Mother, Wife, Corporate Manager and Derby Girl…

July 2010 - I was your average working mother. I worked in a corporate office full time, came home every evening to my other full time role as a wife and mother. I wasn’t getting enough exercise (the gym had never really been my thing) and I was always focused on everyone else but me. I was mid-‘30s, tired of the monotony that had become my life and frankly……excruciatingly bored!

The first time I heard about roller derby was when my six-year-old came home from a derby bout that his grandparents had taken him to. He walked in and said, “Mum, I went to watch the roller derby and it was awesome and you should do it.” Things kind of went from there; I rocked up to a Freshmeat and Greet, met some awesome women and started skating.

The next six months or so flew by in a whirlwind. As well as developing some amazing friendships with a bunch of beautiful, strong women, I learned to do a whole lot of cool shit on wheels that I never thought I would ever do. I finished Freshmeat, graduated into the RCRD League and was drafted to a team. Team training began and I learned more, got stronger and tougher, both physically and mentally…Heidi Contagious had arrived. It was also around this time that I lost my mum. Derby and the unquestionable support from my derby girls played a big part in getting in me through it...

My friends and colleagues thought I was mad. “What was I thinking?” They said. “You’re pushing 40. Have you lost your mind entirely? You’ll get hurt.” But it was my ‘thing’. I was doing something for me that made me feel better about myself. I was active, playing a sport that I loved, happier and feeling like I had more balance in my life than I’d had in a long time. I did and still do go through periods of feeling guilty about not putting my family first but I know that the time they do get to spend with me is time spent with a happier person. My son is proud of his mum and is definitely one of Comic Slams’ and Convicts’ biggest fans!

Sometimes I get bruised, injured, frustrated and angry (especially when my body won’t do what I want it to do). I get tired and sore and sometimes I cry. I also get to hang out with cool chicks, train hard, skate into people and knock people over. It’s totally worth it.

I don’t know if I’ll play derby forever but I do know I’ll be involved with derby and all of the amazing people I have met for a long time to come. For now, I love derby and let’s face it, I’ll probably never be the best skater in RCRD but I can ‘f*#k shit up’ and ‘do a thing’ with the best of them.