Our dedicated wReckers even practice at home!
by Margaret Bruns
Member of wReck Derby
Ithaca League of Women Rollers
Things I Love about Wreck Derby:
-the moment Velma Vex asked for volunteers to jam in our first mini scrimmage and my hand shot up so fast that I almost fell over
-having a piece of teal green duct tape stuck to my head instead of a helmet panty
-in blocking drills, learning how to sit on girls like they were chairs
-the very first time I felt that it was actually MORE comfortable to skate in derby position (knees bent, feet shoulder width apart, body zig-zagged like a bolt of lightning) than it was to skate standing straight up
-seeing the little girls leaving Cass Park pool and watching us all with big wide eyes of admiration
-seeing a perfect outline of my butt in sweat left on the concrete surface of the rink after getting up from stretching
-falling on purpose, and feeling my body having control over the fall instead of having the fall happen to me
-skating around the track in a pack, learning how to move around and fill in holes like some kind of great, big, sweaty derby molecule
-the tired, heavy feeling my legs get after every practice…going home and feeling my muscles twitch the second I get myself into a hot shower or a bed
-reflexively doing the things I’ve seen my derby heroes do, like getting back onto the track behind the skater who pushed me out, and realizing that I am Learning A Sport
-remembering how I skated 7 months ago when I was first learning how to skate, feeling like I would never get the hang of it, feeling like I would never skate fast, feeling like I would always be two seconds away from an epic wipe-out on the floor…and then realizing how different it all feels now
Things You Will Love About Wreck Derby:
-all of the above, plus:
-you will feel stronger than you have ever felt
-you will feel sweatier, smellier, more tired, and sometimes, more frustrated than you have ever felt before in your life, and you barely even notice because you are having so much fun
-weaving in and out of a line of skaters will take you back to all the things you wish you could have gotten away with in roller skating rinks when you were little
-ditto running people out of bounds with your butt
-the water you drink during water breaks will taste better than normal water, somehow
-learning that falling is not the worst thing that can happen to you, and that great and well-executed falls get applauded and encouraged just as loudly as great and well-executed blocks
-hearing your name called out as your fellow Wreckers and coaches cheer you on as you skate out in front of the pack
-that it doesn’t matter if you haven’t been on skates since you were twelve, because there’s a woman right next to you who hasn’t been on skates since she was eleven
