Interview by CluckerPunch
CP: What’s your story? How did you end up getting connected with Sick Town?
SB: I had always been curious about derby. I saw a flyer for a bout at Burgerville and decided I wanted to see what it was about. I went and saw the bout and was immediately hooked. I remember thinking that it looks kinda fun and completely insane. That was in November of 2011. I started skating at the New Skater Day after that. I got all my gear in January of 2012.
CP: Do you have a favorite memory or favorite part of being involved with the league?
SB: It’s really exciting to have learned how to skate. I never learned as a kid. It always bugged me that other kids could skate and I couldn’t. I learned to rollerblade a little before I started derby but I could never skate on quads. Just learning how to skate was a huge accomplishment for me. It’s also a fun type of fitness. Skating is fun, roller derby is fun, AND it’s fitness. Fitness on an elliptical….it’s just not the same.
The challenge of always having something new to learn is what keeps me there. There is always something new. As soon as you get one thing figured out, there’s a new skill waiting. It’s great because if you don’t succeed it’s OK because eventually you will and there is always a new challenge waiting. I remember after I had been skating a while it felt SO good to be at the top of the beginner level and then I got to intermediate and was like… HOLY $#!%. It was intimidating and frustrating but that makes it feel that much better when you figure things out. I love the intensity and the challenge of it.
Unexpectedly, I also love the community with derby…I’ve never been on a team sport or in a team situation before but now being in such a diverse group of supportive women is so great. I remember, in particular, when I was a beginner we were doing a weaving pace-line. I was scared to death because I had never done it before and I was still not very confident on my skates. A bunch of the women in the line were cheering me on, telling me I could do it, and I did! I conquered my fear and I did it. That’s a big part of what the roller derby experience is for me.
CP: What’s your guilty pleasure? How do you indulge after a really great workout?
SB: I have always appreciated a hot shower, dry clothes, and a cozy bed. I’ve never appreciated dry clothes quite so much. Sometimes I’m also starving after practice that I eat something huge and then just go to bed I swear, showers and dry clothes were never so good before.
CP: Who’s most likely to come watch you skate? Who will be in the stands cheering you on when you bout?
SB: My husband will definitely be there. My proud mom would be there too if she was in the state. She’s in Arizona. She’s happy I’m having fun but she’s really very worried about it. She’s proud and thinks it’s great but there’s a strong undercurrent of mom worry there. My husband loves it and thinks it’s awesome.
CP: What do you do when you’re not skating?
SB: I love doing anything outside; I love to be by water. I like to find vintage sewing machines and fix them to make them work again. I do crafty stuff from time to time. I‘m also a huge science nerd. There was an article that came out recently talking about the microbes in derby girls. I had read some of the researchers’ articles before and I got really excited when I saw she was a derby girl. I study microbes in the ocean and she studies them in the air but it’s all super interesting. I get excited about microbes and any kind of nerdy science jokes. I also nerd out pretty hard over exceptionally pretty clouds…and rainbows too! I get ridiculously excited about both of those.
