trying out: not as easy as you might think...

as you know from my previous post, i had been training on my own for about 5 months when i got the email about recruitment. i had been eagerly (and somewhat impatiently) waiting, and by the time info night rolled around i was more than ready to get this whole process started!

i made sugar cookies...

not gonna lie, i felt like kind of a douchebag going to info night when i already knew half the league and all the ins and outs of roller derby. so what did i do? i baked cookies. probably made me seem like even more of a suckup, but i really did it with the best of intentions. so anyway, i pull up to the st louis skatium (where the arch rivals hold all their practices) and find the parking lots and and surrounding street completely CLOGGED with cars. "uh oh. how many girls are coming to this thing??" was the thought that immediately ran through my head. i was early too, but when i walked in it felt like there were a hundred other girls there. yikes!!! i hadnt expected this huge of a turnout, and i dont think anyone in the league did either. but i pulled up a chair and patiently listened to all the information that i already knew about buying gear, the time commitment that derby demands, etc etc.

not all leagues have a tryout process, and the ones that do probably vary greatly in intensity and difficulty, but this is how it works with the arch rival roller girls (ARRG, for short): there are three nights that you attend, with skates and all your gear, where they teach you the skating basics and the skills that are expected of you at the tryout night. these three nights were initially meant to be spread out over several months, to give girls time to practice these skills on their own time in between these nights (affectionally called bootycamps). but of course the universe hated me, and the skatium had their floors redone, so the first night was pushed back from mid-december until after the holidays. ugh, fine. i had waited this long, i could wait a little longer! this also meant that the tryout date had to be pushed back a week. ok, fine. then the weather decided to be a bitch, and we had to cancel and postpone. what was initially meant to be a two-month process was crammed all together into one month. tryouts were supposed to be january 31st, but then SNOWPOCALYPSE '11 arrived, and we had to postpone it a week.

what crossovers look like!

the skills we were taught during bootycamp were basic beginner derby skills: skating with confidence, using bent knees and a powerful stride, using crossovers in the turns, weaving, proper falling technique, proper stopping techniques, and jumping. we were also timed for speed. luckily, i knew these were the skills we'd be learning and eventually tested on during tryouts, so i had been practicing them on my own. still though, it was hard since a lot of the skills i wasnt comfortable trying on my own (jumping), and some other skills are frowned upon at the local roller rink. they wouldve kicked me out if i had been practicing falling on purpose over and over and over! but, since i had my foot in the door with the league already, i found out that skatium would be soon be open to skaters in the early morning (5-10am) sweet! i had an afternoon job, which left my mornings totally open to go skating. for a few months i would go twice a week, every week, and practice whatever i wanted to my heart's content. still, not having anyone there to give feedback was frustrating, and after a while i felt like i had plateaued as far as what i could achieve on my own.

i got a full-time job and the practices diminished a bit, but i still made a few practices where i got up at 4:30am to be at the skatium by 5, so i could skate for an hour before i had to leave for work. it sucks getting up so early, but i always feel great after i skate, and i never regret going, so i kept up with it as best i could. i couldnt help but feel that at that point, i was almost OWED a spot in the league. come on, who else was getting their ass up at that hour to go skate? barely anyone thats even IN the league even did that! but i didnt want to get cocky, because i had no idea what kinds of skills the other girls were hiding when i sized them up at the very first info night.

thankfully, the 60 girls that showed up at the info night was reduced to about half that number on the very first night of bootycamp. the talent level was mixed, but definitely a bit higher than i had expected. however, i felt that personally my stamina and comfort on skates was great, and that all my practicing had paid off. yess!!! i just had to keep working and keep practicing the skills they were teaching us, and i would be ready for tryouts.

newbies have to wear yellow as a signal
to the veterans so they know not to hit us yet!

tryouts were yesterday. i was SO nervous leading up to it that whole day; i could think of nothing else while i was at work and when i got home i tried to take a nap and failed MISERABLY, since my heart was practically pounding out of my chest. i visited romo at the shop and talked it over with her, and i realized that it really is no different than preparing to give a big speech or singing a solo in a musical. you just have to trust in yourself. if you have done the proper work to prepare, your body will take over and do what it has been trained to do, and everything will turn out great. so thats exactly what i did. i just kept a level head and didnt overthink it; i did the skills that were asked of me to the best of my ability and that was that.

it was after the tryouts were over that i got REALLY nervous. i felt i had done well, and that all my hard work had paid off and served me well that evening, but there were 21 of us that tried out and i knew there wouldnt be spots for all of us. the hour that passed between the end of tryouts and when i finally saw my name on the list was a total haze, i was so incredibly nervous. but then i saw it on the website link that was provided to us, and i was SO incredibly excited. i had PASSED TRYOUTS! 15 of us had made the cut. then my phone and my facebook started to blow up. i received such a huge outpouring of support from my friends and my family, and i felt so incredibly elated and satisfied. i had set a goal for myself, worked hard, and as a result, achieved it. i really felt like i had earned that spot, and it felt SO DAMN GOOD.

so now it's the day after, and the fact that i am a derby girl has sunk in a little, but not completely yet. perhaps it will next monday when i attend my first newbie practice as an ARCH RIVAL ROLLER GIRL. but for now, i just feel like little old mindy :)

i must explain that my celebrations arent going to last long. because now that i have passed tryouts and become a member of the league, i am still only at the beginning of a very long derby journey. i must attend newbie practice on monday nights, pass a rules test, pass the women's flat track derby association (WFTDA) minimum skills test, and i have to get cleared to hit and get hit by other girls. once all that is done, THEN i can submit myself to the draft and hopefully i will get drafted to one of our four local teams. for now, i am in newbie limbo, and i know i wont see actual playtime for several more months. but let me tell you: i am so incredibly happy to be here!

next week: first REAL practice in yellow!