"go, go, roller girl, look at that girl roll..."

"Roller Derby? WTF?"--everybody I know.

It's not a great story, honestly.  Sure, I saw Whip It, because I have a totally platonic girlcrush on both Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page.  It was a good movie, and I thought "that looks fun" and the thought left my mind shortly thereafter.

I'd been working out at a martial arts gym for several months and seeing great results, but two problems were brewing. The first was strictly personal- I was no longer feeling as challenged as I had been in the beginning because my body adapted to the workout.  My nephrologist had told me in no uncertain terms that I was NEVER going to be cleared for a sport in which the kidneys were a legal target and body padding was verboten, so the half-contact cardio class was as good as it was going to get for me.  Then one night at the weekly Trivia game I sometimes frequent, my roommate heard from another team that there was a Roller Derby team in town, and we did some Googling and sent some emails.  I called my doctor and we talked about it, and I checked it out and kinda fell in love with his blessing.  It turns out that this happened at the exact same time that there was High Drama developing in the World of Ninjas - nothing to do with my class specifically, but the gym I was at was having a major power struggle between the two owners, and both of them were stressing me out.  Roller Derby team membership is less expensive. It's roughly the same time investment. The Derby team appeared to have less drama.  It was an easy decision.

Let me say- I'm not a girl with a history of athleticism.  In school I was the girl who would go work in the library rather than go to P.E.  Also, I hadn't been on skates since before I had a license, probably.  I'm in better shape than I've ever been now, though, and I have a serious desire to be challenged physically and get more healthy.  This is great for that- I've yet to leave a practice not feeling a bit wobbly, and due to the fact that it is a competitive sport there is never going to be a sense of having gotten as good as you can get.  There's room for improvement... and the part of me that grew up in a trailer park LOVES the kitchy factor of trashy clothing and knocking girls around.  And finally- the ladies are amazing.  I wouldn't say I've gotten particularly close with them yet, but they're just nice people, and we all know what a sucker I am for nice people.  There's a social aspect- and when all of your nearest and dearest live at a distance, that's handy.  It's been awhile since I had buddies to hang out with locally outside of my roommate and a few other acquaintances.

So- that's it.  For me, right now, this is a sport and social group that makes good sense.  There was no magical lightbulb moment, but there have been many since I found it, and for each one of them, I'm grateful.

Title credit: "Roller Derby Saved my Soul" by Uncle Leon and the Alibis