We could be such good friends:

Hello.  My name is Elektra Q-Tion and I am a derby stalker. Now, before someone gets offended, please understand that I am not making light of the real danger and crime of stalking; I'm talking about finding your derby heroes and trying to learn from their styles.

First of all, do you know how lucky we are in this sport?  Our sport is at this amazing point in its history where we can actually interact with the major movers and shakers.  Do you think that amateur basketball players and easily see Kobe play live?  I get to practice with some of the most outstanding players in the WFTDA, but since I'm around them all of the time, I really don't need to stalk them.  We are really in the perfect moment to be in derby.  This is why it is so important to be careful how we approach some of our derby sheroes.

My first derby stalker fail came last year when at ECE, the Bootleggers played Gotham's B-team, the Wall Street Traitors.  Ginger Snap and Hyper Lynx were both playing and I was star struck; I actually was on the pivot line with Ginger when I said "If you hit me and leave your number on me, will you sign it later?"  Ginger gave me a blank stare and slowly moved away from me.  Sigh.  I blew that one.  I wanted to yell "I'm harmless!  I promise!"

After that gaffe, I stalked my sheroes through footage; I studied Suzy Hotrod, Mo Pain, Kelly Young, Athena, and a Joy Collision.  I made sure I read their blogs and interviews; and I watched their games on DNN constantly.  I was obsessed with their awesomeness, but I didn't impact anyone else with my fan-gooberness.

My second and more successful derby stalking happened at Rollercon this year.  I saw that Quadzilla was going to be there teaching, and I was like a giddy school girl.  I made sure I signed up for every one of his classes and showed up super early each time.  Yes, I had random thoughts about putting him in my suitcase and bringing him back to North Carolina so he could make my state MIGHTY, but I didn't go any further than asking him his opinion about ab work outs and of course his Antik skates.
In case you've been living in a hole for the last year.  I'm still sad that my feet are too narrow for the boots.  But as I was saying, I was well behaved.

Ok, I still took a couple of pics of him when he wasn't looking.

Yes, we are lucky that we can talk to the super stars of our sport, and most of them are pretty approachable!  Every person who is star struck just wants some of that amazing ability to rub off on them, just for a little while.  We still have to remember that they are people who need their space and don't need us following them around and stalking them on Facebook, unless they have a fan page for just the occasion! I try to approach my heroes is a much cooler manner than I did at ECE; I still feel weirdly awkward at times because I'm trying to be so casual and polite to them, but I think I have it under control....mostly.

Sweating the small stuff: nagging injuries

Oh boy, you pulled your groin muscle...again!  Or, you fell and sat on your skate, or you slammed your hand down on the floor and might have broken your finger.  How did you jack your neck up in your sleep? You kicked a door frame in the middle of the night and your little toe feels like it's ten sizes bigger than normal...I could go on.

These are the nagging, annoying and performance killing injuries that can make playing derby pure drudgery.  A player who gets one of these injuries can hover in that "not quite ready to bring it" area of physical and mental prowess for weeks if she doesn't let herself heal.  See Bonnie D. Stroir's blog on injuries.

Ah, if Ballista just had worn some shin guards.

It is hard to tell derby girls to rest and recover; we have a lot going against us, like the instinct to keep going no matter what, higher than average pain tolerances, sheer stubborness, and being just a wee bit crazy to play this sport in the first place.  Add that to the fact that we LOVE to skate, and nobody likes to just sit on the sidelines, and you have a serious recipe for disaster.  If you're interested in a study done on contact athletes vs. non contact athletes and pain tolerances, click here.

How do you know when to sit down and take a break?  This is a tough question to answer, especially for yourself.  Here is where an observant coach or captain should step in and make you take a little break, at least, that would be the ideal situation. If someone else stepped in, players wouldn't feel like they were slacking, or "being wimps".  Some injuries do not seem "dramatic" enough to bench a player; I recently suffered a ridiculous pull in my right shoulder, and I kept skating because I am an idiot.  After playing a few jams at practice, I finally listened to one of my fellow skaters who told me to stop being so foolish.  To be honest here, if it hadn't been for Shebola, I probably would have kept on playing until I really hurt myself.

Some players refuse to sit down because they don't want to be judged as "lazy".  I'm going to make a suggestion that we help our teammates out by not being judgmental.  When you see someone walk out of a car with a handicap sticker on it, and they seem to be walking fine, do you judge them or do you give them the benefit of the doubt.  Do they have a heart condition or a pain condition we can't see?  If you're willing to do that for a stranger, then you have to be willing to give your teammate a break too. 

If you have one of these nagging injuries, please remember that it isn't going to get better with people slamming into you.  Communicate with your coaches and captains; let them know your situation and ask them for their feedback.  Chances are, they're going to want you to take it easy because they want you healthy and whole.  If one of your teammates asks you why you aren't playing, you can be honest with her, just don't be defensive.  We've all been there at one point in our careers; you're a human being first, and derby player second, so please remember that even though people see us a super heroes, we're flesh and blood... and sometimes, the flesh needs to sit down and get healthy.