Category: Team Blog (Page 2 of 3)

“Rebuilding a league” – Bunny N Clyde

Rebuilding a league:

It began in the fall of 2014 when about half of our league skaters left. We entered the 2015 season with a small A team of very experienced skaters and an even smaller B team – the majority of whom had never bouted before.  Although we tried to push through in the hope that things would get better, the size of the league continued to diminish.  In July 2015, we found ourselves mid-season with 6 B team skaters and a couple of new recruits; running low on money and with a laundry list of obligations to fulfill.

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Some Thoughts about Practice Attendance

Practice. A verb and a noun. Nouns are boring, so…

Verb:
1. carry out, apply
2. to do or perform often, customarily, or habitually
3. to be professionally engaged in
4. to perform or work at repeatedly so as to become proficient
5. to train by repeated exercises

There are so many great words in there. “Apply, perform habitually, professionally engaged, repeatedly to become proficient, repeated exercises.”

I could give examples of how consistent, engaged practice can make a huge difference in performance. There are thousands of books on the subject. My most recent favorite is Mind Gym. I’m just going to keep it short and give a few reasons to get to every practice – even when you don’t feel like it. Other people can probably think of even more and hopefully will post them here.

 

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Falling Lesson

Falling Lesson

Stitch up your skates. You must trust them

without thinking twice. Breathe in the stink

of your sweat-fried padding & give thanks

for the way it holds your bones intact.

Hit the rink. If your wheels strike the tile

with the clean sound of a well-greased cog

whirring in a machine, set your breath to it.

Ball your hands into fists. Once, Bunny fell

with her fingers out & they were smashed

like soft roots under another girl’s wheels.

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Fresh Meat Files: Derby Girl

I want to try and capture the weird place I am in with skating roller derby. I’ll call it ‘The Intermediate Skater’, not yet on the team, but skating with the team, desperately trying to keep up. It was a huge step for me just signing up for the first “fresh meat” class where I learned to skate in June. Now I find myself in the middle of a sport that is so much more than a sport. It is a culture. It is a sisterhood. It becomes part of who you are and what you do every day even when you’re not on the track. Some days it is like falling in love – amazing, empowering, fulfilling. Other days it is like drowning – frustrating, desparaging, defeating. Either way – an obsession.

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