Tag: team

General, Uncategorized

Buy-In Vitality and What it Means for Your League

What do I mean by ‘buy-in’?

According to the Wiktionary (yea I didn’t know that was a thing until just now):

buy–in (plural buy-ins)

  1. Support; agreement; blessing (in a secular sense).
    To win, I need to get buy-in from the team to have alignment with our mission.

    Let’s show the idea around and get buy-in from marketing.
    Synonyms: alignment, approval

You know how there are teams and groups where people are willing to go the extra mile, even without threat of punishment? Have you ever seen a rec sport team or a school group where people are putting out information to the public without being asked? Where members are talking up the team in their local coffee shop or favorite dining spot? Where members get sponsors just because they were at their favorite spot and talked to the owner about how great the team is and the owner asked about sponsorship?

You know that feeling when everyone is in for the same goals, everyone feels valued, and they all believe in the mission of the team?

12183698_10156189276840494_7947622716460629980_o.jpg

That’s buy-in.

Why should we value the buy-in of our members?

The more a person buys into a team, the more likely they are to perform league duties without being begged, they are more likely to train hard, and are more likely to have a positive attitude at practice. I am speaking of skaters, coaches, announcers, officials, EMTs, and every other piece of the derby pie. We all matter, and we all make the derby machine run. When we feel valued, we are motivated to work harder on and off the track. When your membership works off track the result is:

  • Increased membership & volunteers
  • Increased in transfers
  • Increased membership & volunteer RETENTION
  • Increased sponsorship opportunities
  • Increased attendance at games

“I’m happy at practice, and I want to tell everyone, so I do! SQUEE!” When we value our people, and they work harder on the track, the result will be:

  • More effective practice sessions, thus an improvement in game play
  • More effective official training, bringing up the level of all who participate
  • More realistic scrimmage/game situations, with a more complete production element (when you have full officials and announcers show up to a scrimmage night, it is incredible)
  • Volunteers will travel outside of the league and bring back valuable information and experience to increase the quality of home scrimmages and games.
30729059_791970611012085_6629915056605757440_n
Buy-in for officials and announcers is critical too. Having people willing to spend money to travel outside of the league can bring valuable experience back home.

 

So how do we increase buy-in of our roller derby league, individual teams, and yearly tournament events?

Integrity

Do you have rules? By-laws? Stick to them. I don’t care who they are. If you want a special exception to be made, take it to a vote. “But that’s too hard!” It shouldn’t be, because you shouldn’t be breaking the rules to begin with. If you’re going to try to as leadership, you should have to do extra work. By-Laws should be reviewed regularly, and as situations come up within a league culture, the league or representatives of them can discuss actions and revisions. Nothing will destroy the buy-in of your membership like breaking the rules for certain people.

Integrity also needs to be in how we treat one another, on and off the track. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. If a league is going to do something, do it. That’s everything from donating money to the charity you’ve partnered with to being honest with skaters who are seeking feedback and a path to charter teams to following through on events and appearances with sponsors.

Let me say it a little clearer: Don’t lie to people. It’s not nice. People won’t trust you.

Transparency

Training, rosters, staffing changes, vision of the league, finances, and goals of the team are all things to be transparent about. If your charter team suddenly has new faces on it, while your B-team sits in the wings wondering where that person came from … chances are you have some things to come clean about. This goes for other volunteers too:

Let’s say you’re never staffing that announcer who’s actually pretty ok because you want to give your regulars more opportunities, but you never tell that announcer. You just let them keep signing up on the sheet. Maybe you don’t let the newer refs skate during home team games because you would rather bring in outside officials, but you never tell those home team refs what they need to do to improve. These are cases where you need to re-evaluate your communication and transparency about your goals. (‘You’ as in the grander ‘you’ of leadership).

In this sport, we all control our own destiny, we all get to decide what type of team and culture we give our beloved energy and hours for. We just want to know what’s going on. When skaters feel like secrets are being kept from them, resentment grows. Transparency and communication get easier as we practice it. Just like the sport.

Let me say it a little clearer: Don’t lie to people. It’s not nice. People won’t trust you.

