We were the last car to arrive, but we met up with everyone in the lobby of the hotel (which was also where the convention was happening) for the last 30 minutes of happy hour. Once the free drinks were gone, we all headed up to our two conjoined rooms.
So, there are 10 of us lightly packed into two rooms. Two in each of the beds and one on each of the pull out couches. I think we packed enough food for a three month excursion. No one was going hungry all weekend! Plus there was a great free breakfast buffet in the mornings. We all changed into our jammies, sat around playing some games and having a good time. Eventually the reality that we had our first clinics at about 8am sunk in and we all climbed into our beds.
Vakilla (Maiden Milwaukee) and I woke up early to grab some coffee before registration and class. The buffet didn't start until 9am, so we had to forage through the piles of food in our room for breakfast. We wanted to get down early because we had to officially register for the weekend. We were afraid the line would be so long we'd miss the start of the first class. Luckily, we were early enough that there were only a handful of folks in front of us. The process went relatively fast, but it was still unorganized. Once that was taken care of, we messaged the rest of the clan to get their butts to registration. We claimed our spot in the expo center, strategically by an outlet for any needed phone charging, and got ready for the day. I scoped out the schedule for both days and had a workshop picked for every time slot both days (soon I found out that was some wishful thinking).
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| The expo area before everyone "rolled" in |
Beat Me Halfway is two full days filled with workshops, clinics, vendors, and scrimmages for derby players of all levels. They bring in some of the best and most well known derby players out there (like Miracle Whips and Freight Train!). The classes teach us about everything from jammer techniques, to blocking, toe stop work, skate maintenance, and more. So much knowledge to absorb! Now, the organization of the event is somewhat.....lacking....we didn't get notified that we could sign up for the clinic time slots until the morning the event happened. Though, it's not like anyone was checking on who signed up. It was a bit of a cluster from an organization standpoint. But the content was great!
Saturday I participated in more clinics than Sunday. I was all jazzed up for the weekend and ready to do it all. One of my favorite clinics of the day was "Endurance is Awesome!" with Freight Train. A few others from my group did the same class. I think we were all exhausted the rest of the day from it! It also got me my favorite photo from the weekend:
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| Pousse is pushing on me and Bus is my brace! |
Towards the end of the day, there were some scrimmages available for folks to play in. Three of our lovlies (Party Bus, Pousse, and VaKilla) got in on the scrim action. I had never scrimmaged before, so I thought it best to sit this one out. After all the events ended, we headed to the rooms to get cleaned up for the other derby themed event of the night...Arch Rival's home opener!
Arch Rival, one of St. Louis' derby groups was having their home opener games that day. They have four teams (Smashinistas, M80s, Rebel Skate Alliance, and Stunt Devils), so there were two games, just like Brewcity Bruisers have during their home games. Arch Rival's travel team is ranked #5 in the WORLD. There are some great players on their teams! We got to watch some good derby, buy some sweet merchandise, and even witnessed a proposal! One of the announcers proposed to one of the players and the end of the night. One of the teams, the newest team as of this season, is Rebel Skate Alliance. All the players have Star Wars themed names (Darth Tator, Jabba the Butt, Endorable, Storm Bruiser...you get the idea). One of our players, Jedi Mind Trick, was obviously completely enamored with the entire team. If she hasn't found a way to move to St. Louis yet, I think she's working on it! My original idea for a derby name would have fit in too...Princess Slaya! But I'm happy with Bronze Fronds. With the end of the games, we headed back, chatted for a bit in the rooms and headed to bed.
Sunday was another fun filled day, but less on-skate action. I had some sweet blisters on my big toes from doing a toe stop clinic and I needed to rest my feet (and the rest of me) for the planned event for Sunday night. I think everyone did a little less skating on Sunday. Being on skates all day can get tiring! Three of the ladies left around lunch time on Sunday because they had to be home for work on Monday. Boo! Sunday afternoon was quiet. I think a few people took naps. I sat and watched a clinic instead of skate in it. One of the biggest lessons I learned was bring a notebook! There was way too much information to absorb, and I know I don't remember most of it. A lot of people were taking videos of the instructors and some were taking notes. Next year I'll be more prepared!
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| Preparing to do a skate maintenance class |
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| Getting ready for my first scrimmage! |
As the day was winding down, we had to pack up a little early because we had the best part of the weekend ahead of us (at least in my opinion)! One of the local derby leagues,
St. Chux Derby Chix, was hosting a Rookie Rumble, aka rookie scrimmage. This was for players with about 2 years or less experience to try out a scrimmage. I was so happy that my teammates wanted to check this event out! I had seen it posted a little while back, but wasn't sure if anyone would want to go. It was a short drive from the convention center. We arrived early to the skate rink. A little too early...there were still a few birthday parties and all sorts of kids and families rolling around. We hung out, started to gear up, and eventually checked in for the event. It was time for my very first scrimmage! Everyone else that was playing from my group had scrimmaged before, and three were already on teams. I thought I'd be more nervous! I think I was nervous about being nervous. There were only 16 skaters playing, so we were 8 on 8. That just meant more playing time! I was on white with Anarchy. The other three, Party Bus, Wutser Face, and VaKilla were on black. When we were getting ready with our teams, we talked about who wanted to do what. I said I'd like to be a Jammer. So that's where I started! When the first whistle blew for us to line up, I rolled myself up to the line. I was shocked I wasn't nervous. Sometimes I made lead Jammer, sometimes not. I took some sweet hits (and one to the back of the head that thankfully got a penalty), and gave one or two hits that were alright. Since it was basically practice, no score was kept. My biggest take away from my very first scrimmage...derby is awesome! I love being a jammer, but just being able to play is amazing. It was exhausting and such a thrill. I know I have a lot to learn, but you've got to start somewhere. I was overwhelmed by the support I got from all my teammates and all the other players that participated. I couldn't hold it in - I cried. I was trying to record my daily video to Ross and it took me three tries before I could make it through without too many tears. I can't wait for him to see me play. I'll hopefully be better than I am now too!
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| Me Jamming in my first scrimmage! |
After the scrimmage, we bought some tank tops from St. Chux and headed to an Irish bar a few of them were going to be for post-scrimmage social hour. We got some food and drink and had a nice time with a few of the St. Chux team. Eventually it was time to head back to the hotel. We were able to spread out a little more since three ladies had to head home earlier in the day.
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| The two scrimmage teams |
Monday morning was just all about packing up and heading home. We enjoyed the breakfast buffet one more time, loaded up the Pam Van and hit the road. We were home around dinner time.
I have to say, I've found such a great community in Roller Derby. Even though these ladies are super bad ass and will find ways to hit you hard, they'll also be the first to help you up, give you tips to make you better and pile on the words of encouragement. Roller Derby has some of the most welcoming, kind, inclusive, and supportive people on the planet; on and off the track. I love this sport and can't wait to grow into a full fledged derby player some day! I hope to be as great of an ambassador of derby as my fellow Brewcity Bruisers. "Brewcity Bruisers! Beer, Beer, Beer!!"
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| BCB! L to R: Wutser Face, Vakilla Cupcake, Bronze Fronds, Party Bus, Susan B. Anarchy |
Looks like a 'smashing' good time!
ReplyDeleteAwesome that you've found a sport you enjoy so much, along with such nice ladies who encourage and help you achieve your goals.
Wishing you a very SMILEY 2019!
Thanks for keeping those home fires burning!
All my LOVE to you and Ross!
~ Meem