Is it Scrimmage Sunday yet??!!??!!

I'm gunna apologise in advance, this entry is going to be a bit messy as I've left it way too long between posts!

So it's been an interesting few weeks... Did sooooo much skating I'm not sure how I wasnt limping around for most of the off skates days.. Training Friday nights, social skating Saturday mornings and some saturday nights, again on Sunday mornings and then extra long training Sunday nights - and even a public holiday Monday skate just for good measure! urgh! LOVE IT!!!!!

I also managed to make it out to an SRDL bout:

Headed out to the bout with the H*A*R*D crew and have to thank my car buddies for an awesome trip! My gorgeous Derby Wife, Poz O'tiff, FiFi BoxHer, Bru-Tillie Divine and Apple Ya'Hair - I've never laughed so much in a car ever - you grrls bring so much happiness to my life! <3 <3

As per usual watching the SRDL teams battle it out was awesome! I've trained with and against some of them and even played in a couple of teams with some of them - Love those gals!! Not sure if I will make it to their next bout, there is soooooo much Derby stuff on these days its difficult to get to it all plus fit in all my leagues training and programming as well... I need more hours in a day and more days in a week! hehe...

I was contacted by Viva La Derby! Podcast who were wanting to interview me for Episode 4, but with one of their crew heading off on a holiday, that interview invite turned into a request for me to co host the whole podcast!!! It was all done via skype - but what an amazing experience it was and soooooo much fun! I'd love to co host it again one day! I've been a fan of this podcast since they first started and eargerly await every episodes release!  Check out Ep 4 that I co hosted here http://www.vivaladerby.com/








H*A*R*D has been very lucky to have someone very special design our league logo! One of our beautiful skaters (Private Erin G) has a very talented husband who designed us the perfect logo!

So I am very very proud and deliciously happy to release the logo for H*A*R*D!!!

Tim (the very talented designer) also designed us 2 other variations. One that can be used for alternate merchdise, and one specifically designed with iphones in mind - how totally sweet is he!


I'm totally in love with these designs and cannot wait to see what he develops for our teams <3

One of the most exciting things that has been happening at training is our first round of assessments. We had a whole group of our Privates take their Corporal Assessments and I'm very happy to congratulate all those who passed!

Corporal SweetNess NoMore #09
Corporal Sarah B
Corporal Lynda S
Corporal Rae C
Corporal Apple Ya'Hair
Corporal Toni M
Corporal Hayley C
Corporal Alana D
Corporal Alyce
Corporal Penny D
Corporal Kiri M
REF Jeremy
REF Cranky Pants #480
These Skaters have all trained so hard and have totally earned their pass marks! Now that they have passed their Corporal assessments, they get to officially apply for their Derby Name - I remember the excitment of this and I'm so happy for them!

With all these skaters passing their assessments, it totally means SCRIMMAGE!!!!!! OMG I've missed this so so so so so much! For their first Sunday Scrimmage I totally just threw them in the deep end to give them a taste and they did so well it totally blew my mind! We took it a little easy and only used one jammer at a time with 3 blockers from each team on the track at once - but the smiles on their faces as we were leaving the training venue was sooooo amazing to see!

The following Sunday we had full teams on the track as well as both jammers. We started off with longer breaks between jams to answer any questions and to give Poz O'Tiff time to instruct her training REFS. I was leading the Black team while Lieutenant Dicey was leading the White team. Towards the end of the night - we stopped all that and threw them into 30 secs between jams. Props to FiFi BoxHer who had to leave the track midjam to ralph, but came back into play once she was done lol.

Inspired by the total awesomeness of the way the skaters and refs performed during that Scrimmage - I've decided to change up the shedule of our Sunday night training seeings as we now have 2 courts for the 3 hours.

The new shedule I will be trialing over the next few weeks is as follows:-

5-6pm
Court 1 - Freshie Coach BloodRED Penny and myself will take the Privates (and its highly suggested that the Corporals participate as well) through their hour of dedicated training.
Court 2 - Left free for the Sergeants and Lieutenants to warm up and stretch good and long in prep for the training torture I have install for them lol

6-7pm

Court 1 - Advanced Skills/Scrimmage Skills/REF talks. Corporals, Sergeants and Lieutenants will be run through Advance/Scrimmage skills by myself, and Lieutenant Dicey has been asked to bring 1 or 2 rules for us to discuss at length. During this time Head REF Poz O'Tiff will take her refs aside and run through her program with them.

Court 2 - Mick will take the Privates through their off skates workout, giving them the knowledge and tools to then use what they learn with him outside of training. This sort of training will keep them fit and strong throughout their entire Derby career.

7-8pm

This time will be all hand on deck for Scrimmage! We will run Scrimmage as if it were a bout. No holding back, no extra time outs, no excuses! Cannot wait!

Until next time peeps - Skate wise, Turn left!!

The year of new things...

31 ... that's how old I am. To some it may seem ancient, to some I may still be considered a 'spring chicken'. To me, I feel about half way there.. while I'm comfortable in my own skin, mentally I'm totally still in my late teens/early 20s  - but I just put that down to the fact that I was such a young mum who stayed home to raise her children and is finally being unleashed on the world.

I've started taking my methotrexate again for my arthritis and I'm feeling pretty f'ing terrific physically. I still don't have full movement in my wrist and cant weight bare on it terribly well, which sucks cause I miss doing real pushups! But I'm feeling the urge to start boxing again.. I miss the amount of exercise I used to do, I miss the sweating and the next day hurtz and the burn... i know crazy, but I've not felt this great physically in over a decade! I'm thinking that the 40kgs I've lost playing derby has helped with that as well ;)

While Roller Derby training is great, gives me a real high - its not enough, I want more, I crave more!