Structure

There are plenty of studies that show that clutter raises anxiety. It should be no surprise that clutter and frazzle in an organization can have the same effect on its membership. Tryouts, charter changes, rosters, and training models all need to be structured. We crave structure. It keeps us informed, it gives us goals and focus. Structure allows us to be the best player and team possible!

Pain and Khaos
How do you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’re at right now? Photo by Down n Out Photography

Many leagues only have new skater tryouts during prescribed times of the year to keep the program focused and moving forward. Why not for your charter teams? Why not have quarterly skill checks that double as charter tryouts, but also to give feedback to your skaters so they all know what they should be working on? Some teams fear to change the charter because of seniority, having tryouts a few times a year can alleviate that pressure to not disappoint people. Overall, there needs to be some sort of path to the All-Stars, even if your team is not competitive. It gives people something to shoot for, and can up the commitment of skaters during practices and over the year. Remember that integrity thing I just talked about? Charters, feedback, and roads to higher levels of play are what we need the most honesty about.

Moving to the back-end, structure in your business is critical. If your league or team has shoddy leadership practices or business framework, then money is just going to fall through the cracks, and people are going to transfer as soon as they are brave enough. Lack of leadership or behind-the-scenes organization leads to last minute decisions, people getting left out of the loop, events being mishandled, and people being mistreated. We’ve all seen that league that might play derby well for a while, but their infrastructure is a hot mess and they are constantly turning over people.

Keep in mind: Just because you have structure, like by-laws, it doesn’t mean the work is done. Things need to be able to change over the years to accommodate the shifting trends of your league. I have seen many teams get stuck in the circle of “Well this is how we do it”. It’s fine that it’s how you do it, but is it the most efficient way to do it, or is that way to protect certain people/convenience/because you like it better? This means everything from charter team structure to board structure to captain expectations and behaviors.

Believance

Your people are awesome. Seriously. Even that one skater that is always nosing into people’s drama. Or the one that has severe anxiety and ends up doubting themselves by the end of most scrimmage practices. So is that one super bossy one that really is just covering up their insecurity. And the one that is really tiny that you think can’t be a successful jammer but really is. And the one who chatters when they’re nervous. And the one that always looks mad. And the one that is injured.

They’re all awesome.

DUTCHLAND FUN
No one is perfect, and that’s kind of awesome as it is! Embracing the fun, accepting each other, and believing in our friends is what can make this sport so amazing.

 

Guess what isn’t awesome? Telling people that they’re not good enough because they look mad. Or because talk to themselves. Or because don’t hang out at the pool with the team, but watch the derby instead. Or because they officiate. Or because talk a lot. Or because they’re trans. Or because they don’t fit the social norm. Or because they have a kid and can’t travel to outside tournaments to officiate.

Leadership has to put value and believance in all of their people. If you have a charter of 9 or a charter of 19, you have to value every person and build them up. Not just with words, with actions. Pumping them up at practice is necessary, but when it comes to game day, you need to keep up the high fives and positivity.

If you tell your jammer rotation that you DEFINITELY have faith in them, but then turn around and invite skaters from other teams to jam for you on game day – you are not showing that you have confidence. You have just undermined all your effort to build up the buy-in of your skaters because they were just benched for a ‘ringer’ from another team that didn’t practice with the squad all year. You have been shown that they are replaceable, and that a W on the scoreboard means more to leadership than their development and commitment.

If your team only does charter changes when an old friend comes back, while others continually struggle to get attention by the selection team, what motivation does anyone have to improve?

If leadership always gives feedback as, “Well you’re little so…” or “you’re big for a jammer so…” how is that going to make the skater feel valuable? They have just been told that their body is wrong, and so how can they think that leadership believes in them?

If you tell your announcer that they are great, and experienced and valuable, but then never staff them for home games, how long do you think that announcer will stick around?

Now I ask you:

Would you want to brag to your local coffeeshop about your team after these experiences?

Believe in your people and their abilities and you’ll never force someone to question whether they should pass out those flyers or tell their friends to transfer.

1495482_10153688619295494_1800941725_n
Flyering groups would go out after Saturday practices in Baltimore to promote. We believed in our league and wanted to tell everyone about it. Even when it was really cold out.

