THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

In four days it will be our first bout day ever!

What is there to say?

Moving Forward

We've made some drastic changes in order to maintain the premise on which our league was founded on.

We are officially run for the skaters by the skaters.

We understand that the first year of any league is the hardest year, and those who stick with it are there to stay.

We have incredible women in our league. Women of substance, and we are pressing forward. We have another scrimmage set with the lovely Druango Roller Girls on November 18th, and two dates are being set up for January and March.

We as a league have been through so much in such a short time. We dare claim that maybe we've been through more than other young leagues. So we are posting a link here with some information that may help other leagues stop a certain issue before things get out of hand.

http://www.counselingcenter.illinois.edu/?page_id=168

A word of advice, Roller Derby is a hot commodity these days, and it will attract unsavory characters, who are skilled in manipulation. Make sure the relationships you have between skaters is strong with the understanding that you share a mutual love, and maintain it.

Forming Teams

For new leagues there comes that time when you have enough skaters who have passed the skills test to split into teams. At this point you have formed friendships, and bonds with the other women you've been training with for months.

For the sake of the league, and putting on bouts that are fun to watch and fun to play in the future, you have to distribute skaters evenly. This means, when you bout within your league, you are split from some of the girls you've become close too. It's a bittersweet step forward as a league.

But really? These feelings aren't bad! Our coach sat us down at practice and asked us to look around. He pointed out that in our league, there isn't one girl there that we don't want to skate with. That feels fantastic! The fact that it's a little sad to be split just shows us how strong we are, and that we've reached this level of cohesion we've been working for.

As a league, we've been through some really rough patches. Coming out on the other side after any conflict has caused our skaters to pull close together, and to be honest, if given the chance, I would go through it all over with you ladies again.

-Bex

Training Links

I was stalkbooking tonight... don't judge me! You know you do it too!

No?

Liar!

OK! So... While "aimlessly wandering" on a certain social networking site head ref Dizzy Lizzy of the Durango Roller Girls (our sisters 45 min North who we fraking love!), posted a link to a note that Hannah Grenade, another ref posted with useful training links.

I know you will read and try these immediately on your free time outside of regular practice because you want to rock for yourself and for your league.

Enjoy!

Hannah Grenade:Training Links- Pass em around!

-Rx Bex

Group Development

There are phases every league goes through. They are challenging and every league faces problems but it’s important to realize that every group goes through these stages. This blog is to help those of you who may be confused and annoyed by the whirlwind of changes in emotions that you feel within our league.

Okay tangent time....

I remember being a little snot-nosed freshmen in college who took a 101 class called “The Freshmen Experience” my first semester. No silly, this class did not teach me how to do a keg stand... it was a class about how to survive your first semester... and I thought it was a joke until now.

...Time to tie my tangent..

In that class I remember talking about a model for group development called Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing. This was proposed by a Psychologist named Bruce Tuckman in 1965. While doing my derby homework I ran into THIS BLOG, that states the same.

Forming:
This is the stage where members join. You come in excited, with the definition of why you wanted to join still clear in your mind. You take pride in the privilege it is to be a part of something this special, and you explore behavior and new friendships with other members

Storming:
The most difficult... especially if you are a member who just wants to skate and exist in the league peacefully with everyone, and not get involved in derby drama. Group morale will be an emotional roller-coaster. There will be an increase in tension... but you will begin to understand each other. Storming is normal, and while sometimes it sucks, it’s important! Always remember fighting, bickering, arguing, and other conflict are present and normal in ANY relationship...

When you are a roller girl, you have a relationship with roller derby, and your league. It’s a big part of your life.

Norming:
This is the stage where everyone is coming together. Your accept ground rules of the league and differences between members. You will be enthusiastic and become a team player.

As a league we just hit this stage last week when we all came together to vote on league issues.

Our founder also saw that the league now stands on it’s own... she stepped back and is letting her grow.

This is the part where we get together socially outside of practice and work on team building. Or in Sarah's case, extreme cup stacking, or if you're a little more adventurous like Candace, perhaps you will engage in spank-fighting (you had to be there.)

Performing:
By this time we will have the ability to problem solve, and apply changes easier as a league. You will have a close attachment with the league. You will know that we have hit this stage when it shows we get a lot of work done. This is the stage where we finally have the ability to plan our bouts.


Keep in mind that with new members coming in, these stages will repeat, but ladies, you should know that I will go through them again with you any day! To me, you are worth it!

-Rx Bex
High Desert Derby

The Gear

So you’ve been to Skate Away USA a few times, you’ve met the girls and you’ve rolled around a little. Perhaps you are like Jessica, our newest addition to our greenies and you broke your wrist the first night on those rented skates. (Kudos to Jessica by the way, she never missed a Wednesday practice or an off-skates. You truly are a bad-ass!) Anyway, you may have noticed that the girls who have been doing this for a while don some serious protective gear: a helmet, mouthguard, elbow pads, wristguards, kneepads, and skates.

Why? Because if you eat shit and hurt yourself not only does it suck, but it sucks to watch other girls skate while your waiting for your doctor to clear you. Seriously, it hurts in your gut when you watch other girls skate and you can’t. That’s real pain!

Your Helmet
Yes, I am aware that this is not Kailani's helmet, but I had to post this somewhere. Much love Styles, the 'fro was a fourth of July sensation!

