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 I was recently removed from this volunteer position, and my membership was revoked after nearly a year of service – just because I happen to be gay.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 Within a week of reporting these findings to the council, I received notice that my membership had been revoked, based on my sexual orientation, citing that because I'm gay, I did 'not meet the high standards of membership that the BSA seeks.'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....

The Lupus Loop was last Saturday. I raised over $500 for it, and my whole team raised almost $2000! It was awesome! We didn't win a top prize, the race itself was miserable, and we almost got ripped off for our pledge prizes, but it was still totally worth it.

Note to fundraiser organizers: if you are going to invite skaters, please consider our needs. If the course is going to be in open traffic and involve darting from sidewalk to road to bike path -- that is not typical. We need to be warned of that in advance!! The organizers of this race made a special course for the skaters because the runner's path wasn't paved in parts. That was good! Unfortunately, the skater's path took us on a very rough public road where there were no signs at all directing us and no notice to drivers that there was any race going on. We were beeped at a lot and several of us took wrong turns at one point or another.

There have been 5k races starting off from the exact same place that stayed on sidewalks and paved paths the whole way and they should have gone with one of those routes. As it was, Morty -- who is the whole reason we were there and wanted to skate so badly -- had to stop halfway through and didn't complete the entire race. MESSED UP.

It also would have been very nice if the skaters had been able to start a few seconds before the runners, or if we'd been able to just line up in front of the runners. Instead, the serious runners lined up front and squished all of us skaters into the 3 feet next to the river. RIGHT next -- there was no barrier, so if I'd taken a step to the right, I would have fallen in. I didn't object because I figured we'd get a head start. But we didn't.

Naturally, when they blew the whistle, those us on wheels were a bit hesitant to take off at full throttle when a wrong step would run over a tiny little marathoner or throw us into the river. As a result, we got stuck behind a huge crowd of runners and couldn't break through. It was extremely nerve wracking and irritating. I tried to be courteous and careful in my passing the runners but I still got dirty looks and I still didn't break free until a third of the way through the race. My time was actually worse for this very easy course than for the challenging Portage race, because I couldn't skate fast for a third of it! What it the point of a race when you can't go FAST?! I am bitter.

Also, we didn't receive the free stuff that the runners received and we weren't offered our pledge prizes. We had to go seek them out when the runners were given their prizes when they signed up. AUGGGH

And it RAINED a miserable drizzle ALL MORNING.

On the other hand, we raised a ton of money and we got a picture with a Pittsburgh Steeler. AWESOME!!! Next year, we will raise even more and we will CRUSH those Butterflies of Hope!

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!

1) Speed is your friend! The faster you go, the more easily you can roll over things in your path. My mom is a little scared of skating outdoors. We tried out her new skates the other day, and her technique involved spotting a crack 5 feet away, slowing down to a near stop, panicking when the crack did stop her, and then very carefully picking up her foot to step over the crack. "That could've killed me if I was going faster!" she said. And then I roll at a steady pace at the crack and go right over without a bump. Much easier! On the other hand...

2) Control your speed. Even a slight grade can get you going fast enough that you won't be able to stop, if you're a beginner. Plow stops and t-stops don't seem to work very well on inclines. I wouldn't advise anybody to skate even the littlest hill until they can slalom and turn-around toe-stop REALLY well, and at speed. There are a lot of videos on YouTube about skating downhill that have helped me. But even the best skater can still get out of control, and that's when...

3) Knee pads, wrist guards, and a helmet are VITAL!

4) Constant vigilance! I think outdoor skating has helped my roller derby playing, because it forces you to pay attention to what is going around you, especially when you are skating on the sidewalks/street. You have to watch for traffic, broken pavement, cracks, weeds, surface changes, curbs, pedestrians, skateboarders, bicyclists and so on. Watch what the surface looks like a few feet ahead of you. Don't get distracted by idiots yelling out their car windows or you'll really give them something to laugh at when you trip over a patch of gravel.

5) YOU CAN'T SKATE OVER GRAVEL! You may look at #1 and think, well, if I get up enough speed, and it's a small area, isn't it just like rolling over a bunch of pebbles? NO IT IS NOT. I have no idea why, but gravel is not just a bunch of tiny pebbles added together. It is a skater's KRYPTONITE. I tried to skate over a little patch of very very shalllow and light gravel yesterday, at a pretty good clip, and I swear the instant I hit it, WHAM. I'm glad I was able to aim for the grass next to the sidewalk. Still, OW. My general rule is to come to a complete stop and pick my way across on my toe stops. I can't even duck walk across gravel!

6) Get good wheels! I love my Kryptonics Route 70's. I've also used a Canadian wheel from RollerGirl.ca called the Blue Demon, but I'm not sure they're made anymore. Great wheels.

7) When coming up to a large crack in the sidewalk, put your weight on your back wheels. I'll help you roll over easier.

