February 2014 Skater Of The Month

MAMA DE LOS MUERTOS
#328

Photo by Shannon Monasmith Photography

What does your name mean?
It means “Mother of the Dead”. Once I started the First Date program everyone started calling me “Mama” because I have two awesome babies and I tend to be encouraging to others. I wanted something a bit more menacing AND I’m in love with all things Dia de Los Muertos,  so MAMA de Los Muertos worked.

What position in Derby do you like to play?
I tend to talk … A LOT. ALL the time, and I am good at hitting people sometimes, so pivot and blocker are what I am more naturally inclined towards. But I want to learn to jam as well!

How long have you been skating?
I started in the fall. I was four months postpartum and didn’t know how to skate. I still have many areas of opportunity to build my skills but I’ve been working so hard and come so far from that point.

Do you have other hobbies or play other sports?
My calling in life is to be a mama and support other women. I am a birth doula, which means I support women through child birth with information, education, emotional and physical support.  It’s AMAZING! But besides cheerleading in high school, derby is my first team sport.

What are some of your goals for roller derby?
I want to have a healthy, strong, able body that allows me to enjoy an adventurous life with my family until the moment I die. In derby, I have found a true reason to push myself harder. First goal? Pass WFTDA. Then continue to show up, work hard, get up fast every time I fall, keep my mouth shut and my ears open to soak in every bit of wisdom around me and never accept “good enough” as good enough. I want to suck less every day. Oh, and LATERALS!

January 2014 Skater of the Month

TWIGGY BONES
#90lbs

What position in Derby do you like to play?
I’m pretty much a jammer, through and through, but I love to jam, assist too, and block. I like ALL the jobs!

How long have you been skating?
I started skating last year right around this time, so exactly a year.

Do you have other hobbies or play other sports?
My only other hobby is drawing and illustration. I don’t play any other sports, not really my thang.

What are some of your goals for roller derby?
My goal for this year is to get some more gameplay under my belt. I want to be more fearless as a jammer. And I want to master more moves so I have all kinds of tricks up my sleeve. I want to be totally unpredictable. And everything I’ve already learned I want to make cleaner and sharper. I want to also play smarter above all.

November 2013 Skater Of The Month

LIPSTICK VENDETTA
#31

What does your name mean?

I went through LISTS of possible names before I finally felt Lipstick VENDETTA was right for me. Lipstick for the girly side of me, and VENDETTA because when I started I thought I had something to prove to someone else. I ended up proving a lot to myself and realizing that it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. I am a lot stronger, more determined and more confident than I have ever been in my entire life.

What position in Derby do you like to play?

I don’t have a preferred position just yet, jamming is fun because you are being hunted and blocking is fun because you are the hunter. The masochist in me just likes being hit. To tell you the truth, my favorite thing right now is jumping, like full speed high jumps. I want to jump over everything.  There is a rush of uncertain death just before your feet take off. I. Freaking. Love. It.

What are some of your goals for roller derby?

My goal right now is to do my team right. I want to play smart, transition well, hit hard and be effective on the track.  I want to earn my place and make it count. When I first started, I remember overhearing some of the veteran skaters speak about the opposing team’s skaters and they were naming off the people “to watch out for.”  I’m determined to put in some major work because eventually I want to be someone that the other teams need to watch out for.  BOOM!

Skating has completely changed my attitude and my heart for the better. I am proud to be part of the San Fernando Valley Roller Derby League.  I am proud to bleed blue and green.

October 2013 Skater Of The Month

STOCKHOLM SYNDI
#1369

Stockholm Syndrome (noun) – The psychological tendency of a hostage to bond with, identify with or sympathize with his or her captor 
 

When I decided on a roller derby name, I initially chose it based on its uniqueness. It wasn’t until I started skating more and more with SFV that I truly embodied my roller derby name. In the 10 months I have been skating (in life, not just with SFV), I’ve fallen more and more in love with this sport everyday. After each practice, I come home with my clothes drenched in sweat, my skin covered in dark purple and green bruises, and my muscles achier than Billy Ray’s heart. As I lay on the floor in a semi-comatose, I can’t help but get excited for the next practice.

