Cleaning out the Gear Bag of Life: Some Miscellaneous Derby Notes

Though my official hiatus continues until after my first comprehensive exam for grad school, I thought it was time for a personal update. A viral infection has had me down and delayed my Triumphant Return to watch for elbows at last Friday's scrimmage, but I made it to LOCO's yearly Friends and Family Barbecue. My derby godmother Knuckle Slamwitch visited from Toronto to join us in the eating of grilled meats, hot on the (w)heels of her announcement that LOCO Toronto is up and running. Canada's biggest city, home of several leagues, now has a low-contact, recreational option. Our sport is at its strongest when it gets to benefit from diverse styles and players, so the news is pretty darn exciting.

The barbecue featured many a pair of hot pants and the terrible, dark glory of the Coca Cola cake, which is the tastiest.  Seeing skaters and their families is always a treat. This year had our highest injury quotient yet - cracked ribs, broken wrists, and concussions came out to celebrate another year of LOCO.

The barbecue also marked a goodbye to one of our stars, Atom Bombshell. She's relocating and it's our loss. One of the best things about being part of a league is getting to see skaters grow and seeing them leave is one of the worst. Bombshell's energy, warmth and sense of humour make her as essential off the track as her speed and maneuverability do on the track - any league will be lucky to have her. But, like many of our skaters who had had to move, she always has a derby family with us. We found her first. So there.

Upcoming excitement: rules-oriented practices and less than a month until exams.

Looking at LOCO: Considering a Young Derby League

Officially founded in London, Ontario in 2010, LOCO Roller Derby is a low-cost, low-contact, low-commitment league intended for players who love the sport of derby, but find participating in competitive full-contact derby untenable. I joined LOCO pretty early, in the autumn of 2010. My attendance has been pretty spotty amidst efforts to finish my Master's, start my PhD and handle my anxiety in the almost two years since. At the same time, it's been a bit like seeing a really young cousin sporadically at family events - every time you look they're bigger and more complex.

Starting with original London league, LOCO has since expanded to four chapters, including Stratford, Kitchener, and Brantford. During one of this blog's occasional periods of radio silence, they also added a full-contact chapter, the Violet Femmes. Even more recently, LOCO has starting hosting Juniors practices for skaters under 18. Every time I come back (usually bent from carrying a backpack full of books), it's grown.

It's been tempting to identify personally with LOCO's growth - when I started wobbling across the  gym floor on borrowed skates, LOCO was at a temporary home due to construction at our downtown YMCA. It had a relatively small number of players at practices. It didn't have much contact with other leagues. Now that I'm (finally) reading up on the rules and training as a ref, the league has multiple weekly practices, four chapters, multiple practice venues, several charity events and inter-league bouts under its belt, a huge increase in its membership and all in all, a lot to be proud of. Since I learned to skate backwards, LOCO's been featured in Hit and Miss magazine as well as in newspapers and on television. LOCO isn't just a league - it's a mindset regarding how everyone deserves access to the sport, regardless of schedule, finances or athletic ability. People with the time, money and talent to play full-contact can (and do, still within the league), but the rest of us aren't an after-thought. We're a family.

When I look at this picture on the LOCO website, taken in the league's early days, I see skaters who have moved on to other leagues as the result of moves and skaters who I just haven't seen in person lately or I never got a chance to know. But I also see skaters who have taken breaks from derby and returned, skaters who have continued to volunteer as leaders within the league's administration and, personally, I see a spot for me and for all the players who have joined since that picture was taken.

Naturally, there are places, both literal and metaphorical, that I would love to see LOCO go. I would love to see us have a permanent practice space more directly under our control, providing increased skating time to our league-members. I would love to see us expand to other cities so women who thought roller derby couldn't be a part of their lives can hit the track instead. I would love to see us make more connections with other leagues and build up our in-house teams. We need more referees. We need to find a way to better enable financially-strapped skaters with aid. An online forum for skaters would be sweet. But we're a healthy league powered by a lot of passion. We will find a way to make these things happen.

In the mean time, if you're interested in getting LOCO in your city, check out our organizational structure and master manual, then contact us through the LOCO site.

Sisters Doin' It For Each Other: Support in Derby

And I'm not talking sports bras.

Recently, I outed myself as having some anxiety issues, especially when it comes to derby. The response since from the other players and the honorary sisters among our refs has been wonderful. Because I asked for specific help, namely help with skills training, I've found myself surrounded by potential coaches, all offering their time and support. Players have offered to help during skates at our local rink and even during practices. I've been really overwhelmed by the generosity of the members of our league, who have proven that derby isn't just about pushing yourself to excel. It's also about helping other skaters do their best.