Conflict Resolution

When problems do come up (and they will) having an action plan of addressing it in an adult manner is key. Friends of mine who just moved to us from Albany introduced me to the OUCH / OOPS method that I absolutely love. If you hurt someone with something you say or do, you say OUCH. They are then obligated to take a second, digest what has happened, and say OOPS as the acknowledgement. From there you decide if you want to talk it out now, or deal with it later – either with someone or one on one.

We should also keep in mind to assume the best intentions. We have a lot of people in our sport, and a lot of delivery methods in our voices at different times. I speak way differently on the track then I do in coaching mode, with my team, or even with my pod of blockers. Voices are tricky to navigate, we all have different experiences. One person may hear inflection and be unaffected, and another person is going to hear a voice and subconsciously be triggered remembering the way their father would talk to them before hitting them.

We do not just navigate roller derby when we have interpersonal reactions, and we have to keep it in mind. Getting mad that someone misunderstood you only exacerbates the issue. We have to be understanding that people will hear us differently, since some of us just have inflection and cadences that do not always jive in the ears of others. People need to be open to the fact that they may have one of those voices that is going to be misunderstood and work to be understanding (while the people around them need to assume best intentions).

Trust me.

TRUST ME.

I’m pretty sure over the years that I (and a few of my friends) have been held off of teams, rejected from tournaments, and denied access to the pool because of our voices, cadences, and individuals assuming the worst instead of the best. We have to always strive to do better. I always preach self-assessment. That’s for both sides. Don’t assume the worst. If you have a question, you can always ask. Or OUCH it. That said, think about what you’re saying. How you’re saying it. How you can always say it better or different.

 

So what can we do? What are some action items to make things better?

Changing a league culture and leadership mentality is not something that happens overnight. Having a team of individuals that create a list of league norms and expectations is very helpful. And don’t just make a list. Talk about them. Post them. ENFORSE THEM. Empower everyone in the league to talk about how to make their time better, and how to hold people to the new norms.

League surveys are also a great easy and quick way to get a beat on the way your skaters are feeling. If you’re not doing one at end and halfway point in the year, you should. Ask the hard questions:

  • Do you feel valued? Why/why not?
  • How do you feel the tryout structure could be improved?
  • Describe the league culture in 5 words.
  • How long do you see yourself staying with our league? Are you considering transferring?
  • How would you rate the communication of leadership to skaters?
  • Are you satisfied with the roles everyone has in the league? How do you think they could improve?

Again these are just some example questions, there are a ton you could ask, just depending on where your league is, and how the vibe of the whole place has been recently.

Keep in mind: Officials, announcers, and individual teams can have their own cultures as well. If the overall culture of the league is healthy and happy, but a sub-culture has undercurrents of turmoil, that could spill over into the league culture eventually. Each team is responsible for creating and maintaining cultural norms within their groups.

If everyone is empowered to make it a happy place, and if issues are dealt with as they come up, and if we all assume the best intentions, and feel valued and heard – why wouldn’t you buy into that league?

11036671_10156211927050494_5026126037316616896_n
ROLLER DERBY IS FUN. We forget that sometimes.

I truly believe that no one wants the experience of roller derby to be miserable for anyone, and if the buy-in of a team is low, it’s usually just because the people in leadership don’t realize there is a problem. In all my years, the most recurrent theme I have seen is this:

Leadership does not see the issues on the ground floor because they are not on the ground floor, and the system works great for them. Why would they actively change something that they don’t see as an issue?

So that means it’s up to the people who see the issues to raise the concerns. Be brave enough to come to your board with ideas and ways to solve the problems you see. Or at least ask if you can have a round table with them and some others to talk out personal issues. It’s not always fun. It’s definitely not comfortable, but to increase buy in of all skaters people have to be unafraid to say something.

Increasing how much you care about the buy-in of your league will have great results (maybe not immediate, but over time): More skaters, more sponsors, more people at games, more people promoting the events, more people coming to events, more opportunities to do events, etc etc

Alright so go out there, talk to your friends. Believe in your team. Encourage your volunteers. Hear what people say. Be fearless in the face of change. And go make the best team you can!

+
Harrisburg Area Roller Derby 2011 – we weren’t perfect, but we worked together for our goals.

