Testing, 1,2,3...

I reckon if you could somehow bottle roller derby and sell it you could make a fortune. I was having a pretty shit week outside of derby and leading up until the moment I left the door to go to training I was constantly changing my mind on whether or not to go to training as my mind wasn't really in it. Before the night was over I was so glad I went to training. I think because I was so angry with external influences my mind wasn't consumed by lack of confidence like it usually is when I'm at derby training so the drills we went through weren't fazing me like they usually do. With visions of NRDL's Quirky and her last line of defence running through my head I was actually chasing down jammers to try and stop them SOMETHING I NEVER DO! One of them was Cherry, I had her lined up and was just about to lay a hit on her when she lost her balance and fell. I ended up tripping over her trailing leg. Either way I was chuffed that I even wanted to attempt to hit her and slightly disappointed that it didn't happen even though I more than likely would have just bounced off her :)

Our freshies were going through their test to move up to Corporal level one on Friday night. It's a real eye opener to see how far they've progressed in such a short amount of time. Some passed, some didn't which is what usually happens. I've experienced the crushing low of failing on my first attempt and the highest of high's when I passed the second time around, so I knew how both sets of skaters felt. I was so proud of the guys who didn't pass on Friday back on their skates at training on Sunday, I love the fight in them.
 
Another weekend, another trip up to Newy for a bout. It would probably be cheaper just moving up there ;) So it was Harbour Hellcats vs WSR's Boutlaws. One was the sworn enemies of the Smashleys and the other was the league I started off with before I switched over to HARD. I'm too much a NRDL fan so I went for the Hellcats but I couldn't bring myself to buy a Hellcats shirt so I wore my Dockyard Dames shirt, hey it's still NRDL related hehe. I won't lie I found it weird cheering on the Hellcats at first but then it dawned on me that there was so many ex-Smashleys in the side that I could call them the orange Smashleys so cheering them on was no problem after that! WSR was very physical right from the get go which I think both the Hellcats and supporters by surprise and allowed them to build a healthy lead. The Hellcats finally found some rhythm and started playing their game as they chipped away at the lead and they hit the lead for the first time just before half time. In the second half it was all Hellcats and they ran out deserved winners.

I met a couple of new people and caught up with some familar faces. One of people I met was Deathrow Doll. It's was the meeting of the Sylv's, she's Sylvie and I'm Sylvia :) My gosh she's so funny, I laughed a lot chatting to her. She was great to chat to, one thing I learnt was she'd be ace to come up against on the track, she wouldn't back down at all but you'd also have a lot of fun too. Here's an important date for your diaries - 17th November - Smashleys vs WSR's Boutlaws, get on it!!!

This Saturday night my HARDies will be bouting against the Blue Mountains league. I reckon it'll be a tightly fought contest. Funny thing is I'll be helping out with the commentating. My team mates got me to have a trial run at scrimmage last Sunday night and I didn't end up enjoying it as much as I thought I would. My problem is that sport gives me an outlet so I get to go crazy and scream a lot but with bout commentating it's different. I've got to make sure I don't swear and don't yell out instructions to skaters on the track. There's nothing wrong with commentating but when it comes to derby and me I don't want the bout experience to feel restrictive. I'll give it a crack on Saturday night and have as much fun as possible! After this Saturday I'll leave bout commentating in the capable hands of Big Kahuna and co :)

In my last post I mentioned the whole lack of confidence playing a part in stopping me from progressing. I don't want it to be a barrier anymore. I would really love to be able to learn the skills needed to progress up to scrimmage level by the end of this year. I have to learn to start trusting myself a bit more and not think that everytime I fall down I'm going to pick up another injury. Knock on wood I've had a pretty good injury free period lately. So while I should remain cautious and continue with strapping my knees and ankles perhaps it's time to stop being so paranoid.

I finally worked up the courage to ask NRDL if I could join in one of their training sessions and Danger said yes :D My reaction was 'OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO TRAIN WITH NEWY WOOHOO!!!!!!!...hang on a sec, ohh shit I'm going to be training with Newy' Excitement quickly turned to feeling overwhelmed. Everyone who reads this blog knows how much of a fan I am of those guys and how long I've wanted to train with them. The last thing I want is to feel like a shy, little kid and be in my shell the entire time I'm there because it's not like I'll get too many opportunities to do this. I really want to be able to push myself, learn as much as I can and have a shitload of fun along the way. Regardless of whether I get to do hitting practise with them or not I'll more than likely be grinning like an idiot the entire time I'm there :D