Asking for help can be tough for any skater. Often we're afraid of looking weak, especially in front of such strong, dedicated people as the ones who choose derby. But luckily those same people are so often so generous. Asking for help is tough, but once we do ask, we have a whole league behind us. And with that many kick-ass skaters coming up behind you, you are a force to be reckoned with.

More generally, I've had skaters approach me to offer personal support off the rink.  I was worried that the other skaters might be put off or uncomfortable after I explained why I sometimes miss practice or leave early. Because anxiety isn't a visible illness, sometimes it's difficult for people to understand. Of course, I forgot to take into account that I'm not the only anxious player and even those skaters who haven't experienced anxiety are willing to try to understand those who have.

For every skater who has offered support, my faith in derby, in LOCO, and the community we're building here in London has been renewed and made all the stronger for it. All I can say to the amazing LOCO community is that I thank-you for every stride I make on the track. For the significant bruises on my rear, however, I will just thank the floor.

So, with all that the skaters of LOCO have given me, I'm going to try to give back by doing my best, by asking for help when I need it, and when finances permit, buying a round at the bar.

Rollerballin': LOCO's Yearly Good Time Social

Photo Credit: Jackie 'Bride of Breakin' Spine' Haycock

Roller derby leagues are known for partying. And LOCO, being a rec league, holds this particular derby tradition in especially high regard. But if there's one special party LOCO goes in for, it's our yearly Rollerball. Rollerball is a derby prom, awards show, graduation ceremony and hootenanny all in one: on Saturday night, we filled the Victoria Tavern basement to the rafters with a live rockabilly band, derby girls in their finest (and in some cases their shortest) and a whole lot of red and black decorations.

Why is Rollerball particularly special? I mean, we party with the least incentive. Why the fuss each February? Rollerball is the night we salute our skaters - not only do we give out awards in categories like Best Jammer, Best Booty and Most Competitive, we also point out how every skater has grown over the past year. On Saturday night, I was utterly delighted to see that the planners had written specialized introductions and ordered skate level (absent but forthcoming) dog tags for every skater, not just the rightful winners of Best Dressed and Favourite Mama Hen. Everyone got their moment. Even the refs.

When not dancing with dangerous abandon with my partner and my LOCO lovelies, I watched the crowd and, rather unusually for me, I was just happy to be in the moment - and it was such a lovely moment with my derby family, constituted by these amazing people all brought together by a sport dedicated to strong women supporting each other. My partner and I had both started the evening a bit anxious, but by the time we tottered to the cab home, my faith in my derby community was reconfirmed, renewed in a wash of glitter, sweat, and love between the folks who support their sport and each other.

And that is why Rollerball is a big deal.

Elle Grande LOCO Tournament: A Family Affair

MID-JAM EXCITEMENT: Photo Credit Heather Manners

This past weekend, LOCO's four chapters came together to do something unique in the history of the franchise. Players from London, Kitchener,. Stratford and Brantford were sorted into three teams, the Hot Chihuahuas, the Chupacabras and the Stuffed Pinatas and played for our own golden boot.

Adrienne Balboa's hot pants
ask a crucial question
Photo credit: Natalie Buragina

Part of what was so brilliant about this event was the mixing of players - women who have briefly seen each other at practices got to depend on each other on the track and that's a pretty difficult bonding experience to top. It also meant that one city with a bigger pool of players didn't get a stacked deck of experienced derby girls. Every team had a chance of winning this tournament. LOCO put into practice what it preaches: equal derby opportunity for all.

Though I missed it because I was sick, I'm fascinated by what an event like this means for a family like LOCO. What started off just over two years ago has grown to include four healthy chapters in four cities and it's still growing. Alumni who have since moved on to contact leagues returned to play with the people who taught them to skate. It very literally brought all sorts of women together this weekend to play low-contact derby without sacrificing any of what makes roller derby amazing. This is what low-contact, high-strategy roller derby looks like. It's fun to play and fun to watch and it isn't going away.


It's natural that as roller derby spreads, it's going to change, it's going to grow amazing off-shoots like Derby Lite and LOCO. These variations are extensions and wonderful complications of what roller derby can mean. At its heart, it's the love of the game, the screech of quad skates on a sharp stop, the amazing community. But beyond that, it can be about anything the players - those beautiful, strong, committed players - want it to be.

I'm so, so proud of the players, refs and volunteers associated with the extended LOCO family. They have added a unique chapter to the history of the franchise and they did it while being watched by family and friends. They are passionate and generous and fuck, can some of these people skate.

The LOCO Rainbow: Photo credit Heather Manners

Getting Back on Skates + Fitness Challenge

Due to starting up my PhD, my actual time on skates has been pretty much nil. For the same reason, my time to blog has been basically nonexistent. After some hair-tearing and soul-searching, I put my skates back on last Friday. I've also decided to keep blogging on Mondays and Thursdays, so please check back on those days for new posts.

