Fresh meat; moving forward and backwards!

Derby Love Comic


A little over a year ago I first got in contact with ADD and with training for Roller Derby.
I know I have mentioned this before, but for the sake of this blog entree I will do it again; I SUCKED!! :) I was not able to skate well, I was insecure on my skates and it took me a very long time to get better.
So I think I can say, I know what it is to be new at this sport.

At the end of last year we had an excited group of newbies that start our ADD fresh meat training course. Some of them all ready pretty confident on skates. Others not so much. But all of them, no matter what level of skills, were eager to learn! Which is, I think, the most important thing in roller derby. It's enthusiasm and the willingness to learn, to fall a thousand times and get back up and do it all again.

This group of newbies, or as we like to call it in derby-land 'fresh meat', has been just great!
They have been very dedicated and have been working hard.

Tonight I trained a big part of the training together with Michelle (and others), working on skating together and in packs and teaching them the basics of hip checks.
It's great for myself to see how far I have come this past year, from nothing to teaching others.
But it's even more amazing to see how fast these newbies learn! My gosh...some of them were barely able to stay upright on their skates, let alone in derby stance. And now they are in derby stance, jumping, doing crossovers, pack skating, (light) hitting, etc. It's just awesome so see their progress.

So yes, our fresh meat is moving forward!
And pretty darn fast too.
But today they moved backwards a bit too.....
Cause Michelle taught them all about skating backwards!! :)
(a skills I still need to master properly...)

Just wanted to share the progress of ADD's newest edition with the world or whatever.
I am just so proud of them and it's great being able to witness their progress!

- Furrrocious



*like the Derby Love is... comic? I know I do!! Check out the website: Derby Love Comic*

New year, more Derby?!

2011 has just started, and has all ready been overflowing with Roller Derby!
The last day of 2010, I was lucky enough to buy my ticket to RollerCon. And I partied with two of my favorite European Derby girls, my wifey Lola Rock 'n' Rolla and the Devil Doll Gina Gasolina.



After the two week break at practice I was more then happy to go to practice on Monday. It was great to be on skates again. I missed it like crazy. But I noticed soon enough that the two weeks we couldn't practice (because we couldn't use our practice space), was exactly what I needed. For the first time in months my ankles didn't hurt!! Without the help of braces or tape I was able to skate with no pain!
And let me tell you, it was a great feeling.
Because of my ankles I had not been to practice on Monday for two months (!!), so I felt like I missed out on so much...
With the girls that were there we practiced jumping over obstacles (see Lola jumping in the picture). Something I had not done before. I had only jumped over lines on the floor, so this was completely new. And it was fun! I fell hard a couple of times, but I was able to jump higher and further then I expected.



On Wednesday it was time for fresh meat practice. The newbies also had two weeks off, and I was curious to see how many would come. But I guess they were all just as excited as me to be back on skates, cause they came in great numbers. :)
And you might be starting to get sick and tired of me saying this, but they have improved so much! It's just crazy how fast they all grow in the skating abilities.
They started weaving through cones on one leg and even learned how to jump. Warm and fuzzy is all I have to say about it.
Dirty Knickers did a good job on training us. It was fun, but also though. I felt every muscles in my body when I left practice!


The next day I was busy with a whole different side of Roller Derby. I had been working on a present for my derby wife Lola Rock 'n' Rolla, for a while and thursday I finally got it finished!
I gave her (and myself) a necklace with a bearing, and got her name engraved on the side of the bearing.



I wanted to give it to her on Friday. But because there was another team practice that night I was able to give it to her that night. And she loved it!! :)

I normally don't practice on Thursday nights team practice, because I have not yet passed my WFTDA test. But this night was special, Harper Lethal from the Atlanta Rollergirls came out to train (with) us! So I couldn't miss that.
So another night of practice....
Let me tell you...it was hard. Especially at the beginning. My body (especially my legs..) were still aching from last nights practice. But still no pain in my ankles so I kept going. And had a great time. We learned so much from Harper, which was great. We did some positional blocking exercises. Which was really hard on my legs, but my spirit won from the achy legs, and I kept going. It was so much fun to really practice these moves and not just with somebody who would let it happen either. Cherry Poppins gave me a run for my money. She resisted and moved quickly to dodge my blocks. It was great, I learned so much!!




Last but certainly not least, we ended 2010 with 6 roller derby leagues in the Netherlands, and started this week with SEVEN!!
Welcome to the first league in the north of holland:
Northern Lightning Rollergirls from Groningen. They are looking for new members right now, so if you are interested or just want to give them a warm derby welcome, you can find them on Facebook.

Well I am off to have another Derby related night, only this times it will envolve drinking and singing at a karaoke bar with the girls from the Rotterdam Deathrow honeys.


- Furrrocious

Fresh meat makes you feel all fuzzy inside!

Today I was finally able to go to practice again. Glad to be finally on skates, especially after just seeing so many bouts this past Saturday.

So a couple of weeks ago we started our three month training program for the fresh meat girls and guys. And I was there the first night they came. It was great to see all those girls and guys trying to skate, after not being on skates for years.
Some girls had shaky legs and were like those new born animals standing up right for the first time. Shaking and unbalanced.

So I didn't see them skate for a couple of weeks and my gosh was I amazed!!! The baby animals are turning in to fierce ladies!
It just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside to see these newbies improving so much.
And I love how motivated they are.



For myself it was just great to be on skates again. My ankles are doing a lot better and I was finally able to finish my five minute endurance laps with a pretty decent score. It's been so frustrating not to be able to skate as much as I wanted and keep up with the rest. But slowly but surely it's getting better. And I am back on my way to play!


- Furrrocious