By Wild Violet Early on in my Roller Derby journey, one of my trainers introduced me to the power of using the word “yet” when I came up against a skill or drill I could not do. “I can’t do a stutter stop!” “You can’t do a stutter stop YET.” Adding that one word to… Read More
Confessions of a (Nearly) 50 Year-Old Derby Girl: Hard Skating? Just Skate Hard
Learning to skate as an adult seems a lot harder than when I first put skates on about a hundred years ago. For one thing, my bones and muscles and joints don’t have that wonderful rubber band quality any more. Also, my skull has a lot farther to go when I transition rapidly from… Read More
Confessions of a (Nearly) 50 Year Old Derby Girl: Fitting In
I had a nice chat with Bull this week. We talked about some of the things that intimidate new skaters. One thing in particular that she touched on had been on my mind for a while so, after hearing Bull’s perspective, I wanted to air it out with you all. I haven’t spent much time… Read More
“Ode to a Bruise”
“Ode To a Bruise” By Wild Violet I arrived and walked through the door of the Armory for the practice du jour. As a newbie skater my skills would come later after many falls to the floor. I lined up as my legs did shake, my insides seeming to quake, to practice a drill hoping… Read More
Monday Motivation- Make that Habit!
By Photo Bomber I need a lot of motivation to work out. Like a TON! My status quo is lying bed reading a book or scrolling through Facebook. I can seriously spend the entire weekend doing this. But that’s no good for roller derby. When I got going in derby, at first I… Read More
Mutha and Me
For Mother’s Day, we reached out to our resident roller skating mother-daughter duo Daisy Cutter and Mother Cutter for some insight on what it’s like to do derby together. Happy Mother’s Day! Daisy Cutter: I joined AFA 1 year ago for many of my own reasons. Before I knew it, I started getting more… Read More
Then and Now
By Sparks & Wreck As my league moves into a recruitment cycle and the one year anniversary of my Freshie class rolls around, there are a lot of “then and now” pictures flying around on my Facebook timeline, including my own. All of the pictures are success stories in one way or another–they show… Read More
Monday Motivation: Don’t Let the “What Ifs” Hold You Back
By Snack Attack I’ll always look back and remember when I was a young girl, having birthday parties at Motion 26 or going to the Rollodrome. The ‘Drome was the place to be, especially on Friday nights. Some of my best memories were made there. The Rollodrome was the first place I was… Read More
Confessions of a (Nearly) 50 Year Old Derby Girl: Derby Love
One of the amazing things about derby is the opportunity it gives to women to participate in a team sport as an adult, a woman with responsibilities and obligations. I have tried to think of another sport that has as much to offer women as roller derby does and I honestly cannot. I look at… Read More
Monday Motivation-Avoid the Bench Trap!
By Wild Violet When I joined the Androscoggin Fallen Angels back in spring of 2016 I had no skating experience or athletic prowess to speak of. Sure, I do yoga once in a while and I am pretty flexible. But most of my time was spent sitting on my rump, making art or reading… Read More