 

** Cover photo by Keyesboard 2014

General, Uncategorized

The Greatness of MRDWC 2018 Barcelona

My second Men’s Roller Derby World Cup is in the books and at the end of everything, all I can think is “How long until St. Louis?” In Calgary, I was there as a spectator, vendor, and sponsor. This time I was chosen to announce. I wanted to recap what I experienced this weekend and why I loved the event so much. This was, legitimately, the best tournament I have attended to date. There is a lot of negative energy being thrown around and I am sad that it overshadows all the amazing things that occurred for a week in Barcelona.

So I’m going to run down what made things amazing and then at the end, I’ve got my own list of superlatives. Quad Skate Shop had their own team of amazing people that they awarded things to, but I think some others need some recognition.

mrdwc roller derby
Photo by NSP 189 https://www.facebook.com/nsp189/

The Streaming Crew and Master of Puffins

She mastered the heck out of those Puffins!! The streaming crew for MRDWC was absolutely outstanding. Every time the production quality gets better. Our crew was relentless, and our producer diligent (but with a smile). All those great replays you saw throughout the weekend was thanks to them. As the weekend went on we think they started going stir crazy for all those amazing ‘break-dancing’ replays we got … the one of Mr Testosterone was a personal favorite.

The volunteers started delivering food and coffee to them because we all realized that while the announcers got to take a break – they never did. Stat Man helped to keep the stream alive and fix the bugs when they came through; the stream would not have survived without him and his crew!

Thanks to VMIX.com for the software that got it done. You can go back and watch replays at https://solidsport.com/mrdwc. (Note: I have word that games will be edited and renamed later so keep an eye out for that)

30729059_791970611012085_6629915056605757440_n
#TeamMouth about to do all the stream calling. It was awesome to work with such an incredible online and live team!

Volunteer Army & Hospitality

Anyone who volunteers at events understands how important volunteer hospitality is. You’re asking people to be in charge of different critical elements of a tournament for up to 14 hours at a time, depending on their position. To ask them to do that without food or drink is ill-advised but not unheard of. Think about doing advanced calculus while on skates, regulating your speed and bursting for upwards of four hours. Do you think you’d be that good at the math a couple hours later if you had no fuel?

So I was thrilled at the coordination of meals, snacks, and beverages. Learning throughout the weekend, they increased their vegan options and labeled gluten-free food. They also had both drip coffee and espresso which we ALL appreciated (even if certain coffee snobs would joke about how the coffee was better in Australia). I mean, the sliced Spanish meat, the veggie paella, the daily croissants. *Sigh* America we need to get our volunteer food game up.

Any time I had a question, all I had to do was find a yellow shirt. Whenever something was going amiss, I only had to look for a volunteer. David Pamies apparently was the mastermind behind most of the event, with support from MRDS Spain, and I am so glad that they were crazy enough to try and pull this all off. At least from the perspective of a participant, the arrangement of managers, leads, and heads helped to keep the event on track the whole weekend. I’m sure there were fires to put out, but the volunteers never panicked.

Even when the espresso machine needed to be descaled.

Also: shoutout to Julia Sleazer who ran #TeamMouth. She had a lot of monkeys to juggle, and despite some really challenging circumstances and difficult situations, she handled all of the things. Also, thank you to Bootiful Banshee for finding Sleazer the proper Rockstars. An unfueled THA is not a happy THA.

germany world cup roller derby
Team Germany fans were amazing! Photo by Olivier Vax Photography https://www.facebook.com/OlivierVaxPhoto/

The Fans

Yo.

Roller derby is nothing without their fans and the World Cup always delivers some of the best. This year teams were not messing around. Mascots were not as prevalent as we were hoping, but the Nederlands did not let us down with their sparkly orange outfits, while the Welsh were yelling something that sounded like the Aussie’s Oi Oi Oi but we never did figure out what it was (we just know they were into it).

Poland, even though they had a hard tournament, were supported with posters and songs about roller derby and food. The announcers decided that next time they shouldn’t be allowed to chant about pierogi unless they are offered some up. The ever popular “REEEEEEAAAA-PER” could be heard throughout the weekend as England battled, but the two best? Finland and Scotland.

