the air was so thick with nerves you could chew it. everyone was scared shitless, myself included.

i headed over early to get a decent warm up with the 2 becs. we got there, kitted up and paid our monies and got out on the floor. Started out shaky as usual but got down and just tried to keep my mind off the white star test.

We started out stretching and i got possibly the 2 best pieces of news i’d had all day:

1) If we fail today we get to have another shot at in in just over a week
2) We are not being tested on cross-overs in the reverse direction.

At this stage reverse cross overs are the bane of my existence.. i’m just too awkward for them. I felt pretty much the entire group breathe a little bit easier after this announcement. However the relieved smiles were quickly wiped off peoples faces minutes later when it came time to start the actual white star tests. eeep !

So this is how it went down yo! :

STOPS: specifically plow stops and t-stop. I think i did these ok… well by that i mean i stopped and didn’t stack. But my plow stops are something i think i’m going to have to cultivate over a long period of time before they look any good.

FALLS: specifically one knee (each side), double knee and 4 point falls (both knees, wrists and elbows). These again i think i did ok on. Not perfect by any means but i managed to do the one knees on both sides without any major incident, the double knees were ok with one knee going down just before the other and the 4 point.. well it’s not my strong point but they were better than they were last week.. which isn’t saying that much

ENDURANCE: 5 minutes around the track sprinting, focusing on form(stance, cross-overs) and basically trying to do as many laps as possible with 2 – 4 other ladies on the track. omgomgomg i was so scared of this one, especially seeing as i tend to over heat and become a sweaty mess. But it ended up alright i think. I had a few uneasy moments but was able to keep the same brisk-ish pace the whole time with a few crossovers included for good measure… i think.  special shout out to peta for yelling out to me and making me panic lol <3

JUMPS: what we had all been dreading. Jumping over cones. This was my major downfall of the day. I DID the jumps and i DIDN’T fall over but the style was ridiculous. Jumps are the thing i am most concerned about but i’m sure i can put in a bit more work on them if i have to.

After jumps it was warm down time and the realisation it was all over. everyone seemed relieved, like a polar opposite of how we were when we came in. the strangest thing was that i just wanted to keep on skating.

All in all i’m not prepared to speculate about whether i’m going to pass or fail. We won’t know for a couple of days most likely so i’m just going to continue skating and try not to think about it (yeah right).

I think the favourite part of my day though was heading over to the local pub with some other lovely freshies to relax, have a drink and a good laugh at ourselves. The bar wench was not impressed with the stench apparently which provided many lols.

I wish all the girls that were there today the best of luck and hope to be skating with them again very soon. Also the coaches were awesome, every week we were encouraged and helped with everything. They were all approachable and patient and willing to dispense the same advice over and over and over and over again.

Seriously this was the best experience i’ve had in a long time and whatever happens after today i WILL be involved in one way or another with the VRDL. I think i’m becoming obsessed…

on Monday i shared the huge rink with 2 primary school girls and a group of 3 older gents who i will refer to as “lemon party” . even though there was only a small group of people I’m sure they got a kick seeing me fall over multiple times practicing falls and plow stops (of which i still find impossible). i only stayed for an hour as it was still over 30 degrees and vowed to return on Thursday to skate with some of the VRDL ladies and fellow freshies.

Had a lot more fun on Thursday and i met a girl (donna kebab) which whom i used to play in an all girl gaming clan with years and years ago. spoke to a few girls and got some more tips and had a good hard skate.

then came Sunday….. dum dum dah !

