My first public roller derby bout

The Lead Up - The Reasons - The Logic

When you start out in Roller Derby, your main aim is to get through your minimum skills so that you can actually play. When you finally get to the stage where you can skate in a public bout it's both exciting and nerve-wracking. I think it's quite rare for people to pass their min skills and go straight into a public game with your team, although it does happen. Usually there are some scrims and/or closed door bouts somewhere in between.



For me, playing with my team was a big deal and I didn't want to let them down or embarrass myself in front of the team's spectators. For this reason, I decided to try to get some practice in and play in a mixed "cherry-popper" game. Of course, my logical brain knows that I wouldn't "embarrass" anybody, but being shy of spectating eyes, and also shy about skating with the more experienced team members, I felt that I wanted to be in a place that no one knew me and skate with people who were not only of a similar level, but who also didn't know me.

Best Jammer  - Rookie Bout 2013

I was tagged on a Facebook post that was advertising a mixed bout for new skaters who had less than 3 games under their belt. I hesitated but then went for it. I was nervous of course, but strangely not as nervous as I would have been with my own team.

Quickly jumping backwards a bit, I came into this sport as a very confident skater. I knew nothing much about roller derby, but I loved being on skates, so I took to the minimum skills quickly and raced through them initially. A break for my wedding and honeymoon put me behind quite a bit but I was still going for it! I even got best jammer in our rookie bout!

I really thought that I was going to go far quickly and I was prepared to work for it too!

Then I got a bit injured. It wasn't anything that serious. It was no one's fault and I could have avoided it, but it made me realise how light I was and how far I could get thrown when hit. The closer I got to passing my last few skills, the less confident I felt. In fact, the skates that I was wearing have not been worn since. It's all in my mind, but sometimes that's just how things go.

Then when I had passed and started being able to scrim and take part in closed door games, my confidence was very low and I just felt like I couldn't get "derby gameplay" into my head. I felt confused on track and also, as I have always been, I was very shy to be heard on track. I was a very quiet member of the team. But I'll talk more about that another time, and it may help some other people who are going through their min skills.

Anyway... Back to where I was. So I was all signed up and ready for this "cherry popper". I was in team Daffokils and to be playing in a game named "The Bad Seeds Of Spring". It was quite exciting. I didn't have to be anything other than myself, because no one knew me.

Silly as it may sound, my main worry was not hearing my name during the skate out, but I managed to just about hear it and do a little wave.

As I had expected, my nerves vanished shortly after the first whistle.

I jammed once and got lead. What a buzz!! Who knows how many points were scored. It didn't matter. I survived the jam. That's what matters. I got out there and did it!

For the rest of the game I was blocking. Something I normally struggle with and feel that I have to improve on. Somehow in that game though, I blocked well. I also used my voice! This was great!!

I wouldn't be Rockabilly Ray though if I didn't come out of that game with some sort of injury. My newly healed toe got stamped on hard! Over a year later and it's still not healed. I have a habit of kicking the floor when I'm playing derby, so I can't blame anyone for that.

Overall it was a great experience. I didn't get any awards, but that's not what matters. In fact, I think it's better that I didn't. I need to have something to work towards, and since that first rookie game in 2013, I haven't received any awards in games (apart from Best Super Trooper in a game where I was getting beasted but kept going).

So why am I writing this? Well now that I'm newly a rookie coach myself, I wanted to share some of my own experiences in the hope that it will help the next line of min skills passed skaters.

You might find that you take to this sport like a pro, but if something then doesn't go as you hope, it's not the end of the world. Everyone is learning! Every session we are learning new things.

You might feel nervous about skating with your team. I strongly believe now that my days as a rookie was my comfort blanket and the more I got involved with the main team, the more I realised that this sport is actually quite hard at times. You need to realise that so that you don't get a shock and you can start to push yourself earlier to learn and make progress.

Also, I'm noticing that a lot of new skaters are thinking that they are not doing well or not being quick enough to pick things up, even if they have only been to a few sessions. If that's you, you have to stop that. Would you go to a new job and after 2 days think that you don't know enough about the role? No. You know that you need a few weeks to become part of the team and learn what it's all about. In derby weeks, that's probably more like months, because you are only there for a few hours, maybe twice a week.

Another thing to remember is that some people have been skating a long time but some have never skated before joining the team. I have been skating since I was about 8. So I had just over 20 years to get comfortable on 8 wheels. Most of the people I know from roller derby have only been skating a couple of years.

So stop being hard on yourself at such an early stage. Enjoy learning new skills. Ask questions. Be there as much as you can, but don't apologise if you can't make it to a session. Then, once you have passed your minimum skills, get out there and take part in as many mixed scrims and beginner bouts as you can, because aside from learning how your team does it, you need to learn how YOU do it! Skating with other people helps you to discover what you are capable of.

Skating in that cherry popper bout showed me that I can use my voice on track and that I am capable of doing this thing they call Roller Derby!

I am my own biggest critic. A lot of people tell me I am too hard on myself. I have my personal aims now, and am working towards them. Every training session now, since very recently, I give myself silent aims and it has really helped. I think that can be done whatever level you are at.

Overall the best advice I can give is to work hard at what you want to achieve but enjoy it along the way!

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