I’ve progressed so much since my first date in December 2012 and I want to keep progressing for as long as I am able. I never want to perfect any of my skills. I want to always get better, stronger and faster. No matter how many times I fall or get knocked down, I will always get back up for more.

My name is Stockholm Syndi and I skate SFV.

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!

September 2013 Skater of the Month

Photo by ConJobb Photos

DOVAHKILL
#1111

I started my derby adventure last year in December. It has been so amazing learning to play this epic sport and to meet all these wonderful people. There is so much more to roller derby than I realized. Like picking a derby name. I didn’t think it would be so difficult, but it’s so important because it becomes who you are. I had a list of names but I narrowed it down to Dovahkill! It is a reference to a video game called Skyrim. Dovahkiin means Dragonborn and dragons are awesome! I’m so happy that I have SFV Roller Derby! I have met so many different, interesting, talented, and hilarious people here. They make me a better person! It’s so wonderful having such a huge family instantly! I can’t wait to get on the track and hip check another derby family with them!

August 2013 Skater Of The Month

REBELLIOUS MOOSE
#64″

Photo by ConJobb Photos

It’s Friday night again and that can only mean one thing — Roller Derby practice.

The clock strikes 8 and we’re called onto the track. The first whistle is blown. SPRINT!

I move my feet and try to keep myself focused. You can do this … Cross over … Don’t stop moving your feet … Hustle … Pass someone … Move your goddamn feet!

My feet move too quick that they tangle together. Then I stumble to the ground. It’s okay, I convince myself. Just get up quick. No one is looking. It’s just you. You got this! It’s just you on the track, Moose. You got this!

My name is Moose. Rebellious Moose. I’m a believer of rebelling against oppressive societies and have been given the name “Moose” since I was about 13 years old. “Moose” followed me throughout middle school, high school, and even my adulthood life. It’s simply a nickname that I have grown to love.

Since I first began skating in July of 2012, I feel I have finally begun to comprehend how to use my hitting skills during scrimmages and actually follow through. Even though I am still unsure as to where my preferred position is on the track -- jammer, blocker, or pivot -- every practice helps me get through life.

And when I’m not skating, I am writing, designing flyers, making jewelry, sewing, screen printing, knitting, crocheting, painting -- basically doing anything artsy or crafty.

My main goal for roller derby is to someday play like the SFVRD Juniors because just like my other hobbies, I skate to escape. And if I ever skate like they do, my mind would simply escape to a better world.

July 2013 Skater of the Month

SAGE FRIGHT
#810

What does your name mean?
I felt like Sage Fright suited me a lot not only because my name is Sage, I really liked it because I do get really bad stage fright, test anxiety, social anxiety… you name it, put me in front of an audience of any kind and I’m kind of guaranteed to be at least a little freaked out, whether I show it or not. Why it’s meaningful to me as a derby name has a lot more to do with how derby and the league have helped me work through these issues. Previous to starting derby I could barely bring myself to speak up in a classroom without spending a good portion of the rest of the day horrified, shaking, and rethinking the situation too many different ways. I really want to become a teacher someday so it’s kind of a scary thing for me that this might continue. After I started derby, this changed, not immediately, but while working with the league and building the confidence to express myself I have been able to approach tons of situations I had difficulties with before with confidence. It still amazes me what I can do now, the things I am able to pursue thanks to derby.

What position in derby do you like to play?
I like jamming quite a bit because it always makes me feel like I should be trying harder. For me I love challenging myself to do more and get better. I’m not a terribly confident person so I admit sometimes I don’t really think it’s possible but I don’t want to stop trying even if it’s impossible. I want to work harder on blocking too because I don’t like feeling limited.

What are some of your goals for roller derby?
My goal with derby is to go as far as I can, I don’t know how good I can get at it with my current abilities and I want to keep going until I find out.