It was a little cooler and more comfortable to skate this week and we went over everything we did the week before with additional skills:

lateral movement – moving efficiently from one side of the track to the other.

endurance - sprint skating (can do it but i need to work on my form)

jumps - over little cones  (can kinda do this)

skating on one leg - going to need to practise standing on one leg for a while on this one.

what i learned :

• Be  very careful when i fall forward, keep fists clenched
• Try not to fall backwards onto butt/tailbone (did this twice, very sore bot bot)
• Skate lower,  i stand too tall and will need to build leg muscles
• Balance, i need to practise standing on one leg and being more comfortable.

so there’s a lot of need to work on besides grasping the basic skills. i’m going to skate at least twice this week before the next training session. i would do more but i’m actually still sore today.

part of me felt i had improved upon last weeks efforts and part of me felt like i was falling behind. i’m sure a lot of the girls are going through similar emotions. i get over excited and then just over it. my body won’t do what i want it to.  all i know is i still want to roller derby whatever it takes.

Next Update : Boot camp Week Three

it was however awesome fun. was good to meet some of the girls i’ll be spending time with over the next 4 weeks but it really did show me how much i need to practise to keep up with the curve.

the stuff we were taught included was :

falls – one knee, two knee and 4 point ( i can do one knee but am a little unco on the others)

stops - t-stop (which i’m a little shakey on)  plow-stop (omg impossible)

stance - bend those knees !!! and cross over turns (which i can sorta do)

weaving - through cones (which i can sorta do)

i pretty much can’t do anything perfect and on top of that i almost passed out once but it’s given me a better idea of the stuff i need to learn. there was so many talented people and i don’t want to sound defeatest but i may not make this round of intake. i will of coarse be trying my hardest to improve and if i don’t make it i will be super ready next time with a good few months more time to practise the skills we need.

now it’s time to spend a couple of days recovering from the pain of using muscles i didn’t even know were there ^_^

Next Update : Boot camp Week Two

so fingers crossed i make the cut and got my email in quick enough !

UPDATE : my first minor derby sucess ! emailing back in a timely fashion wins again, although i’m not sure where this skill is going to help me in the future. Anyway turns out they are breaking up the freshies in 2 groups (nearly 60 girls per group). i will be in group one which does their thing in about a week from 5pm to 7pm. starting to get pretty excited/nervous now !

i can’t really describe how excited i am, i’m sure theres alot of girls in a similar position at the moment. i just can’t wait to get started. It seems like i’ve been waiting forever for something like this to come along.

i look forward to getting to know some other freshies. right now i really have no clue on anyone elses ability and where i fit in.  There seems to be a huge number of girls that want to join the VRDL this year. This leads me to believe there will be a little bit of competion to get a spot. This is a scary thought seeing as right at this moment i can only really skate in a circle.

So my check list for bootcamp is :

learn to do at least one stop, buy some decent knee pads, invest in another helment for my abnormally large skull/hair and stop stressing out.

I’ve decided that if i don’t make it this round i’m not going to be too heart broken. whatever happens i’ll stick with it and hopefully make it in sometime in the next 12 months. either way i really am just enjoying having a good skate !

Next Update : Boot camp Week One (eeep!)

It’s 2 weeks from the official information session for the VRDL (Victorian Roller Derby League) fresh meat intake.  I put my name down a few months ago,  bought some skates from Sin City Skates to replace my 8+ year old puma street skates (that i used about 2 times) and have been pretty much starting from scratch.

I used to love skating when i was little whenever i got the chance. i got my first and only broken bone from a skating related incident. I decided on roller derby this year after trying to find a sport to get into.  I was lost and one day looked down at my dusty old skates and decided to see if there was anything local happening.

So now the wait begins…the boot camp starts in November and roller derby in Melbourne has become increasingly popular so the competition to get a spot for 9 months worth of training will be tough.  Will i get in? I hope so..otherwise this will be a very short lived blog  and my already chosen skating name  “Betty Blitzkrieg” will be going to waste.

I kinda hoped i would take to skating like duck to water…That was not the case. My training has consisted so far of my forcing various friends to come to the local rink with me for a social skate and so i can practice the basics. This has led to some spectacular falls, minor injuries, near misses and hilarious situations.  I really should take a lesson but hopefully boot camp will get me over the line.  If not.. there’s always next year right?