8) GET LOW. Especially when transitioning to a new surface, lower your center of gravity as much as you can. When the sidewalk changes from concrete to cobblestone, my butt is practically on the ground I'm so low. This will help you keep your balance and momentum even when the new surface feels like it's grabbing at your wheels and yanking you back. If you do fall, you'll fall a shorter distance, and probably on your knees instead of your head. It's such a simple thing, and it'll save you from a faceplant every time.

9) Have fun! Even when it's kind of scary, sidewalk and street skating are really fun. My favorite things are hopping over curbs, going up and down ramps, swinging around lampposts, getting nice comments from passersby, and slaloming down long hills with nice wide sidewalks. Ramps are the very best, though!!

( Downhill, vert, and derby... )

Derby practice last night was crazy. We scrimmaged, but as usual nobody was at practice so we had only 7 people on each team so you could only take a break if you were about to jam or you had just jammed. I kept volunteering to jam just so I could have a break from blocking for a minute or two!! And while I was jamming, Dorian accidentally slammed her shoulder into my face so I have a nice shiner today. Oh well, I'm just glad she's playing with our league, despite driving past two others to get to us! She's a great blocker. We're all playing a bit sloppy because we're so out of practice after the summer. I got sent to the box twice. D:

Soooo I have had this crazy idea for while about incorporating some elements of longboarding into my roller skating, mostly because these cute hipsters look like they are having a lot of fun. :) Plus one of my biggest challenges in outdoor skating is controlling my speed downhill. I have a lot of mass and not a lot of skill, so I go from zero to WTF-how-the-hell-am-I-going-to-stop?!?! in about 2 seconds. Some longboarders wear gloves and kneepads with sliders on them to do cool tricks. One area where I am somewhat talented is falling without seriously injuring myself by sliding on my safety gear. Combine longboard sliding and roller derby falls... and I think I've figured out my technique for handling hills. ;D

I put this idea to the test this morning. With some old, cheap elbow and knee pads, a pair of work gloves, a helmet, my outdoor skate set-up, and a whole lot of Gorilla tape in tow, I set out for beautiful Oglebay Park. It was my first attempt at tackling actual West Virginia hills instead of flat wimpy river valley trails, and boy did Oglebay chew me up and spit me out! Maybe it was my fault for looking for the highest, steepest hill I could find on my first try. I had to hike up that thing on my toe stops, it was so steep! And going down -- WOW!! I went into a very low stance, made it 20-30 feet down, felt my speed getting out of control, and did a single knee fall, grinding to a stop on one knee while gently steering myself on the narrow trail with my hands. Another 20 feet, knee stopped again. Rinse, repeat. When I made it to the bottom of the hill, I discovered that my right knee pad was completely demolished. The strap had broken, the styrofoam padding was coming out, and I had a nice bit of road rash through my jeans. And my poor right skate! The asphalt burned right through all four layers of duct tape I put on the toe, and then ripped apart my laces.

But I can't wait to do it again!! Those short bursts of amazing speed were totally exhilarating and yet I never felt out of control. Stabilizing and steering my high-speed knee falls with my hands worked really well (even though I could hear my derby coach in my head yelling at me -- "Quit putting your hands on the ground! Someone's going to roll over your fingers!") I think with some equipment adjustments, downhill skating could be my new favorite thing!

I created this journal a few months ago because I wanted to talk about my adventures in roller skating. I've thought of myself as a fat girl for over decade, so it seemed to be natural to call the journal "Fat Girl Skates". But not long after I created this account, I went clothes shopping for the first time in over a year, since I started skating. I tried on a 16W - my usual size - and it was too big! This hadn't happened in years, but I shrugged it off and went for a 14W - but it was also too large! I was totally flabbergasted. I hadn't lost more than 15 pounds since I started skating, I knew because I had just been to the doctor's. But all the sudden I was shopping in a different department. I didn't know what to think. "AM I EVEN FAT ANYMORE??" I wondered.

It felt weird to post in my shiny new fat girl blog about how awesome it is to skate and be large and in charge, when apparently I'm not very large at all anymore. I'm just slightly bigger than average. So I didn't post here at all.

(I'm not complaining, because it's definitely easier to shop now and everyone who has ever even temporarily lost some weight knows how other people -- especially other women -- react. It feels good.)

So why am I posting now? Because I very quickly realized that nobody besides my family and friends knows or cares that I used to be bigger -- the fact that I'm still overweight according the BMI damns me anyway. I went skating at a rink a couple weeks ago, and kids still called me "the fat woman". I just realized the other day that if post a video of myself skating, more people will comment on my size and gender than on my skill or lack thereof. And because girls who weigh a lot less than me think they are too fat to skate. AND THAT'S A CRYING SHAME!! Really, I'm used to being a fat girl, and even if the number on my clothes has changed, I don't actually feel any different.

...

Plus, I'm working on some really awesome projects and I wanted to write about them but I don't feel like making yet another account when I've got a perfectly good one here. UP THE LAZY PUNKS