Last Friday was the beginning of LOCO's Best Fit You challenge. Skaters can, if they choose, compete in three areas, each with its own 10-skate card as a prize. Our areas are highest percentage of weight loss, highest percentage of improvement for a fitness test, and a point-based day by day system of eating according to Canada's Food Guide. Some skaters are opposed to the food guide challenge, others to the weight loss, but I decided to try all three. Though I'm not a fan of the weight-loss challenge (for reasons of size acceptance), I took part largely because I don't have a  scale at home and I was curious to see whether there would be any corresponding change in my weight after the challenge.

But I digress. Getting back on skates can be intimidating. I hadn't skated in ages. I was worried that my fellow skaters would have continued getting more awesome while I was hunched over Ulysses in the PhD1 cave. This of course was indeed the case, but I was welcomed back regardless. I chose to work with the newer skaters, because my skill acquisition has been a bit patchwork and my T-stops are terrible. (They still are.)

In some ways, the Best Fit You challenge was incredibly well-timed. It gave me a clear starting point to get back on my quads and a clear structure of activity and nutrition aimed toward a specific end-point. Structure can be key to getting back on skates: often, we've stopped skating because we stopped making time for it. Having the sense that the structure is being imposed for us (in this case, in the form of a league-wide challenge) can make getting back on skates seem easier than it really is. Am I advocating tricking yourself into skating? Frankly, yes.

League or team challenges can be a great way of encouraging absent skaters to get back in the game. It's not really about winning: it's about having these structures ready-made for skaters who are looking for reasons to skate but aren't great at self-motivating.

Now, I'm off lose a point for drinking coffee. It's totally worth it.

Slight delay

Today's blog post on derby wifedom will be showing up later tonight, my time. In the mean time, here's a picture of the Kitchener LOCO logo. Their Roll-a-Thon will be taking place on September 25th. Further details from their poster below!



Join your Kitchener LOCO Roller Derby skaters for a roll down
the Iron Horse Trail, from Victoria Park to Union Blvd and back!


Roll with us on your roller/inline skates, skateboard, or bicycle.

Any donation amount is welcome & appreciated! (Cash only please)

25% of all profits will be donated to the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign.

Meet @ 2:00 pm, Victoria Park Pavillion (Parking available)
Roll out @ 2:15 pm.  Rain or shine.

That's How We Became The Derby Bunch

Yesterday, LOCO held its second annual Skate-A-Thon. I've blogged previously about the event, which features both derby girls and picnics. Together, LOCO's skaters raised $950 dollars, 25% of which goes to YMCA Strong Kids with the remainder going to the league. Skaters from LOCO raised pledges with the promise that they would skate around London's park walkways for an hour, before settling down to eat burgers and remarkably good desserts.

Photo credit: Natalie 'Vegas' Buragina

I myself skated for about fifteen minutes before face-planting halfway down a hill. Most of the folks who saw my left knee afterward asked, “Why weren't you wearing your knee pads?” I was. Friction is a powerful force. Luckily, so are mini cheesecakes. After lunch, I regretted nothing.

Because a lot of our skaters are moms, we had a great deal of derby kids with us yesterday, some well-approaching teenhood and some still learning to toddle. Seeing fellow players with their families is a bit like seeing them off-skate, only more so. One player's son likes to play with derby wheels. Another player can make balloon hats, much to the delight of all of the children and many of the adults. A league is a kind of sweaty, cobbled-together family and events like this remind us that derby leagues are really composed of several families, loaning us their sisters, moms and sons for a few practices a week.

Of course, having children isn't the only defining feature of a family. The league itself is proof of that. I suppose that's why I think social and community-oriented events are so necessary for the health of a league. The kind of bonding derby offers is sudden and intense. It's remarkable how crashing into someone can make you feel like you know them. And you do, in a way. But getting the chance to talk to your fellow players, to meet their friends and partners, to see them out of their knee socks makes the difference between, say, knowing Cthulhu Lemon on the track and knowing Meghan for the rest of the week off-skate.

There are a lot of powerful, hurtful stereotypes about friendships between women. We're often told by entertainment and media advertising told that female friendship is rooted solely in buying shoes together, or in mutual body insecurity or that female friendships whither in the face of the urge to pursue heterosexual bliss. Making friends with other women can be tough. A lot of players I've known have said some variation on, “I've never had many female friends.” When so many of these kinds of women get together, we get surprised by how much we often end up liking each other, even though we're not in a yogurt commercial.

Some players only come to roller derby for the exercise and the physical thrill of playing a fast-paced game. But the majority, I think, end up staying for the family. And the barbecue.