So you can imagine how loud the small Track 2 room was when the two fought it out on the final day. Scotland came equipped with an array of general chants to keep the crowd pumped up (and we were wondering if maybe they were taken from other sports, just because of how solid they were). Finland had songs for every one of their jammers as well as some others to sprinkle in. They were a melodic bunch that rarely gave the other team a chance to hype up their own team, so Scotland just had to find the pauses in their rhythm and fill that with the yells of the Highland.

Everything I love about the World Cup happened there as blue and white took on white verse blue, on the blue track that the FIRST MRDWC used in Birmingham. It was two teams, one who had almost upended their bracket, meeting for battle that was fierce, but not ugly. The crowd chanted one after another, they waved their flags and sang their songs. They flinched when Grime hit, and cheered when Keiski jumped. The whole thing just felt right. If I could go back to any game and any atmosphere of the weekend, it would be to see the Power of Scotland face Finland Men’s Roller Derby again, and the fans had a lot to do with that.

 

30167716_1981824332078428_3525621598835060742_o
Lil Joker of Poland tries to leverage out Silencio of Mexico. Photo by NSP 189

The Competition

This year we had 4 new MRDWC teams: Poland, Philippines, New Zealand, and Colombia. And is the trend, there were skaters who came to MRDWC to play their first full-length MRDA game. While not every team looked as put together as England or Australia, this was the first year that every team at least looked PUT TOGETHER. Even Poland , who did not come out with any wins, had stretches where they were incredibly cohesive and worked as a unit. Every tier of competition has stepped it up. There is no longer such a thing as an easy or assumed win.

30420381_1982669035327291_4161843941586631411_o
New Zealand’s fearsome Haka set the challenge against all teams. Photo by NSP 189

Now on the higher end, there are more stories. USA was near untouchable again this year, but for the second tournament in a row, England made them work for every point. While Fish swam through packs, Sully moved them, Reaper lept them, Scraplin muppeted around them, but it was Scooby the Pivot that surprised the crowd early on to get the momentum going for England in the final. Canada, who had previously been an assumed feature on the podium, was upended by France in the quarter finals. It was their first time breaking into the Top 4. Meanwhile, Scotland almost caused the upset of the tournament; having the lead on Australia through most of their final game in group play. Power of Scotland made a definitive statement being the only #2 in group stages with a 200+ positive differential; they are making sure no one underestimates them in 2020.

30420379_1983402425253952_24636596567495911_o
In one of the best games of the tournament, Canada and France battled by land and by air. Photo by NSP 189

Speaking of Australia, they made sure to keep everyone on the edge of their seat this tournament. They obviously came here with goals, and every time someone tried to thwart them they responded. It was actually pretty incredible to watch, and gave us three of the best games of the tournament.

While everyone had France on their radar, no one considered what power Scotland contained. Jammer penalties struck them down in the end; 10 jammer penalties attributed to their 60 point loss. Mexico had everyone on edge when they took on Canada (twice) but the guys from the Great White North were not looking for a second upset of the weekend.

finland belgium roller derby
Finland is the land of bendy jammers! Track Vader of Belgium tries to stop Junnikkala….Photo by NSP 189 https://www.facebook.com/nsp189/

I have decided that Finland and Argentina have special genetic breeding grounds for jammers, and I fear meeting up with the Welsh blockers in a game because dear jeebus – there were several times where they hit opponents so hard that we heard the thud of their landing at the announcer dias.

Even more incredible is that most of these teams only have practiced together a couple times, and some of them players do not have a team to work with regularly. I keep crossing my fingers that countries that don’t have MRDA will use their national team as a competitive year round (kind of like what Texas Men’s did after State Wars). The 2020 competition is going to be ri-goddamn-diculous if teams continue improving at the rate in which they are.

youpiler
Knocked out of bounds, but with style, is YouPiler of the Netherlands. Photo by NSP 189

The Merch

Your team better step its merch game up. I was astounded at the incredible artwork, variety of items, and extra stuff that teams were doing to raise money. England: your Yorkshire tea saved my voice and my energy level on my morning calls. You have converted me. No more English Breakfast at home (I don’t know if I’m giving my Earl Grey yet though).

