My Roller Derby Story

Hey all, sorry it has been so long, school has really taken me out of it, and with the addition of Roller Derby my time has been sufficiently accounted for. But here I am, with a little more insight into your favorite blogger. My Roller Derby/Webster University comrades have been interviewed for out school paper and I would like to pass on what I wrote when asked my derby story.


Hey David
Sorry this is so late, but I hope I made it on time. Here is my derby story:

I am currently a student at Webster University, due to graduate in December with a double Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Human Resources Management. I have been a full-time evening student at Webster since August 2003 and am happy to finally be completing my 6 year stint as a student. I am also involved in service with Americorps St. Louis as an inner city middle school mentor that averages about 47 hours a week.

You might be asking yourself where on earth I find the time to add in extracurricular activities and I am obliged to answer that I ask myself that all the time. However, I must admit that it has definitely been worth it!! I never struggle with the decision to either sleep or derby, DERBY ALWAYS WINS!!

As for my interest in roller derby, I could probably start way back when, back to the days that I was still knee high to a grasshoppa' and dying to be everything possible. I wanted to be the rough and tumble tomboy but I sure did love getting all dressed up in my favorite white dress that twirled. The extremes in my personality dynamics put me in a difficult spot. It left me feeling as if I didn't quite fit in with the average, middle American jock crowd. I tried every sport known to man (save for football, due to familial views on gender roles) but none of them ever quite panned out.

I think the defining moment in my sports career was centered around a co-ed youth soccer team I was on. Up until that point, and even to this day, I could not find motivation in chasing a ball around a field (or court, or whatever). The desire to steal a ball from someone else made even less sense and I played accordingly.The coach took heed and placed me in the back to protect the goalie from the opposing team, landing me with the title of "Most Aggressive Player"- FOR THE WHOLE LEAGUE.

After being told no coach would ever want me, for fear of lawsuits against the league, I stayed away from sports of all kinds. But then I got into high school, and it was there that I found a sport that meshed my desire to be an aggressive and loud, feminine teammate. I became a competitive cheerleader as a head base and thrower, helping to lead our team to nationals. It had everything I wanted: competition that did not include chasing a ball, strength training, female companionship and primping! But it also included a lot of the high school drama that comes with the territory and left me feeling as if it could have somehow been better.

But alas, high school ends and life begins. I took a four year hiatus from school after joining the military and was much too wrapped up in the life to look for a team to be on. After settling in Missouri I didn't think much about joining a team either, thinking that I was much too busy, but I have realized that there is always room for fun and exercises.

In December, my friend Strawberry Shortkick, a law student at Wash. U. told me that she had met some women who were organizing a roller derby league here in St. Louis and that she was going to join them. I was instantly envious but told her I couldn't wait to be a "jeerleader" at the bouts. And then it happened... I got off work early one day and decided to go skating with her. At the rink I met a group of like minded women who were awesome and drama free. It had been 13 years since I had been on skates and fell hard enough to break my tailbone. And wouldn't you know it, it hasn't stopped me yet, and I have been skating ever since.

Being on the Arch Rival Rollergirls has been a tremendous experience. I always wondered if there were women out there who could be competitive and primpy without being filled with drama, and I have found them here. I am always impressed when I hear the women talking about what they do, what they stand for, where they have been or where they want to be. I am so proud to be in a league of women who ARE and who DO not just pretend and talk about. I still don't get to practice as much as I would like, nor do I get to hang out for Monday Roller Derby TV Night, but at practice I am still a part of the group and I LOVE that.

Oh yeah, and COACH KEN ROCKS!!!!

Hope this is what you were looking for David
-"Spunk Monkey~Double Oh Seven"