Tag: Heather Steeves

Preparing for roller derby fresh meat tryouts

Here’s what you need to know before your fresh meat tryout:

You should definitely roller skate first
It’s pretty essential.

In August 2010 I felt comfortable in my new career, but needed something physical. It was my first time trying out adulthood and thought I’d like to maybe be a runner. That seemed adult. So I tried that. Running blows. (Although you should totally read this blog, which is about running, but not at all painful) I’d heard about Maine Roller Derby — a 2-hour drive away — and thought that would be a good fitness goal. Obviously, I wouldn’t join that league because four hours of driving a night is unreasonable, but I thought making the team would be a fun goal. And boy am I goal-oriented.

Anyway, here is what I did before the November tryout (and I was offered a spot in that league, before making a new league in Maine):
-I bought $49 skates* and the cheapest pads I could.
-I started roller skating around my neighborhood after work. I was not good. But you don’t have to be good to start roller skating. You just have to do it. (I didn’t even know they made outdoor wheels. By the way, they make “outdoor wheels.”)
-I found a community center that would let me skate for an hour on Sunday mornings so  I could try skating in circles, not on tar.

I worked on these skills:
T-stop
Stopping by dragging my toe stop (I don’t recommend learning this. It’s very hard to un-learn and eventually you’ll have to)
Crossing over — I did this in both directions because I didn’t know if they played roller derby in both directions. (We don’t, by the way. But it’s good to be ambipedal)
One-foot glides (be able to glide on only your left foot, then only your right foot for 30 feet each)
Squatting through one straight away and one turn (because they told me I would have to)

Did I say you should roller skate?
You should really roller skate. One thing I don’t think beginners understand is that the more time you put on your skates, the more comfortable you look. The more balanced you get. The more confident. Faster. You begin to feel your edges (it’s OK. You don’t have to know what that means). Your crossovers get less awkward. You learn that falling is OK.
If I were your coach, I would probably want you just to skate in circles (both directions) for the first month. You’d hate me. And then you’d be good at roller skating and have some confidence and be so ready to add on skills.

Find out if you can go to a clinic first
Many leagues have pre-tryout bootcamps, which will be of great help. They can help you work on your fledgling skills. If you’re in a city, there might be Derby Lite or Derby 101, which will get you some derby experience before you commit. If you know a derby skater, maybe just ask her to go to the rink with you some open-skate night. She will have pointers**.

Watch a bout first
Ideally you’ll watch the league you’re trying out for. In person. Before the tryout. But if you can’t, at least visit http://www.wftda.tv and click “archives” and pick the video with the funnest name. Don’t expect to understand it all. It’s sort of complicated. But just watch it and listen to the announcers. You’ll learn something and that will help. Becoming a roller derby fan makes you a much smarter derby skater.

Research
Go to the league’s website and learn all you can about the tryout and what you will be asked to do. Email the tryout coordinator to get this information (if possible) before the tryout if you can’t find it. Don’t be pushy or annoying. These people are volunteers.

Have an achievable goal
I recommend going into the tryout with a goal that isn’t “make the team.” I also suggest it not be, “don’t fall.” Pick a goal that’s positive, so instead of “don’t cry” make the goal be “have fun, smile at least twice.” If you’re going to go far in roller derby, you’re going to have to learn how to celebrate small victories. It’s all we get. So if you have a great T-stop, get excited about it.

Try to learn all you can
If a coach offers you a tip at the tryout, take it. Try it. Try new things. Look at how veteran skaters perform a skill. Question them if you can about their style. Know you can have your own style — but that if they have been skating a while, there might be a reason they skate the way they do.

Eat like a normal person
You do not have to eat four lunches on the day of your tryout. Get some carbs, get some protein. Try to eat 2-3 hours before your tryout and not much after that. By hydrated. A suggested day-of menu might be: eggs and toast with a fruit for breakfast, a sandwich at lunch, a burrito for dinner (so long as it won’t upset you). With lots of water.

Be nice
Be nice to the refs.
Be nice to the veteran skaters.
Be nice to the other people trying out (they might be your teammates soon).
Be nice to the people who own/run the roller rink.
Be nice to any coaches.
Most importantly, be nice to yourself. You’re learning a new thing that is hard. It’s OK to not be great at it.

Fall, then get up so fast
Just accept that both in practice and at the tryout, you will fall. Everyone falls. It’s OK. Just don’t make a big deal about it. Get up so fast. Everyone falls — not everyone can get up quickly and with a smile. Be that person. Skaters love that person.

Have the best attitude
Some fresh meat are picked because they’re ripe. Some fresh meat are picked because the veteran skaters look at that skater who is smiling, joking, having fun, loving life and roller skating, getting up fast when she falls down and they think, “Oh man. I want her on my team.” Regardless of skill. I was the head of tryouts and fresh meat training for my last league. Trust me. For every nine skaters I wanted on my team because of skill there was one I wanted only because of her attitude.

Go for drinks after
If others go out after the tryout, go with them and grab a cherry Coke. Derby is about making friends and laughing about the “mistakes” you made.

*This ended up being a bad long-term financial decision. I made it worse later by upgrading to another bad skate before investing some real money into my current skates, which have lasted
**In reality, she’ll probably just tell you, “it’s OK, just get lower. Bend your knees more.”

