Sunday afternoon I was searching for a DVD to watch/ have on in the background while I cleaned out my closet. My hands instantly went to the top left corner of my DVD library, landing directly on Rollergirls.

I thought to myself, do I dare? I have seen every episode at least four times and it's seems a little beyond being a guilty pleasure at this point. I negotiated with myself and settled on watching the forth disk, which only contains two episodes.

As the theme song started playing and the familiar faces of the TXRD girls rolled across my screen, I started to reflect on what an amazing and unbelievable year and a half it has been.

I, like so many girls who now play this sport, had never really been exposed to derby before that show. From the first episode I was hooked. It was like a giant light went on inside me and I knew I wanted to, and had to do that. I started researching close-by leagues, but nothing was close enough to consider participating in. After a little more then a year a league was founded in SC and I never hesitated or looked back. I knew that derby was went for me and I was destined to be a Santa Cruz Rollergirl.

In the last year I felt like a force woke-up inside me. I never considered myself an athlete before, and certainly not a competitor. But now I proudly wear both those tags clearly displaied on my metaphorical shirt. The closeness I have felt with my team and the time spent on and off the track has been nothing short of amazing.

I really felt like the universe came full circle for me when I was at RollerCon last August. I ended up getting separated from my girls and some how ended up at the Vagine Regime suite party. I went out on the balcony to try and bum a cigarette from someone (nasty habit I know) and who would you guess was out there chatting? Two of my favorite TXRD girls, Venis Envy and Smarty Pants.

I'm pretty sure most peops who stay up on their derby news know Venis is currently skating for ACDG. Regardless, there they were, and there I was. Smarty introduced herself to me and asked what league I played for. I played it cool, which if you knew me, you would know I never play it cool, I am incapable of playing it cool, I don't even know how to play it cool. But I did, and there I was having casual conversation with two of the very girls that inspired me to play this sport.

Sitting down and watching Rollergirls last weekend took on a whole new nostalgic meaning for me. I have that now. Roller derby used to be something I wanted to do and now it's something I am. After I was done watching the couple episodes I had allotted myself I returned the DVD set to the shelf. I have a feeling it may be the last time I watch them . . . at least for a while. My Rollergirl story is happening now and it's shaping up to be a great one.

Hugs & Bruises,

Raven

Labels: roller derby, Santa Cruz Rollergirls