as we wore Pioneer Valley down. They looked so tired during jams I actually felt bad about knocking them to the floor. Well, not bad enough to stop.

The second bout against Pioneer Valley was on their turf in Massachusetts. Because our win against them was so large, I assumed they were going to train extremely hard and knock the crap out of us. They did knock us around, but not enough to secure a win. The most horrifying part of this bout was the surface we skated on. It was like skating on sand. During warm-ups I was out of breath and worn down just trying to get around the track a few times.
I would have refused to skate if it hadn't been Pioneer Valley's debut bout. They were counting on this to make money and a name for their league. Although we compete against one another, there is a unification between derby sisters. We all struggle to operate our leagues and depend on other leagues when things are tough. So MRD sucked it up and took one for the team.
Now that we've won both bouts with Pioneer Valley's women's team. I'm secretly hoping to bout the men's team. Punchy can take 'em all!

My First Derby Day

I thought about joining roller derby for months. I first heard about Maine Roller Derby this past summer when I was working for a local publication and receiving their press releases. “Whoa. That is so awesome,” I’d thought. I wanted to join in the worst way but decided against it. I’m far too old and rickety to join derby, I had convinced myself. I have Carpal Tunnel and terrible knee problems. Hell, I’ve already had two knee surgeries. Why would I join a sport that may kill me physically? My momma didn’t raise a fool.
Six months later the call of derby grew incessantly louder. And I couldn’t refuse it. I had been fired from my job and was looking to fill the void where passion, determination, and commitment once lived. I made a plan to go to a practice and find out what this derby was about.
I wasn’t going alone, though, no sir. With friend in tow I arrived having no idea what to expect. I had only seen roller derby on television and thought it consisted of women who beat each other up while skating in a circle. Boy was I wrong.
I arrived as the girls were just getting onto the rink. It was oddly intimidating. There were no smiles, no welcomes. These women were there to skate, not to make friends. It’s incredible how a woman with a mini-skirt can suddenly look hard-ass with a pair of skates and a scowl.
Friend and I strapped on rental skates and timidly entered the rink. Now I’m a strong skater, but when trainer Vexacious D skated past me taunting, “Let’s see what you got,” I took a face-plant into the nearest wall.
Maybe this wasn’t a good idea, I’d thought. But I quickly changed my mind after watching the girls run drills and learning that derby is a sport with rules, not a free-for-all fight on skates. By the time practice was over, I was hooked. The Mom Bomb, head of recruiting, gave me and friend the low down. “We practice 2-3 times a week. We pay $20 a month in dues. We work very hard and take this very seriously.” She looked me dead in the eyes and said, “I would leave my husband and child for derby.”
Good grief.