Scarface Clawdia's blog

After the name game, the other identifier of all derby girls is their number. Displayed on the helmet and upper arms, your number identifies you to the refs and is what you get called on for penalties and whatnot. This saves them from yelling out something like “Groovy Hot Lovey-Cakes*! Minor, elbows!” while doing all their fancy hand signals.

So, Evilicious Diva (or Evil as she's known more widely) may have touched on this not long ago...but as the League secretary, I am the lady who registers all our names and numbers. It's the question all the new Freshmeat or Lambs will hear from me. "Have you come up with your name yet?"

Along with giving them the website where they'll find the international derby name register and advising that they check their name for uniqueness, the next best thing is to start a list of ideas or inspirations.

One aspect of joining a DIY league like Richter City means a fair amount of commitment - and I'm not talking just training. When the first season of bouts was happening, us freshies were asked to pitch in and help get things running smoothly on the nights. I jumped in on the merch girl bandwagon - selling shirts, trucker caps, posters, badges and some sweet patches. Cheesy, but it was nice to feel involved and like I could do something. It's something I jumped in on again when we were at Blood and Thunder camp - and it was a great way to get our league out there to the diverse crowd of derby girls and punters alike.

Freshmeat, huh? Great image: glistening, fresh, bloody and raw. Quite apt really. As one of the 20 who signed up for the inaugural Freshmeat course, I was ready for action and we got three full hours of it every Sunday.

Having been nervous after watching my first bout, there was no way I was going near the game until I felt comfortable. It was a relief to know there was no way I would be ALLOWED until the league coaches confirmed I was safe enough to - I can't think of anything worse than a newbie taking to the track and getting injured straight off the bat just because they didn't know what they were doing. Well, the newbie being me would be worse...so this course was looking to be an answer to my fears. We hit the basics. I'm talking stops, falls, skate form, crossovers, blocking, taking a hit and learning some rules. Talking derby.

So, I was reading articles online to procrastinate from the mundane job that was slowly killing me when I came across this.

A wee flicker of excitement lit up. A quick Google search whipped it into a frenzy, as I found the Richter City Roller Derby site. This amazingness was in Wellington too. Argh! Further scanning revealed a Freshmeat and Greet was happening the following evening, so it seemed luck was on my side. (In all honesty, if it had been in a week or so, my initial enthusiasm probably would have been worn down by self-doubt and "reality checks" that would have me believe it was a stupid thing to look into, I could never do it and to just move on.)