30698014_10160283696250494_5042587132615532072_n
Two World Cups worth of shirts. My Team England shirt is missing 😦

The Polish team had a phrase you could say (which they recorded) to earn a 2€ discount. The Philippines were tagging people with stickers at the end, there were handmade Viking like helmets at the Sweden table, Finland’s baseball tee looked impossibly comfy, the Mexico table had upped their game with hoodies, Belgium had shirts with beer or frites on them, and Spain just had an assortment of things that made me wish I had allowed more room in my baggage.

Overall, the teams did an amazing job of providing fans with plenty of things to buy, and I am proud of myself for not dropping 300€ on it all (though I’m sure the teams are sad).

30072966_1982671465327048_3771606009308863184_o
Official Penguin is watching you. Photo by NSP 189

The Rules

Well at least for a hot second, the rules (and how to understand what they say) was on the mind of everyone. Two very important games had extra jams called for by Head Refs. Like or hate the choices that they made, they were completely within the realm of the ruleset.

Outside of strange game-ending situations, just having a tournament of this size brings rules questions to the forefront of the mind of the general population. From the new hand signals (I saw so many leg blocks called) to questioning the reasoning behind certain calls and no calls, MRDWC gave people [mostly] constructive ways of scrutinizing the ruleset and possible flaws within it.

Don’t mistake me, I know most of the shouting was about the no call back block, the ‘obvious’ cut track, or why someone was or wasn’t ejected from a game due to ‘poor’ officiating … but outside of the fever of gameplay, the conversation tends to be positive.

Spirit of the game and the jersey swap

*Whiny voice* I waaaant this. I wish the jersey swap was an accepted practice among WFTDA skaters because I think there is nothing better than seeing skaters talk with people that impressed them or that they idolize and then GETTING THEIR SHIRT. For skaters, especially from smaller and remote leagues, to get to swap with guys from Australia, France, and the USA, it just raises everyone’s enthusiasm of participation in the game. It makes everyone feel a little special and a little hungrier to get better. If you knew Shrooms was walking around with your jersey on, and you’re from a small town with small derby, it might just compel you to work harder since ‘he’s watching’.

I’ve done one jersey swap since I started playing. My friend Rosie Derivator from Atlanta swapped with me at B Champs last year and MAN did we get a lot of side-eye, shocked looks, and questions. I still wore it during her final game to cheer her on anyway. Having the extra fan in the crowd that gives a f*** about you in particular always feels good.

The only downfall to the jersey swap to the casual observer is that you can never be sure at the after party who is lying.

scotland australia mrdwc
Veggie Kray of Scotland was impressive throughout the whole tournament, and Australia gave the crowd nothing but exciting games. Photo by NSP 189

My team selection and superlatives

So, talking about how amazing all the players were this weekend, I decided to make my own charter based on the players. Here were the rules I set for myself: no player that was chosen for the MRDWC team could be selected, and I had to pick only one skater from each team. Yes, that means more than a 20-person charter but I DO WHAT I WANT! I ended up with 8 jammers, 16 blockers, and wow it was difficult to narrow down! I even conferred with the other announcers to get it right. Even with nods to all of these players there are still a TON more that had super successful weekends and should be proud of themselves.

Maybe it does not mean much coming from some American who talks too much on social media, but I feel like more people from this weekend deserve an award.

Best Blocker – Shrooms (Eng)
Best Jammer – Sausarge Rolls (Aus)
Best Triple Threat – El Majestic (Col)
Most Underrated Jammer – Goofy (Ita)
Most Underrated Blocker: U2 (Jpn)
Most Improved – Slaapzak (Ned)
Best Debut – Uncle Dad (Can)
Most Fun to Watch – Omar (Eng)
Dynamic Duo – Ballistic Whistle and Chambers (Aus)
Favorite Comeback Story – Simard (Ire)
Favorite OR Explanations – Shref
Best Almost-Appearance – Roller Polar Bear

Best Dressed Fans: Netherlands
Favorite Uniforms: Spain, Poland, New Zealand, Wales, Columbia
Team to watch for in 2020: Team Belgium
Best “Fun Facts” section of rosters: TIE – Finland and Australia
Best Game of the Tournament: Australia vs France

ireland jammer apex roller derby
Simard became derby famous for breaking his leg at the MRDWC in Birmingham in 2014. He fears no apex, despite. Photo by NSP 189

