DERBY LUV - Roller Derby Blog and Comic!

With the upcoming home game on Saturday and two loses under our belt, I'm left thinking about teamwork. Our loss against Sonoma I could take, those girls were just better then us. They have been skating together longer and really have their coaching dialed in. It was the loss two weeks ago that I'm just not accepting - as a team we determined that although we have some spectacular athletes and derby players we just have not been connecting as a team lately.

Team. That was the strongest thing about the All-Stars last season. We came up against some sticky situations and (seemed like) we always came up on top. Team work is what won us the game against LADD at the beginning of this season - so where did the spark go? The connection, the bond? I still feel it - I know it's there, it just needs a little dusting off. I recently read an article by a sports psychologist suggesting that teamwork really is a psychological thing - it does need to be inspired.

I wish I could be that person who knew just what to say and just how to say it to inspire everyone. I have so many strong feelings of the importance of teamwork and trust - I totally trust each and every one of my teammates and hope they feel the same about me. But how do I verbalize it? Whenever I try it all just comes out so awkward sounding. I guess I'm better with the written word.

If I had the opportunity to speak to my team on Saturday without the influence of my awkwardness, self consciousness and female hormones, I guess I would say something like this:

Today is about us. Our team, our league and our accomplishments. I am nothing on the track without you. Together we will win this. Individually we can take them, but as a team can conquer them. We have one brain out there - we think as a unit, one big derby robot controlling the track. We hit off the line at the first whistle and don't stop hitting until the game is over. We play smart, touching and talking to each other.
Whether we win or loose, we play as a team, we play aggressive, we play clean, WE play derby.

Short and sweet. No one said inspiration had to be pages long ;)

The game is this Saturday at 6:30 @the SC Civic Center. We're playing the Jet City Pink Pistols. Their a WFTDA league that has yet to be ranked. Should be a good game.

Hugs and Bruises,

Raven

Labels: jet city rollergirls, santa cruz derby girls, team building

As may already know from my last post, I was recently in Seattle hanging out and skating with some of the Rat City Rollergirls. Wile E Peyote from Fast Girl Skates took excellent care of me and introduced me to some great ladies.

One of the most exciting parts of my trip was going to one of the Rat City and surrounding area's Derby Brats Practice! There were two groups of girls ages 6-9 and 10-18, with coaches from Rat City and Jet City Rollergirls (Snohomish County). The younger group "The Tootsy Rollers" were mostly learning how to skate and basic drills, while the older girls were practices more advanced drills and learning the basics of hitting.

Many of the girls from the older group were great skaters, super fast, and not to mention, bigger than me! They all had a great attitude and were excited to be there. I just wanted to highlight the fact that our generation of derby is creating a younger generation of stronger, faster, and scarier generation of derby players that will kick our asses in about five years (even sooner!). I just hope you're all prepared for this.