Roller Derby Insiders spend most of their public time convincing people that the roller derby of today is not the roller derby of yesteryear.
But is it not?
At its core, roller derby is still about hitting people and knocking them down. Period.
Now we have an evolutional form of the sport that is packed with rules, strategy and safety policies to minimize injuries...it's quite impressive, if I do say so myself.
It's quite impressive.
Yet still, it's a tough sport that requires as much if not more mental power than physical power.
I've been derby-ing for nearly 2 years and only just passed my assessments last month. If you don't think that's a mentally tough road to pave....you need to get on some skates in your 42-year-old-fat-and-out-of-shape-self and see how easy it is to become Derby Strong.
I'm not complaining. I love my story because it's mine and nobody can ever say I didn't do it myself. That I didn't put in the hours of hard work on and off the track, that I didn't get bumped around, pull my hamstring, nearly break every finger in my right hand, watch person after person pass assessments and start playing bouts with my team, that I didn't cry myself to sleep many a nights because of something I couldn't do in a five minute window (skate 25 times around the track in 5 minutes).
My best friend on the team, who also recently passed her assessments, pointed out that most people wouldn't have stuck around for two years before passing. I really hadn't thought of it that way because we really never seriously discussed giving up....we knew we had it in us, we just had to find out where it was. She's actually quite an inspiration to me because she has had her fair share of injuries too, but hers seem to keep her out for months at a time. Yet she never waivers in coming to practice religiously and making the most of her time off skates by studying the sport and encouraging our teammates.
We've seen countless people come and go in the 2 years we've been on the team.
Derby isn't for everyone, but as I look back at the people who left, most of them left because they gave up. Not because they didn't like skating or they didn't like our team (because, hey, I have a great team :)....but many times you see people give up when things get hard.
I've seen skaters who are half my age (and weight) quit because they didn't pass assessments the first time, or felt like she should get to skate with the grannies instead of skating with fresh meat during practice. Women I saw great potential in, but women who couldn't seem to get over having their feelings hurt because derby didn't come easy to them for whatever reason.
Like I said earlier, playing derby also requires a mentally strong attitude as well. As a derby player, you have to learn to hit people, push them out of bounds and hopefully make them fall so they are no longer a threat to your jammer...but that also means you are going to get hit, pushed out of bounds and the opposing player aims to have you on your knees too.
It's not personal, but I will be the first to tell you, it sure as hell takes some mental toughness to block out those times when it DOES feel personal. Everyone has days when the hits seem harder and the wall seems impossible to break through.
But what you choose to do with those feelings - those practices or games when you feel like everyone had a meeting beforehand to discuss how they can make your day miserable - is what sets you apart from others.
- You can get back up, go on with the next jam and do your best just like you did the jam before that. You can test and push your mental toughness and just get through that practice, knowing that the next practice you will be a stronger and tougher skater because you decided to keep going. You didn't give up.
- OR you can storm off the track, throw your gear on the ground and leave. Give up.
Choose option 1 and your teammates will respect you for hanging in there, because everyone has off practices...I know my last 2 practices have sucked, but I also know I have a part in that, and to me there is no option but to just show up for practice again tonight and give what I got, because that's all I can do.
Choose option 2 and you're going to find yourself in trouble with your coach and less self esteem in yourself. But storming off in a temper tantrum more than once is going to cause your team to lose respect for you, which messes with team chemistry.
I'm a firm believer in practicing as though you were playing a bout, so if you can't keep it together during practice, how are you going to keep it together in the midst of the real thing?
Derby is hard. If you love the sport, stick out the tough times. Like many things in life, anything worth having, is worth the work and the hardship. And maybe that's how it should be.
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