fatgirlskates

BLT* has told the story dozens of times. During a particularly hard-hitting bout, an opposing skater slammed her all the way off the track and into the audience. A large, tall woman going top speed and out of control, BLT was terrified she was going to hurt someone. She nearly ended up in the laps of couple sitting on the turn. A little dazed by the hit, BLT apologized and struggled to get her skates back under her so she could limp off on her way. But then this fan BLT had nearly crushed grabbed her hand and yanked her to her feet. She gave her shove on her way and said, "Go get 'em, Baby Lou." And BLT did.

That fan was the hero of the night and is one of our favorite stories to tell about how in roller derby, fan involvement can mean a little more than it does in other sports. :)

Well, last night at practice I found out that fan, the legendary Lesbian at Turn Two, is also Jennifer Tyrrell, CRUSADER FOR JUSTICE.

"My name is Jennifer Tyrrell. I am a devoted partner, mother, friend and community leader in Bridgeport, Ohio. I’m also a former Tiger Cub den leader with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). I was recently removed from this volunteer position, and my membership was revoked after nearly a year of service – just because I happen to be gay.

Shortly after registering my son for Cub Scouts, I was asked to assume the role of den leader and was persuaded by a platform of tolerance, acceptance and support. Throughout the year, my cubs performed volunteer service at a local soup kitchen, collected canned goods for area churches to distribute in food baskets, participated in bell-ringing for the Salvation Army, and, at the time of my removal, were working on a conservation project for a state park. My Tiger Cubs earned multiple Scout badges for service and skills, while learning and exercising the 12 Core Values of Scouting: citizenship, compassion, cooperation, courage, faith, health & fitness, honesty, perseverance, positive attitude, resourcefulness, respect, and responsibility.

The revocation of my membership came shortly after I was elected treasurer of my pack and uncovered some inconsistencies in the pack's finances. Within a week of reporting these findings to the council, I received notice that my membership had been revoked, based on my sexual orientation, citing that because I'm gay, I did 'not meet the high standards of membership that the BSA seeks.'

There was an outcry of support for me by the parents of my Tiger Scouts, many of whom waited for hours to voice their concerns to members of the council and the pack's charter organization, but were turned away without the opportunity to do so.

It is time for the Boy Scouts of America to reconsider its policy of exclusivity against gay youth and leaders. Please sign this petition to call for an end of discrimination in an organization that is shaping the future.

As more individuals become aware of the discrimination I’ve been dealing with, it is my hope that these incidents will happen less frequently -- if at all."

I heard about this on Wednesday and immediately signed her petition and asked her if there were any other ways I could help, but finding out last night that she was That Fan made me respect her even more! And she's also fannish, her Facebook pic is a rainbow Hunger Games logo. :) Please sign this petition to support Jen, because she is definitely an awesome person!

*(BLT is in my new "derby" icon above, she's the skater in black on the left, I'm on the right. Fat girls on skates, unstoppable!!)

Today was the first home game of the season. Our home games work like this: on Saturday night, two of three home teams in our league play each other. On Sunday afternoon, the travel team plays an out-of-town team. (I'm only on a home team, because I decided not to try out for travel team.)

My team lost tonight. We lost BAD. Not quite by a 100 points, but close. But I feel really okay about it. I actually feel energized.

Last season, there were only two home teams, and we played each other twice. My team won by a large margin both times. It felt really good to be on the winning team, but the other team felt really bad about it and said it was just because we had one particular very heavy hitter on our team. It seemed like they fell apart after that first loss and didn't try as much in the second game. When the league decided to create a third team, every single member of that losing team decided to go into the draft. Almost every single member of our team decided to stay.

The exception was that heavy hitter that the losing team said was the secret to our success. She left and was drafted to the new third team.

Sure enough, without her, we lost. Was it because she wasn't there? I kind of doubt it. A lot of the league's veteran players from last season, from both teams, have lost a little focus and motivation I think. I personally have gotten into a slump after my crazy summer. Since everyone in my team stayed, we didn't get any new players. The team we played had a lot of new blood -- a couple of them actually very experienced players from other leagues, as well as talented freshies. They played very well from the get-go. It took us a long time to really get our heads in the game, although the second half was a little better for us.

There's a couple reasons I'm really happy right now. Actually, three reasons, because I am SUPER HIGH on endorphins right now. The first is because I've decided I'm not allowed to beat myself up about the mistakes I made tonight (and they were LEGION). It's weird how sometimes you can read the perfect book/story right before the lesson you learned from it needs to be applied. And today, I read this fanfic (don't have a link right now, sorry) about a reverend who judges everyone around him and hates himself for all the same sins he sees in them. The turning point of the story is when he realizes that the commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself" means he has to forgive himself for the sins he commits if he's going to forgive other people. (I'm sure the author of this fic would cry over how I interpreted that character's epiphany, haha. Then there was gay sex, I got distracted!!) ANYWAY, I'm not going to stress over everything I messed up because I'm not going to tear apart my teammates about their mistakes either. I played hard and did my best! YEAH!

The second is that our team is sticking together. It got a little shouty and stressful at a few points, and at first, halftime was very negative and everyone was just yelling everything the other players were doing wrong, that the other team was cheating, that the refs were partial to them. And that is just NOT HELPFUL. But we have a lovely captain who is one of the most positive people I've ever met and she helped us all calm down. We decided on just a couple things to work on for the second half, and for the most part we stuck with them, and it did help us. One of the best players in the league, a great jammer AND blocker, said to everybody that she was there to have fun and she was going to do that, and if she took out some bitches and scored some points along the way, then that was a bonus. She could have been sour about being the best player on a team that wasn't doing well, but instead she stayed positive and I love her for that. I decided to take on that attitude as well and it made everything better. The second-to-last jam, I was the jammer and I was grinning the whole time. I scored a point, too!! Some of my teammates were just to depressed to do put on a happy face, but overall we were pretty positive even as we were losing. After the score was announced, we all go together and started cheering, "WE'RE NUMBER TWO!" :D

I'm not worried that this loss is going to hurt us like it did the losing team of last season's first bout. I think it will help us become better. We lost, but it's not because they have invincible players or cheaters or bad refs. It's because we played poorly. And next time, we're going to play better.

I'M NOT SURE ANY OF THAT MADE ANY SENSE, ENDORPHINS WOOOOOOOO

Now I need to go ice my hip....

My leaguemate Kat von D'stroya profiled in Vegan Bodybuilding And Fitness:

Q: What do you think the most important aspect of fitness is?
A: Being healthy and understanding that fitness comes in ALL shapes and sizes!