I would love to sit here and talk about how fantastic of a derby girl I am. It would be great if I could tell you I can do 40,000 laps in 5 minutes,
and my body is a hard, well-oiled jamming machine. I would definitely like to tell you that I'm the most confident, badass chick around too.
I can't do that, or else I'd be a total liar. The closest I've gotten to being a great derby girl is skating alongside (but mostly lagging behind) the amazing skaters of the Angel City Derby Girls. I just passed the one year anniversary of meekly shuffling my dead weight into Moonlight Rollerway for the fresh meat class. The one year anniversary of me almost running the opposite direction of the beautiful, loud, and slightly-dangerous looking roller girls. Something made me stop from running, something that apparently never decided to show up any other time I've wanted to kick off a new hobby or interest. I don't know what it was, but it cemented my feet into the patch of tile directly in front of
one of the team captains, made me take the new recruit paperwork from her, and barely scribbled "Kitten Tarantino" into the "derby name desired" line. It was an empty name. A cute one, yeah, but it meant nothing at this point. I just knew that I WANTED it to mean something, and be a part of something.
I had made it that far, and already paid the 7.50 to get into the rink, so now I had to get skates on. Too bad I didn't realize I couldn't skate until that moment. But I strapped the worn out skates on and silently begged them to not make me look like an idiot, because I could handle that simple task on my own. It was the exact opposite of what I thought it would be- I didn't break anything, and none of the girls tried to check me into the wall. In fact, it was probably one of the most inspiring and exciting nights I've had in a long time. Every couple laps I would barely skate, another girl would come over, fix my posture, and tell me a little about themselves. And the more I found out about each girl, the more characteristics I picked up that I aspired to be like. There is far too many amazing women on the team to even try to take their talents and put them into one person, because I'm pretty sure that person's name would probably have to be Jesus. But the characteristics…those, I could try to squeeze into one. And that’s exactly what I do, every time my gear goes on. My wrist guards are like my focus and will-power; I keep them in front of me and they help me get back on my feet when I fall. My knee pads are my patience, positive attitude and selflessness; They need to be there when I’m brought down to make sure I understand that the fall could have been much worse. The elbow pads are like my discipline and obedience; Sure, I don’t wear them all the time, but without them I wouldn’t be allowed on the track. And my skates…they are my confidence, my escape route, my moxie on 8 wheels. I’ve never felt more beautiful and strong as I do when I’m wearing my skates. The feeling I get from skating is almost more than deserved from such a simple task as putting skates on.
Every practice and open skate night has been a new lesson for me. Not only how to play roller derby (which, let’s be honest, I didn’t fully grasp how until about 4 months ago), but how to be a friend, a networker, and most importantly, a sister. They have given me more confidence than I ever thought I could possess. I’ve had this incredible opportunity to be a part of a team of some of the strongest women in Los Angeles, and I sit here 3,000 miles away missing them everyday. Kitten Tarantino wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Angel City, and I would still be wishing I knew how to skate right now. Here’s to Los Angeles, home of the Pretty City roller girls who made a woman out of me.
See you in hell. xo
