Fresh Meat: 1
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16 June 2011
I’m not sure how to begin this blog but some sort of introduction seems called for. I’m Carrie, no skate name as I am far too new. I started the Fresh Meat programme in February and have spent the last 13 or so weeks learning how to stop and fall so I don’t kill myself, and recently scrimmaged for the first time. That was somewhat mental, I have to say. Fresh Meat is over, I guess, and I haven’t made it into the Rec League as yet. There were assessments at the end to see how we had progressed and whether we were ready, and I am not. But the good news is that I have five more weeks to prove myself and another chance to pass the assessment, which is something I wasn’t expecting. If I fail again I can start Fresh Meat over, so I get to keep skating either way.
So…why roller derby? Why did I want to strap on skates for the first time since I was 12 and face the prospect of being injured? The simple answer is I saw a bout and wanted to have a go. I had seen a flyer for London Rollergirls a couple of years ago, and it was something I liked the sound of but ultimately talked myself out of. Me? On roller skates? Who was I kidding? I am incredibly clumsy, the kind of clumsy which means I have permanent bruises on my shins from walking into coffee tables and the oft-told joke in my family is that I can trip over the pattern in the carpet. One of my worst bruises suffered so far in roller derby was caused not by a mega hit from another player but from falling onto a stack of hard chairs while I was putting my skates on. I don’t need much help with hurting myself.
But there was something about finally watching a bout and seeing how awesome those women were – while slowly getting to grips with the rules – that made me want to try it. (It may also have been all those daydreams of being on the track while ‘You’re the Best’ boomed out of the speakers.) I still didn’t sign up immediately, it took two more bouts and an incredibly pushy boyfriend buying me skates for Christmas before I finally plucked up the courage to add my name to the waiting list. I assumed it would be quite some time before I made it into an intake – roller derby is incredibly popular you know. Instead I got an email two days later telling me when to start and what kit I would need. Oh crap, this all just got very real.
I survived the first practice after which I ached for a week and I’ve been showing up ever since, getting to grips with one knee falls, crossovers and facing down the dreaded 25 in 5. (I am stuck on 23, but at least I’m not getting any worse.) T Stops are my arch nemesis and I can’t do a baseball slide to save my life, but I keep trying. And here I am three months later, totally addicted, a derby bore to my friends, happy to talk on and on about wheels and skates and gear, even if I don’t really know all that much. A lot of it is down to love, because you don’t do this if you don’t love it, but some of it is also having something to prove. I can be good at this, I can surprise all those who said they couldn’t imagine me on skates, I can be something other than the clumsy one.
Or at least I hope I can.
