The Skully Award, March 2014

Photo by ConJobb Photos

Dorothie Dangerous

I am thankful and grateful for this recognition. My name is Dorothie Dangerous and I go by Danger. I started SFVRD’s Fresh Date program in September 2013. I was getting discouraged in regards to my skating ability and I wanted to stay involved with the league, so I joined the Ref-Necks crew. Being a Non-Skating Official is such a treasure. My knowledge of roller derby strategy, rules, and overall understanding has greatly improved due to being a NSO. I welcome all to learn the NSO ways! ALL THE HUGS SHALL BE HAD!

The Skully Award, September 2013

Chronic

As a skinny little tomboy, I grew up skating on metal roller skates that attached to my shoes with a key. Hurtling myself down the steep hill in front of my house, there was no stopping. You either negotiated the corner at the bottom and slowed in the straight-away, or you were pitched into the street. In Derby, the stop was the hardest thing for me to learn. Once I started to scrimmage, I volunteered to be an official, cause I needed to know more about the game. Never the popular girl, imagine my surprise to find myself accepted and embraced by this totally cool ass group of Refs and NSOs who work for SFVRD. Today, I am overly fond of them all and thank them all for their friendship and sick sense of humor. I do want to give a special shout out to a few of the women: Glitch, Ruby, Psycho, Sharkey, Hardnlow, Penguin, Hollywood, Roswell and Mini, because they broke the mold. If you haven’t worked with the Ref Necks…what the hell are you waiting for? You need to learn more about the game! Also, I’m gonna take this space to say, I’ve decided to begin training as a Skating Ref with this talented crew. So, watch out ya’ll!

The Skully Award, April 2013

JEAN HARDnLOW

Shortly after starting trying to be a skater I was injured. And upon hearing that my injury was a little more serious than originally anticipated I knew I had to find another way to stick with Derby. Because, really, who could give it up?

I opted to become part of the Ref-Necks. And was literally welcomed with open arms. At first I was just doing behind the scenes stuff like putting my other skills to work to help make a recruiting flyer. Then I was kinda just thrown into the game. The only other time I tried to NSO was when I was still on crutches and was told that I should probably rest instead. So, on the first night of scrimmaging before my first game where I was supposed to be just an alternate, I made myself useful and learned what seemed like a very complicated new system for filling in info on a form that is supposed to be done by the Penalty Box Manager. The next day, at the game, that is what I had become, Penalty Box Manager. (Funnily enough, It wasn’t until about a month later that we found out from another Derby NSO veteran that the form was OPTIONAL.)

Ever since then that is where I have been, in the Penalty box. Even though I am not there in the capacity I thought I would be when I first joined the Derby community I feel like I have found my place in this crazy world of Roller Derby. And now after only being at it for a short amount of time I am already teaching other people what to do there. I love it!