week 8! jams and bouts

i've been a part of ARRG roller derby for two months now. this is very exciting for me, because it means i am one month away from being able to do all sorts of cool stuff like submit a derby name, order a league track jacket, and vote on issues regarding the league. in short, i'll finally be a full member! i can hardly wait :)

girl on the right showing you what NOT to do: no elbows!

not much to report this week! however, on mondays i can see romo slowly but surely working towards clearing us to be scrimmage eligible. as you read in previous posts, we are cleared to hit and be hit, but only during drills, not actual scrimmage. suri o'killer came back and we worked on some more hitting. i think i am really starting to get the hang of it. i just need to be careful about my elbows! i am going to get a hundred million penalties if i keep skating with my elbows out, so i asked romo about it and we are going to work on it this next week.

there is a bout scheduled in columbia, missouri for next weekend, and some of the newer girls are forming a team and going there to play como (for short)'s b-team. the girls on the roster for this game have been coming to monday nights so romo can help train and prepare them. so what we did on monday was actually run a few jams! it was us yellow girls versus the rookies. i figured it would be crazy uneven since these girls have been skaters longer than we have, but i felt us yellows really did hold our own! we even managed to get lead jammer a couple of times! we all rotated positions, and i have to say, being a jammer is TIRING. everyone is trying to hit you the hardest and then when you finally break out of the pack you have to sprint faster than everyone else so you can catch up to them again, get hit some more, then sprint some more, etc. PHEW! i dont think it's my favorite position, since i am not the speediest skater on the block. being a blocker, however, i LOVED. i especially loved being at the back of the pack and holding back the opposing team's jammer. i was particularly proud of myself on one particular jam when i manged to hold their jammer back by using the techniques i learned in practice; i just sat on her and she couldnt get around me and had to ask for help! meanwhile, our jammer had gotten through cleanly. i am really starting to see why people love doing this so much. i cant wait to do more!!

i went to practice on tuesday, but unfortunately there wasnt all that much for me to do since it was a scrimmage practice to prep for the bout on saturday, so i just worked on my turnaround toe stops, a wee bit of jumping, and some hockey stops. the bout on saturday was really exciting to watch! it was our league season championships, and the m80's ended their winless season on a high note by overtaking the smashinistas, getting third place. witnessing a 30-point jam was pretty incredible, i have to say! i was very busy working the merchandise table during the first place bout between the stunt devils and the rebel skate alliance, so i was only able to catch glimpses here and there. i can tell being one of the heads of the merchandise committee is going to be a lot of work, but also a lot of fun! it was also great being at our new venue in queeny park. we were lucky enough to have the guys' league play there first a couple of weeks ago and we learned a lot from being at their bout and adjusted everything accordingly for our first bout there. i think things ran really smoothly, and we had a sellout crowd! the stands were totally packed!

next week: romo told us to wear yellow to practice tomorrow, but to also bring black and white shirts. could this possibly mean the end of the yellow era for us newbies...?