I have to say, I was pretty nervous come Sunday night. It was time for my first roller derby practice to be part of the Miami Vice City Rollers, and aside from skating around my house (literally, up and down my hallways) and briefly around my neighborhood (I really need outdoor wheels), I had not been unleashed in the open so to speak. Due to inclement weather, practice was moved from an outdoor roller hockey rink to a local skate rink, Super Wheels (a site that hosted many of my childhood birthday parties). Because of the change in venue, practice took a very different feel and instead of doing drills, we were told it would be more of a “dodging” practice.
And dodge we did. There were several children’s birthday parties occurring and just an influx of people that clearly had never seen a roller skate in their life, much less put a pair on their feet. I kind of felt like I was in a video game – there were small children colliding and face planting all around me, and I did my absolute best to avoid plowing through each and every one of them. One of the lovely girls on the team helped me begin my journey towards crossover turning (never learned as a kid), and I did my best working slowly towards sliding one foot in front of the other. By the end of the free skate, I’m pretty sure I had improved somewhat, but was still terrified to attempt to lift off fully (probably because of the pint-sized hazards).
I didn’t fall once (squee!), and was able to chat with a few of the girls – all of which are super sweet and supportive. I honestly cannot wait until next week’s proper practice, although I must say I am extremely overwhelmed with this new world and its lingo/science. Bearings, bushings, toe guards. What? Slow down, crazy. I also really need to build up my endurance: skating around for 2 hours had me seriously beat. Good news? Since the team is openly recruiting, we did not have to try out. We are all part of the team and will work up to be bout ready by December.
Guys, I’m a derby girl!
Here’s to keeping all my body parts and teeth in tact.
Erin says
This is so cool!
Lori Todd says
So proud of you! I went to Super Wheels w/ Maria de los Angeles and our friend Pam last year and I ate it MANY times. It killed all my hope for being a derby girl myself. Boo! So, I’m counting on you to provide all the gory details from here on out! So proud of you, girlie!
Michelle says
That is soooo cool!
Anonymous says
Well if you rented those generic skates I wouldn’t feel bad about eating it. They are awful! I want to try to make it to more Monday night adult skates in the future – we should get a group together!
& thank you – I’m proud of me too (heh). Although I have to admit that I am terrified of the actual hits and aggression in my future. I like my face and I’d like to keep it the way it is, please and thank you!
Anonymous says
Well if you rented those generic skates I wouldn’t feel bad about eating it. They are awful! I want to try to make it to more Monday night adult skates in the future – we should get a group together!
& thank you – I’m proud of me too (heh). Although I have to admit that I am terrified of the actual hits and aggression in my future. I like my face and I’d like to keep it the way it is, please and thank you!
Paris says
Good luck! My bestie is a derby girl in Palm Beach County (they were the Palm Beach Rollergirls, but I think they just merged and changed their name to the Gold Coast Derby Grrls?), and she absolutely loves it.
Anonymous says
Yep! They are Gold Coast now. I hope she won’t pummel me too bad when we eventually play them 😉
Spacyt says
Did you take that pic? Love it! Have fun!
Anonymous says
Nope. Found on Pinterest 🙂
Megs says
You are the coolest.
Paris says
She is definitely a tough one, I know she won an award for best blocker after her first or second actual bout! She will be thrilled to know that I know someone on another team. She’s always trying to get me to join, but I think the bruises might clash with my school schedule and wardrobe 🙂
Sabrina says
How much fun! So glad you got up the courage to try it out! I’d never do derby (i can’t exactly skate….at all), but lately I’ve been getting the urge to start skating. Maybe I’ll make it out to one of their adult sessions at super wheels some day!
Jessica says
Hi 🙂 who is your bestie? I am on Palm Beach Rollergirls and yes we did just merge with Gold Coast. Hey we are having a new girl day this Sunday, you should try it out and see if you like it.
Paris says
I actually live in Tallahassee, so unfortunately, I can’t make it. But it’s Shred-Her! 🙂