:: i heart roller derby ::

The time has come to share my new love with you. For the last 6 weeks I have been taking off on a Thursday night down to the Derby Depot, home of the Wasatch Roller Derby, to learn the ins & outs of Roller Derby. Ever since Derby came back on the scene a few years ago I have wanted to play but it has not been so conducive to growing & having babies. Most reactions I have had from people back home in Australia when I told them I have started derby have been, "What?! I thought Roller Derby is really rough & people get hurt! You're so little!" Well... yes, it is rough & I am little but it's also a really fast game which requires a lot of tactical & quick thinking. Plus, its a really healthy way to get some aggression out, and I have always had some of that! 

Our track on one of my 1st nights.

Here's how I found out about the Red Rockette's. I was sitting in a coffee shop down the road & picked up a free magazine, In This Week. I turned to this article about the founders of the Red Rockettes & thought, "Wow. I have always wanted to do this!". The next morning I was showing Danny the article & I looked at the starting date for the new sessions. It was that night and if I wanted to start then I would need skates & pads. Hmm... my quick thinking kicked into gear & I was at the computer researching where I could get them from. I jumped onto Ksl.com & unbelievably there was a set of skates in my size with elbow, knee pads & wrist guards, basically brand new, just an hours drive away. So that afternoon I loaded the kids in the car & took a drive in just about the worst weather ever. When we got there I had to  wrestle the boys out of the car just as it started snowing. Inside the house the gear looked great & fit perfectly, so I took it home, very happy but just a little nervous cause now it meant that I had to go & give it a try. 

6 weeks later & I feel like I am doing great, considering I hadn't been on skates for a good 10 years. Every week I get more comfortable with the skills & just a bit faster around the track. There is really nothing better than getting a little bit of speed on some skates, dodging other girls, then having to pull out some tricky moves so you don't land in a heap on the track to be run over by whoever is behind you. In a few weeks we will get to have our first scrimmage, which should be scary & amazing. I might even be able to swing a babysitter so that Danny can come out for a look. 

As far as outfits go, I think that Jamin is looking a whole lot cuter than me, but he's 3 so I guess that's ok.

My derby name... Salty Vandal

So that is my new love. If you wana know more you can read some of these articles/blogs.

Red Rockette, Babe Rainbow's blog at In This Week
Wikipedia's take on Roller Derby