Journalists miss the real ($50M) roller derby story. Every time.

News reporters miss the roller derby story every time. Every. Time. Distracted by the glitter, wheels, hitting and names that are bleach-penned onto our shirts, journalists slip and don’t cover roller derby like they would any other trend news story.

Regional and local papers always write the same story: YOURTOWN — By day Lacy Clems, 33, of Yourtown, is a nurse at Yourlocal Hospital. But by night the nurse pulls on her fishnets, laces up a pair of black roller skates and takes her place with the Local Rollergirls. (And then 600 more words about how people roller skate in an oval and somehow there are points scored, it’s maybe about community service and women and athletics, and also some quote about how one of the ladies uses this as stress relief from her babies and job.)

And that’s the local story.

The New York Times wrote about derby today. They wrote about Gotham’s intro to derby classes.

(Takes big breath)

And before I say what I need to say, I need to be fair: the Times let a derby girl write about derby back in 2010. They did a great job in 2009 covering nationals. And, with derby fitness classes gaining popularity, they covered this story at the exact right moment. But those are all the derby articles I can find without searching too hard.

Where were they at the first-ever world cup? Where were they at championships in 2011 and 2012 when Gotham slaughtered everyone? For the Times, it’s not just a local hokey story, it’s a national story, it’s an international trend. It’s sports, entertainment, news, economics, business. It’s a video opportunity. It’s gorgeous photography waiting to hit A1 or the cover of sports.

No matter.

They — and all newspapers — are missing the story. So, let me give it to them. This is for you, fellow newspaper reporters of the world:  Derby is the viral sport of this past decade. It has infected your town. It has infected every town in this country and many cities everywhere else in the world. In Rockland, Maine there is roller derby. In Austin, TX there is derby. Athletes skate in Berlin, London, Sydney, Brasília, Moscow, Toronto. They skate in Lansing, MI and in Moab, UT. And to those towns — those towns that can be dull, cloudy, economically depressed — these leagues are raking in two things: Women, money. To the former point: We are EVERYWHERE.

To the latter: As reporters, we love to “follow the money.” But when it comes to these hundreds of local businesses and nonprofits … nothing. Nothing on the multi-million dollar industry that is derby.

This bout brought in about 2,000 people (capacity) ... in a town of 3,000 people. That brought in ticket sales, got sponsors advertising time, brought in money to the local hockey rink ... and to the police force which surely collected parking ticket money.
This bout brought in about 2,000 people (capacity) … in a town of 3,000 people. That brought in ticket sales, got sponsors advertising time, brought in money to the local hockey rink … and to the police force which surely collected parking ticket money. Photo by Eric Baseler.

The nonprofit Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby Association looks over about 250 leagues. The roller derby roster — a derby name registry — has 39,239* skaters (mostly women) listed.

I’m sorry, I’ll say that again because maybe you didn’t quite read that right: 39,239 skaters. That’s as many women there are in Portland, Maine (the state’s biggest city).

OK. Now, let’s do math. Blog followers know how I love math. According to a study by WFTDA last year, skaters spent an average of $622 on skating equipment and gear in 2011, along with $656 in travel for roller derby and $223 in other support costs (dues, tickets for events). That’s $1,500 a skater. If there are in fact 39,239 skaters that is $58,858,500  — yeah, about $59 million a year from just the skaters — not the fans, the referees, the support staff, bout venues, rinks. That $59 million goes to local skate shops, local rinks, American skate companies, local hotels.

It’s a big fucking deal. (Do you hear me, New York Times?)

According to that WFTDA study last year, a third of derby fans make more than $75,000 a year. They have disposable income. Income to spend on $5-$30  bout tickets, merchandise and all the companies surrounding and sponsoring the sport.

They also have reach. About 36 percent of fans heard about derby through a friend. We have a crazy-huge network of people buzzing about derby in the world. I don’t have figures for how many derby fans there are in this world or how much they spend to travel to see games, how much they pay to stay in your towns, to eat in your towns, to support the local roller derby sponsors. Etcetera.

That’s where the story is. Somehow journalists have missed the (way more than) $59 million story of derby. A very basic story about the immensity of this sport that has lodged its claws into our nation. Sure it’s also about how thousands upon thousands of women have become better human beings: become athletes, learned to run a nonprofit, found a safe space to grow, and yes, a place to get away from stressful jobs and babies where they can wear fishnets and no one will call them a slut (…. OK, we might call them sluts, but it’s loving, not shaming.)

This sport is changing our world and impacting our local economies in a real, quantifiable way. GET ON IT, PRESS.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A journalist by day, Heather Steeves, 25, of Portland, types angrily at her keyboard. But by night, Steeves -- aka Hard Dash -- straps on her old-style black roller skates and elbows you in the face.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A journalist by day, Heather Steeves, 25, of Portland, types angrily at her keyboard. But by night, Steeves — aka Hard Dash — straps on her old-style black roller skates and elbows you in the face.

*That 39,239 number might be inflated number because of skater drop outs — but there is also a huge back up of names waiting to be registered, so it’s unclear. (To make it harder to estimate: WFTDA does not keep a headcount of skaters, and even if it did, that number wouldn’t account for the non-WFTDA flat track leagues, the banked track leagues, the USARS leagues, the renegades …)