Khaos Theory Charter of the Tournament:

Mr. Testosterone (Can) Jammer
Lt Damn (Ire) Jammer
Waterman (Eng) Jammer
Yass Lamenace (Fra) Jammer
Animal (Ned) Jammer
Sweet Jackie (Swe) Jammer
Terrell (Phi) Jammer
Lodge (NZ) Jammer
Santoro (Ita) Blocker
Kolehmainen (Fin) Blocker
Baltic Bastard (Ger) Blocker
Sr Kalavera (Esp) Blocker
Rick Rolled (Pol) Blocker
Sosa (Arg) Blocker
Greese Monkey (Aus) Blocker
Veggie Kray (Sco) Blocker
Jamie Davies (Wal) Blocker
Party Boy (Mex) Blocker
Azazel (Col) Blocker
Human Fly (Bel) Blocker
Chuck Breaker (Jpn) Blocker
Karmageddon (Den) Blocker
Zakumi (Chi) Blocker
Tommy Gunn (USA) Blocker

CONGRATS goes out to the QUAD SKATE SHOP Team of the Tournament:
Keiski (Fin) MVP
Fish (Eng) Best Jammer
Optimus Grime (Sco) Jammer
Slinger (Aus) Jammer
Chispa (Arg) Jammer

Scooby Zoom (Eng) Best Blocker
Mecanico (Chi) Blocker
RocknRolla (Col) Blocker
Copter (Aus) Blocker
Cloud Strike (Ire) Blocker
Walker (Can) Blocker
Swift (Wal) Blocker
Naked Alien (Mex) Blocker
Killian Cross (Fra) Blocker

Final standings:

No automatic alt text available.

And the last best thing about Men’s Roller Derby World Cup 2018? 

BEING IN SPAIN

30441056_10160269996540494_8869845405641217052_n
Myself and Vanilla Vice share a beer on a boat before the festivities and work kicked off

 

More exciting news! Are you from a Baltic State or the West Indies and want to be a part of the 2020 MRDWC? Check out the Baltic States Men’s Roller Derby FB Page or the Team West Indies Men’s Roller Derby FB Page.

 

Thank you again to NSP 189 and Olivier Vax Photography for letting me use the photos in this blog!

General, Life Stuff, Mental Game, Uncategorized

The Quiet Ones: How fear hushes our injury

Taking care of ourselves needs to be priority number one in Roller Derby. We believe we cannot be a good teammate if we are falling apart at the seams: physically, emotionally, or mentally. We must achieve perfection. We must not falter.

But injury happens, and there is hesitation to talk about it openly. There is a reluctance to admit it.

More openness has been happening in the social media world about what we struggle with in our daily lives; we are becoming brave enough to own our illnesses in a public forum, and discuss our injuries with our friends miles away. You’ll find more blogs, IGs, and threads happening now around how to deal with depression in the face of practice, or anxiety because of expectations placed on them, or how badly someone’s knee swelled up after a particularly hard hit. I have seen postings about imposter syndrome, dysmorphia, misophonia (me), and bipolarism most commonly.

There are several groups online dedicated to those who have gone through injury, and how they are recovering and processing the ordeal. In these groups, we can be honest about how we reinjured ourselves, or are going to the ortho for a DIFFERENT limb, or can empathize about when a recovery is not going as we had hoped in our minds. They allow us to vent our frustration and document our journey of reintegration into our sport.

58823_524466560915188_1235360316_n

But when we walk through the door of practice, the conversation and understanding stops. Sometimes, when we are feeling things online and want to talk about them we pause.

We don’t want that THR to see that we had a panic attack. We don’t want our captain to hear that our ankle swelled up after practice. It’s not perfect, it’s not pretty. It’s not the model athletic stone statue that we have been told to be.

When we come to practice, there is a feeling that we are under a microscope. We cannot look sad. We cannot be in pain. We cannot have an off day. We cannot let the wet wool blanket weigh us down. We cannot injure anything else. We fear showing weakness …

“Unless you are the right person.”

