FEBRUARY 4: SARD CHARMED FORCES VS. CCD SUCIAS

FEBRUARY 4: SARD CHARMED FORCES VS. CCD SUCIAS

On February 5, 2011 I was one of 30 or so girls to show up for the first day of Crossroads City Derby fresh meat boot camp.  364 days later I took the track for my first bout as a Sucia.  A year ago I could not imagine that I would be a member of CCD’s travel team; I was just happy to skate.  I put on my first pair of roller skates when I was 4 years old.  I spent hours skating up & down my street, and circling my best friend’s neighborhood.  I would tear across my patio with a baseball bat and a tennis ball playing “hockey.” I celebrated my 10th, 11th, and 12th birthdays at Tommy’s Roller Rink.  I love to skate. I always have, and I hope I always will.  I didn’t really know what I was getting into that day at boot camp, but I figured if skating was involved then I definitely wanted in.  Fast forward 10 or so weeks and I was drafted to a home team and knew I had found my new passion.  After participating in 2 home team bouts and observing 4 Sucia bouts I was hooked, and the first week of this year I was invited to try out for the Sucias.  I didn’t know how I would fit in or if I could keep up, but hey, I’d never know if I didn’t try.

On June 12, 2011 I was a non-skating official as the Sucias took on the San Antonio Roller Derby Charmed Forces. Almost 8 months later I was on the track wearing a red and yellow Sucias jersey for the rematch. In the hours leading up to the bout everyone kept asking me, “Are you nervous? Excited?” I was, but mostly I felt calm. I wasn’t pressuring myself to be a badass. I’d only been to 4 Sucia practices, and I was very aware of my own ignorance. However, instead of focusing on what I didn’t know I chose to focus on the basic things that I did: stay low, keep my eyes moving, don’t settle my feet, find my teammates, and always watch for the opposing jammer. I also trusted that my teammates knew what they were doing and I could follow their lead. They simplified things by giving me a single task to focus on during each jam:

• Barbie Bombshell (while scrumming at the jammer line) looked me straight in the eye and bluntly stated “As soon as the 2nd whistle blows I’m going to shove you into the jammer so be ready!”
• General Grant Slam  “go block for Venom”
• Hearno Evil  “get up front & hold the 3 wall”
• Charity Bomb “hold the #?*@ line!!!”
• Rex Bx “get a goat!”

In the end CCD came out on top 167-88. While it’s always nice to win, the score didn’t represent how effectively we worked together as a team and applied the skills and strategies we’d been practicing. We recycled, we utilized the truck & trailer technique, we crowded the jam line, and, most importantly, we had a good time doing all of it! We also had an energetic crowd, they cheered each time we scored a grand slam and gasped at the big hits (I was particularly aware of the latter when San Antonio’s #316 knocked me halfway across the track). It’s truly an amazing feeling when the bout is over, you’ve played well, and the appreciative crowd surrounds the track to hi-five your entire team as you take a victory lap. It’s flattering when an 8 year old boy walks up to you, tells you you’re awesome, fist bumps you, and asks for your autograph. But at the end of the night the best part is recapturing that feeling of joy I had as a little girl who wanted nothing more than just to skate. Thank you CCD for allowing my inner child to come out and play!

-Nikki Six-Shooter  #colt 45