First of all you need your brain bucket to fit! You can’t practice in the church of derby, or life very easily with a brain injury. It should fit snug and low on your forehead. When you wiggle it you should feel the skin of your scalp moving as well. The strap should be secured snug under your chin. Measure yourself according to the manufacturer's specifications

You want a safety-tested and -rated helmet. Ratings to look for are ASTM and CPSC. When we were beginning most of our girls just went with what came in the rookie package. Most roller girls from what I have observed are wearing skateboard helmets. The Triple 8 Brainsaiver is popular among our fresh meat and it’s CPSC certified. It was my first helmet, but after 6 months of training and falling as much as we do, I think I’m going to get a new one very soon. Probably an S-One.

Once a helmet has protected you from an extreme impact, gets cracked, or when the inner foam begins to feel loose inside the hard shell (and it will with all of the heat and the sweat you produce) it should be replaced. At the minimum, a helmet for an actively scrimmaging skater should be replaced once a year.

Mouthguard
With HDD, if you don’t have a mouthgard, you don’t skate! Period! Yeah most people think its for your teeth, but really, mouthgards are more about protecting your brain as well. They help prevent concussions. I have had great success with Shock Doctor boil and bite mouthguards, they come with dental insurance! WIN! I bought one with the highest coverage I could find. You can also go to your dentist and get fitted.

Mouthguards are definitely something to get used to if you have never worn one in your life. To this day Machete Abbey’s gag reflex is triggered at strange times... and mouthguards will do that, but you will get used to it.

Elbow Pads & Knee Pads
Don’t go cheap on these. The best ones range from about $50-$100. Just bite it and pay! Your joints are important! Especially your knees. A trip to Urgent Care is about $150 just for them to see you that doesn’t cover the Lortab prescription. After they’ve had a good look they refer you to Orthopedic Assicociates... and that’s more onto the bill. If you sustain an injury bad enough, you have to pay for the ambulance and the ER, and that’s even more money with x-rays, IV pain meds, anal probing... okay... so not really anal probing! But you really need to understand the importance of good pads. Trust!

Skateboard pads are usually pretty good.
Look for: a thick memory foam and ring-shaped padding on the knee. That keeps pressure off of the kneecap. There should also be a hard plastic cap over the knee, preferably with a flat, rather than curved, sliding surface.
I’m going to buy the 187 pro knees very soon. Tony Hawk endorses them. I started out with Triple 8, and I liked them well enough, but I’ve lost alot of inches on my thighs so they don’t fit well anymore.
... That brings us to fit. Your pads should start very snug. Again, measure yourself according to the manufacturer's specifications. The memory foam will conform to your unique curves... and eventually become too loose. When this happens buy new.


Wristguards
Do yourself a favor and buy yourself some Tripple 8 Hired Hands! I won’t recommend anything else and you can’t make me! Measure yourself...blah blah blah.....manufacturer's specifications.

Skates: the Boot
There’s only a little advice I can give you one this one. First, your feet are not like everyone elses. Not everyone will fit comfortably into the Riedell 265s. Currently I wear the 265s. However, Courtney, and Shawmarie wear Sure Grip Rebells. Courtney tried mine on before hers came in, they fit, but the boot was too slim for her comfort.

You want your boot to feel very snug when you first put them on, but not uncomfortable.
Usually, you will wear 1- 1 1/2 size smaller than your everyday shoe. I think I’m going to go down 2 sizes. Your toes should be about 1/4 of an inch from the end when you stand in it. It should not feel loose, and your heel shouldn’t slip. Your boots will break in especially if they are leather, so think about that.

If your skates are too lose, you will get painful blisters, and if they are too tight, you could permanently damage the bones in your feet... like Chinese foot binding ----------------------------->
Ew!

Sin City Skates is derby owned and operated and they have awesome advice for sizing.
My best recommendation is to call them and measure yourself on the phone with one of their girls. They can tell you the right boot for you.


Here are sites I have ordered from, but I am open to other suggestions. Again, I've had the best experience from Sin City.
1. Sin City Skates
2. Roller Girl Skates

.... so happy ordering... it will be a little pricey, but you will love this! Now go get some derby funk on those pads... but don’t forget to wash them on gentle and let air dry. Trust! You may not mind the smell of your own progress, but others will.

-Rx Bex
High Desert Derby

A New Game in Town

It looks like Olympic speed skating, feels like hockey and sounds like a NASCAR race. Two teams of five women each working there way around a 236 foot track on quad roller skates. They us hockey checks and agility to help one of there team mates work around the track and score points while keeping the other team at bay. This is the new Roller Derby. In the late 1800’s a multiple day individual roller skating race would pit women against each other; eventually it became a team sport and in the 1970’s it became a wild televised event with crazy names, wild stunts, and interesting costumes. Then it faded away, until 2001 when the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) was formed and leagues all over the world started forming. The WFTDA kept the names and the interesting costumes but replaced the stunts with honest hard hitting athleticism.
January 2010 a group of motivated women formed High Desert Derby here in San Juan County. With the only restriction to join being age and gender, any women over the age of 18 can join. Currently HDD has over 20 members and with over four practices a week they are hopeful to have their first game early next year against other leagues in the south west.
Look around when you’re in town, these girls are all local and look forward to meeting you.