I hate that I have had discussions with people across the world, in every level of play, who have said that members of their league are held to different standards. If they look mean, it’s ok. If they pull a muscle in their back in the gym, it’s no problem. If they de-gear early because of personal issues, no sweat. Meanwhile, other skaters fear they will be removed from charters, blacklisted from teams, or generally forgotten among the crowd if they show ‘signs of weakness’ within our world.

other
Finding out something is wrong is no one’s favorite day.

[And I’m going to venture to say this stems from the “Perfect Life” that we are expected to upkeep on our SnapChats, Facebooks, and Instagrams.]

You’re not allowed to be disappointed in yourself. You’re not allowed to show that disappointment. You’re certainly not allowed to leave the track so that others aren’t affected by your disappointment. All this, unless you are one of the few granted human status because they are that good or popular.

I have seen people in leadership roles belittle others who decide not to push through injury. For years, I have thought twice about sharing my journeys and experiences because “Why would someone put you on a team if you have bad knees?” or “Maybe you wouldn’t get benched if you weren’t always talking about your injuries on Facebook” or “Well, we can’t give you feedback. You look like you’re always about to cry.”

So what happens? People hide the injuries. They don’t admit the have a high ankle sprain because there is a game coming up. They avoid bracing “to get better at a different position” but really it’s because their shoulder is searing with pain. They play off how hard they hit their head when they fell at home, because they don’t want to be concussion tested.

And how do you think this all plays out later when the weakness is tested. I know I tore my ACL because I refused to admit I was playing on a high ankle sprain. Friends have torn rotator cuffs, cracked the bones in their feet, or get Second-Impact Syndrome from falling.

12821435_977315118970310_4796167374826215535_n
Injury has been part of my whole derby life, and even when smiling I often have Resting Sad Face™. Photo by Christopher W Weeks

 

I am tired, folks. I am writing this and I’m just mentally exhausted with trying to understand all of the rights and wrongs going on in our world right now beyond derby. There is so much hate and anger in humans, and tackling this issue seems so daunting. Usually in my blogs, I would go forth with “here are some ways we can deal with it”, but honestly …. I do not know how. This is a culture thing inside of roller derby.

How do you we make it ok for us to be human? Especially in a world where some people cannot even exist without fighting for their space. We say we’re inclusive and we say we’re forward thinking but our community is a product of the society we live in. There is so much to overcome, and to add to the classism, sexism, racism, transphobia, etc that we contend with, now there is the fear of honesty.

I bonded with a teammate when we admitted to each other last year that we downplay our pain. We don’t want “to be that player that is always hurt, or made of glass.”

As a coach, I keep telling my team members that if they’re sick, injured, or mentally unwell it is OK. It does not make them a disappointment. They are not letting anyone down, and that derby will still be here when they are healthy. As a player I fight against it daily.

Captains and coaches have to understand that we are not deities formed from clay. Our teammates have to have empathy and understand that we all suffer through different issues. Prehab programs to keep skaters physically healthy could help, and rehab options in house are great for skaters coming back or with small injuries. Sometimes, just letting folks who feel alone know that they are not can be a catalyst for mental recovery.

I just had a huge panic attack simply through the effort of trying to make a point. I deleted everything that I said. Tried to erase it, and felt like erasing myself. All I can think was, “I should stop officiating. If I cannot even make it understood that I was not on the offensive, and that I am saying the same thing as everyone else… why should I be allowed to officiate? If no one is listening to me here, why should they anywhere?” And for those of you with anxiety disorders, you can imagine the downward spiral from there.

[No, I am not lost on the irony of a writer having a panic attack as a result of stating an observation of the life surrounding.]

Stigmas are everywhere and they pervade our culture. We need to stop judging each other and start listening. We need to start understanding. We need to stop being afraid of admitting pain. We need to stop being afraid to admit trepidation. We should be allowed to be disappointed. We should be allowed to be injured, to be broken, and to need a moment to recover without guilt.

We are a family. We need to start treating each other more as such, and less as simply stepping stones to get to the next goal on the list. So hey, Roller Derby? Let’s love each other a little more and break away from expectations of perfection, shall we?

18581659_10155337702644099_8273745310666187560_n