It’s been a year. A year since I found the courage to start something new. 365 days since my first training session, a year of feeling a part of the greatest bunch of human beings I know. It’s been 525,600 minutes since I found my passion.
Do you remember when you were a kid, riding bikes too fast, screaming down the “big” slippery dips, running like a madman down sand dunes, and better yet strapping on that first pair of skates. Do you remember the smile plastered on your face? Do you remember the wind whipping through your hair?
Now fast forward into adulthood, more specifically mine. It’d been years since I’d done anything remotely exciting, exercise wise. It’d been at least a decade since I’d participated in a team sport, and I can’t remember the last time I’d fallen over laughing and gotten up laughing as well. Hell, in what other sport do people clap at how good you stack? (Superman stacks score more points btw)
Roller Derby.
Let me say it again…Roller Derby.
Some have heard of it, some have seen it, others even know people who have played it. It’s hilarious, fun, competitive, chillaxed, encouraging and embracing all wrapped up in one really cool package.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s not all lollypops and rainbows. There is yelling and even tears from time to time – despite all the training, all the falls, sometimes you fall and it hurts like a SOB. But you know what…we’ve all been there – you’re in good company.
In this past year I’ve skated with men and women, novices and professionals, school teachers, nurses, ambos, and stay at home mums. I love the diversity of this place, where no one is judged for the colour on their skin (or how much/ or little ink they might have), size or height, or even what side of the fence they sit on.
If someone had of said to me a couple of years ago that I’d be playing Roller Derby I’d have possibly laughed at them. If they then had said that I was going to love it, and all that it entails, I’d have scoffed. But now…I can’t remember how I existed with life without these people, and without this sport.
I heart roller derby
T-Wrecks