#derbydude

This is my 'What do you mean there's no Derby practice next week' look. Still I have 2 weeks off work, birthday celebrations and a little holiday to go on, so that should keep me busy 😜 #fullmetalrd #rollerderby #derbyfashion #rollerderbylife #derbydude #derbywithdrawals

Very happy with my new Scrim tops. The material is of really great quality and the fit is just perfect. Thank you @extremeappareluk1 #rollerderby #rollerderbylife #derbydude #derbyfashion

Week 12 Freshmeat - Blog Entry So last night marked the end of our 12 week Freshmeat course, It was also the hottest day of the year so far but the gymnasium was fortunately not as hot as expected. For me week 12 brought with it a mixture of emotions, whenever something comes to an end it can be sad, and I also knew it would bring with it the dreaded minimum skills!!! All session we lined up or hit the track to demonstrate the skills that we had learnt over the weeks before. And as each skill was called out we showed what we could or couldn't quite do. Much of it seems like a blur to me today, and it looked like us freshies were able to tick off a lot of skills. Side stepping, transitions, weaving, falls, knee falls, the list went on and on each block of skills punctuated by a lot of panting from me and gulps of water. Although our 12 week Freshmeat course has come to an end this journey doesn't end, we have the remainder of our minimum skills to complete and we have to actually learn how to play the game!!! These last 12 weeks have been tough for me, I have been challenged and in turn challenged myself more than what I have in the last decade. But this has been one of the best activities with the best group of people I could have hoped for. For now though until next week, I will just nurse my aching muscles. #rollerderby #rollerskating #rollerderbylife #minimumskills #freshmeat #derbydude #rollerderbypractice #fmrd (at Stevenage Arts and Leisure Centre)

Derby names "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other would smell as sweet." Who has them? Why do they have them? What do they mean? So many questions, so many answers. When we decided to start Roller Derby I wasn't aware of the focus placed on each players name, then as I started to get into it and learn more about the sport and the history I learnt that the names become part of the chase, part of the prize. So,"who has them?" Well everyone has one, some tough sounding others softer, but all of them have a connection to their owner even if only that the name sounds cool. The reason 'why they have them' is perhaps a throw back to when Roller Derby was more theatrical and sports entertainment that a full contact sport, this legacy has continued and now they are worn as a badge of honour, a part of your armour. Lastly 'what do they mean', this is perhaps the most important of all. Well they mean something different to each player, some are chosen and some are given, my newly adopted name "Wrecking Paul" is obviously a play on my name and a popular Miley Cyrus song. I didn't come up with it, but I seem to remember one of my skate coaches calling it out at me while we were practicing pacelines and whilst I was trying not to knock all the other freshmeat out like a wrecking ball..... (Unintentionally I might add). I love the names, they are fun and part of the process, they tell a story. They are a rebirth if you like, an evolution of us. Bipedal animal to bipedal badass gliding through on 8 wheels. For some they are a persona of confidence and an empowering choice. In a world where we have lots of choice but everyone seems to be a clone of the next person, the Derby Name is your own. And either you own it, or it owns you. #rollerderby #rollerderbylife #derbydude #rollerskates #derbynames #prism

The rise and fall... With each freshmeat session we are learning new skills and consolidating others, but one thing that remains constant is that every session brings success and failure, victory and defeat, rise and fall. Each of my fellow freshies is going through the same frustrations, some have prior skating ability other have very little. I fall into this second group. In my own mind I believed that my ability to skate was as good as my ability to stop, not so. In the first few weeks I really struggled with getting my head around these basics. Rapidly I was beginning to understand that this was not just going to be a physical challenge but very much a mental one. It's physically tough yes, but mentally tougher, you are stood on two unstable objects (your skates) this in turn increases your height by 2 inches, and to add to all of this you are asking your whole body to move into different positions that they may never have done. You ask your body to trust that it will all be ok. Then THUD!!!!!!!!!!! We all fall, but that first hard fall, the kind that shocks you, well that fall knocks your confidence and that's when the mental battle begins. With every week it gets a bit easier, I'm now in week 10 of freshmeat and some things have gotten easier, but some things (crossovers) still elude me. I will conquer this and my mind will bend to my will, it will just take time, until then I'll continue with the rise and fall. #rollout #rollerskates #rollerderby #rollerderby #rollerskating #derbydude #prism #riseandfall #wakeupkickassrepeat

This was a new skill that was going to take time to master and days after that session I had decided that I was exactly what I was going to do, master the hell out of it.

Now the weather has finally decided that it's definitely not winter, I can get out more and skate.