October 2018 Skater of the Month

Bellatrix Black (Trix) #20

I chose my derby name because I love Harry Potter, and my favorite character is Bellatrix! She’s really strong and scary and that’s who I want to be when I’m on the track! Sometimes I like to jam, but I’ll usually play any position. And my derby goal is to make it on the travel team.
Dovah, Iceboxx, Moose, Quake, & Gunner are the skaters I find most inspirational. Not only are they awesome players, but they have taught me a lot. And I just love watching them play. My favorite derby memory is my first date! I was very happy about joining and that was the first day I learned how to skate, so every time I’m feeling down about my skating, I think back to that day and remind myself that I came a long way!

August 2018 Skater of the Month

Chelsea Dragher #666

 

My derby name comes from a song called Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis that I am completely obsessed with. The song is named after the lead singers wife who used the name as her burlesque stage name. Turns out it is a play on the name Brittney Spears, get it, basic white girl name, sharp object? It’s an upbeat sunflowery happy song and I suggest you all listen to it and try to not get excited! I play all positions in roller derby! In my derby career thus far, I have always tried to be as versatile as humanly possible. I feel that the more flexible you are, the better off you will be in life and in derby! Although, I’m not going to lie, I’m kind of in love with jamming! Currently my short-term goal is to build up my stamina to get onto the Fer Sures, but long term is to get onto the Like OMGs. Every single person that I have come across on this team inspires me every single day. Whether it be the girls at freshie practice who relentlessly get up each time they fall, pushing themselves harder each practice, or drooling over all of the OMGs and their amazing skating skills and extremely positive and welcoming attitude. Two specific people that come to mind when thinking about who inspires me the most on the track is Dovahkill and AmericanHurL Doll.   They are both fantastic skaters and I literally have to pick my jaw up off of the floor when I see them skate. They constantly inspire me to improve on my own skating skills so that I can get up to their level can kick my ass! My favorite derby memory is playing alongside and against my fresh meat family. I don’t think that I have ever had that much fun on the track with so many amazing people! It makes me tear up when I think about how flipping lucky I am to be surrounded by such an amazing group of people and I cannot wait for all of us to further our derby careers together!

April 2018 Skater of the Month

TRAUMA MIA! #338

Chuck Gay Photography

Tell us about your name.

It took me so long to come up with a derby name! Something fierce enough with a catchy nick name. I landed on TraumaMia for a number or reasons. 

  1) Heck yeah, musicals & Abba 

  2) My family is Italian so seemed like a fun nod to that. 

  3) And this may be a stretch...but when I was a teen I was diagnosed with a blood disorder that prevented me from playing any sports or activities with wheels for fear of head or internal "trauma" ;) This was one of my biggest motivations for playing Roller Derby in the first place. When my symptoms began to subside in the past couple years I realized I really just wanted to do something reckless and bad ass for all the times I was told I couldn't! Guess it's all that leftover teen angst!

What position do you play? What are your derby goals?

I've primarily been a Jammer so far which has been super fun! I seriously never would have expected myself to be a jammer or to like jamming, but there's just something about it! The intensity of the feeling of victory when you get it right, and the crushing defeat when you get stuck (Lol). 

I really want to work on my agility/speed, footwork, and strategy! Jamming seems to be one of those things where you just have to try it until it works, so my goal is just to practice as much as possible until it feels right! Overall, I want to keep pushing myself to attend advanced practices, as I've really noticed the difference it makes when you practice above your level. I'm excited to eventually play in my first away game with an SFV travel team. 

Who/what inspires you on the track?

Jammers like Pan and SkullE because of their great attitude and how they make it all look SO EASY and graceful!

Blockers like Cookie, Dovah, Stockholm, Moose, and Havana (and there's so many more amazing ladies!) because they've always been super encouraging and thoughtful in how they train others...yet have probably kicked my ass more than once. :)

What is your favorite derby memory?

My favorite memory so far might have to be that first Fer Sure's game against Rebeltown last month. Not only was it my first travel team game, but it was my first ever win!! I was so nervous and didn't know what to expect from another league, but think I ended up doing much better than I expected.