Sweet Roller Derby Charity

We play sports because we want to sweat and (just maybe) excel, but we play team sports especially because we want to be part of something bigger than we are. Derby provides this on and off the track, but one of the greatest things about a league community is the charity efforts it supports. It's hard to find a league or team that doesn't support local causes in one way or another. It's no surprise one of derby's common mottoes is "Give Blood. Support Roller Derby". We're charity-minded girls, after all.

One of the ways derby distinguishes itself is the commitment to community projects. We do our best to get local brewers to sponsor us and sell their product at bouts. We run bottle drives. As we discussed last week, we donate spare gear to the league. Derby players give and not just bruises, either.

Supporting good causes does more than get our league's name and reputation out there (though it definitely does that well). It helps us cohere as a derby family. It elevates the sport we love to being something truly worthy as well as something worth-while. It shows the communities we skate in that the local derby league is a place to both hit hard and make change. It shows that derby can make the world a better place. With fishnets.

This August 28th, my league is continuing its tradition of the annual Skate-A-Thon. Every year we collect pledges with money going to both the league and a selected charity. Then we skate our bums off in Springbank Park near the Thames River and ideally, no-one gives their skates a dunk in the water. This year, we're supporting YMCA Strong Kids, a foundation that helps support children and families that can't ordinarily afford the costs of YMCA programs. In short, we're team-members helping kids get the chance to play, to make teams of their own. In the past LOCO has supported other organizations like the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Sexual Assault Centre of London. That's a league tradition to which we're still committed and I hope that commitment to community-building and good causes that derby never loses.

Did I mention you can sponsor me to skate? Ping me on Twitter if you'd like to donate!

On a side-note: new blog design (photo editing credit Matt Schneider) AND Roller Derby World Cup tickets! In celebration, I leave you with last year's Skate-A-Thon poster with an adorable skating hot dog.

LOCO and FUCO: Never the twain shall meet?

At a bar with a bunch of friends last night, I briefly bumped into a skater from our local full-contact league. I mentioned that we'd met before and named a few skaters from  my league that had been there. "Oh, yeah. They do rec," she said, perhaps a little bit dismissively. Or maybe I only heard it that way.

I'd like to say first that I really like the skaters of FCDG. They do full-contact, kick-ass derby. They're smart. They're hot. I'm planning on celebrating my birthday by taking a crowd out to one of their games, because they usually bout in early October. The following is in no way a critique of FCDG or full-contact derby, because I like both of those things.

I play recreational roller derby. I play low-contact roller derby. And I play it with strong, committed women who are in LOCO because they love the sport. Some of them are moms who prefer to have a lower risk of injury because it's hard to chase after a toddler when you're on crutches. Some don't have the time to commit to the practice requirements that full-contact has for very good reasons. Some are still learning to skate and want to do so in a low-contact environment. Some transition to full-contact leagues when time and intentions permit. Some are out for the athleticism and women-positive environment and beer and just want to scrimmage. Personally, I came to LOCO not knowing how to skate, not sure how I felt about contact, not sure how much time I would be able to commit as a grad student. And, some ten months later, I love LOCO.

I love the women. I love the dudes. I love learning in a supportive environment and knowing these folk are my league-mates first and my team-mates or opposing team members second (except perhaps on the day of the actual bout, but fine). I love LOCO because I love derby.

And that's it, really. Whether you play full-contact, competitive derby or low-contact, recreational derby, you play because you love the sport. There's absolutely no reason for full-contact and low-contact leagues to not get along, to not put asses in seats on each others' bout days, to not support each other because the sport depends on strong leagues and on strong players, not on silly divisiveness.

The question seems to be whether low-contact leagues exist somehow to the detriment of full-contact leagues. Do we steal potential players? Hell no. If a player wants full-contact, she will skate towards it with a happy hip check at the ready. Do we dilute the sport? No, we spread it. We make it even more accessible, we swell the ranks of derby volunteers and players, who in my experience are as jazzed to volunteer at a LOCO game as they are to offer their services up to, say, the fabulous Rollergettes in Toronto. Is low-contact not "real" derby? Purism doesn't help the sport, because otherwise, the following starts happening: flat-track is not "real" derby" because "real" derby is on a banked track. The sport re-started in Texas in 2001 is not "real" derby because "real" derby is the co-ed endurance skating sport started in 1935. This kind of thinking is reductive and it hurts the sport and the people who play it.

Yet despite our best intentions, an awkwardness sometimes remains. Perhaps because derby sometimes feels like an outsider sport, we're leery of other derby players who don't skate with us, who don't pay dues to our league, who we haven't seen in their (or our) skivvies. I do think the split between full-contact players and low-contact players stems from things that aren't really about the health of the sport. And we're better than that - the success of roller derby as a fun, popular sport needs us to be better than that, on all sides.