Man, I haven’t written about roller derby since I got knocked down by the cyclist and went to boot camp. I guess there’s not as much to say about it these days. I am still going to practice every week, though I have missed stacks of Saturdays due to moving, birthdays, visiting friends and family and other life things, but I’ve made it to most Monday scrimmages. A couple of weeks ago the latest Fresh Meat group joined the Rec League, and a new Fresh Meat group has started. Since I’ve missed Saturdays I haven’t met any of the new newbies yet. It is a little weird to not be a newbie any more. I mean, I know I still am really, or at least I feel like it most days, but it’s different now. I’ve felt a bit off too at practice, which I think is just because I’ve missed so many and the whole dynamic feels odd. I am not good with change, so I’m finding my feet with the new girls. They are all lovely and some are way better than me already, but there are also a lot of them which means I don’t get as much time on the track any more. I suppose that’s what the Rec Leaguers felt like when we all showed up, so it’s just getting used to it.
I have submitted my skate name to our league to send off to the keepers of the list in the States. I’ll do a bigger post about the name thing once I know whether or not it’s been accepted. I had a hard time choosing one. Most of the ones I liked were taken, and then I think I got name fatigue. It didn’t feel important any more, so I just picked one I kind of liked.
Yesterday was the first day of the Roller Derby World Cup, in Toronto. I didn’t manage to watch any of the footage but will hopefully get to see England play Ireland and later Argentina today. The link for more info is here. London Rollergirls have players in Team England, Ireland and I believe Scotland too, so I’m kinda cheering for them all. I hope they do well. And roller derby had a nice article in the Guardian, about the world cup, and for once wasn’t all about how we just like to hit each other or a run down of how you play. I should ignore the comments since most of them are people who’ve never heard of roller derby saying it sounds shit or is an excuse for girls to wear fishnets and hit each other. I used to let this bother me but now it doesn’t so much, mainly because they have obviously never been to see a bout, don’t know any rollergirls, and are just commenting for the sake of it. If you strip away all the things they think about derby – the costumes, the names, the big hits – you’re still left with a sport (yes, it is a sport, get over it people) that encourages women of all shapes and sizes, many of whom have never been interested in team sports or exercise before (I was one of them), to get fit, meet new people, raises their self-esteem and just generally promotes awesomeness. I really don’t see how you can have a problem with that, just because some players have funny names and like to dress up a bit. Look at the positives instead, or at least go and see a bout and then comment on it.