So 2011 is going to be my year of 'new'.. So far it's seen me with a new League, some wonderful new friends, currently looking for a wonderful new job and I'm looking for something new exercise wise - which may lead to a new body!

Last night I pulled out my skipping rope, dusted off the boxing gloves and found my hand wraps - and I'm actually looking forward to my first session alone in the garage with my music and my boxing bag..

I've also found this website through someone elses post on FB http://www.bodyrock.tv/ .. I've spent hours readying through it and watching it. Amazing! Im not sure how I will go trying to adjust certain things for my wrists and getting certain pieces of equipment as time goes on - but it's got me excited to try it, which it good :) I miss the gym, but I dont have a rich lover or a full time nanny for me to be able to work that into my life - so here is to Bodyrock!

ewwww.. you know what comes with this sort of thing? Dang.. weigh ins, measurements and before photos! Urgh!!!! hehehe..

Note to all my readers - prolly best NOT to read this before, during or just after eating from now on!

Love! <3

from 2 to 8 - Part II

So with the support, help and encouragement of HotLips (Beck W) - I decided to give her idea of starting a league in my area a go. I wasn't sure I could acheive it, but that never usually stops me.

A few days later she sent through an email that SRDL had received from a group of friends in my area who were enquiring if there was a league out their way.. so needless to say I got in contact with the author of this email and we started talking about getting Penriths league started up!

A few flyers later and a meeting at a pub and the league was on its way to existance! Beck sent through some paperwork for us to work off and my research into how to register us as a league began.. But all that boring paperwork stuff aint worth mentioning... well that and I'd rather not re live the stress lol..

There are so many things that you feel are important, that looking back - really werent worth the ammount of stress we put ourselves through.. The ammount of meetings I attended to discuss colours and logos and league/team names.. hours upon hours upon hours of my life I will never get back! But at the time, as stressful and time consuming as it was - felt well worth it. But it was the paperwork and all those meetings that cemented the birth of the Western Sydney Rollers. We held our first official meeting and I was voted in as President and also one of 3 coaches.

Our training began out at a bunch of netball courts, still in my starfires - but now with knee pads, wrist guards and elbow pads.. These days on the netball courts make for some really wonderful memories.. a handful of girls, all trying to learn to skate together, no one having any clue what they are doing and all just getting on and having a blast while doing it! I still treasure those days even if the friendships that were developed there no longer exist.

My first pair of real skates.... wow... I don't think I did that much research in all my highschool years combined! But I purchased a pair of Sure Grip Rebels with XK-4 plates and I still remember the day they arrived.. I took them into the kitchen, put them on, stood up and went butt over boobies! I was so excited to get them to the skate rink for a roll - but so scared at the same time! The difference skating in them to the starfires was amazing... but I knew from that first lap around the rink the following saturday night I was determined to make skating more natural to me than walking, I would go from having 2 feet to 8 wheels and never return...

My journey from two to eight... Part I

I got the most beautiful compliment today.. There is a bout this Saturday night being held at its glorious new home at Homebush, and when asked if I was attending and I explained that I wouldnt be able to make it - one of the most beautiful soulful women I know sent me this - "I'm sad you won't be at the bout, you've been a big part of making roller derby in the area what it is today and I'd love for you to see it in that big beautiful arena" - totally made my day and brought a tear to my eye.. Without naming names - I hope this woman knows how much she means to me and how much strength she gives me <3

People often ask one another how they got into derby and everyone usually has wonderful stories to go along with it. They may say they are boring stories, but to me, every one of them is interesting and I love knowing them all.. SO let me share mine with you...

It was early 2008. I was 28 and I had 3 children. An autistic step son who, at the time, was 11yrs old. A daughter who was 9yrs old and a little baby boy who wasn't even 1yrs old yet.

For Christmas the older children had both gotten new scooters - so I spent my afternoons taking them to the local skatepark so they could ride them around. I would sit in the car and read, or crochet while the baby was at home with his father. My son would always last longer than my daughter as she would get bored, especially of the boys crap (smart girl ;) ).. So she would sit in the car and chat with me until my son was ready to go home. Then slowly she started riding less and less and would bring along books to read or stuff to draw with or her own knitting while my son would play.

One day I was walking through Rebel with her and we came across Starfire rollerskates and I asked if she wanted a pair. The skatepark was directly next to a whole bunch of netball courts that she could skate on. She was keen so I bought them for her..

I tried to teach her to skate, but I was never fabulous at it myself as a kid so it was a case of the blind leading the blind and it was hard to show her things while I was off skates.. Soo.... back to Rebel we went and bought me a pair hehe.. Oh the good ol' starfires! So for a few months she and I spent our afternoons zooming about the netball courts - and I gotta admit, I felt like a total fool! I took a spill and tore up my jeans and grazed my knee quiet badly.. so with a bruised knee and ego I went home to research roller skates for adults and some protective gear so I didnt die, cause I figured if nothing else it would be great exercise!

Well wasn't I delighted when I discovered the 2 things that totally changed my life!

That there was a local skating rink and Sydney Roller Derby League (SRDL)!

Needless to say the kids and I started to frequent the local roller rink of a saturday night despite me having a panic attack before every session because of the awesome speed skaters that were there and how embarressed I would feel cause I could barely stand on skates lol. I used to just try to think "Its ok that im here and I suck, im here for my kids" lol..

I also started talking online to the founder of the SRDL. I was googling Roller Derby like there was no tomorrow and falling in love with it! Unfortunently the fees, the training times and the distance kept me from joining SRDL.