Help us name our Tournament!

There is no limit to the number of submissions you can make – just enter each submission on a new line. Good luck!

More information on our Tournament coming soon – Mark your calendars for October 20th!

The girls will be parading around both February 17th and 18th – beginning at 8:00 PM with their very own Black-n-Bluegrass Rollergirls float while passing out candy, beads and schedule cards for their 2012 season. You can also enjoy a cold beer under the heated entertainment tent and listen to some live music provided by The Websters!

The Black-n-Bluegrass Roller Girls love supporting their community so come out and support them at their first home bout May 19th, 2012 at the Bank of Kentucky Center.

Get more details – Check out the writeup on Roller Derby Examiner

Take two. I had my surgery. I went back for my post surgery check up and the pin that was placed in my finger had moved and I was put in a hard cast up to my elbow. My work was furious at me, many talking behind my back saying I should have to stay home until I can do my job. I may not be able to go catch dogs with a cast but I can do office work and adoptions – the only good thing is that it was my left hand. They just felt it was terrible because I hurt myself playing derby, which they all think is something stupid that the weird girl at the office does but not something normal people do and definitely not something that should cause injury and affect your job (I won’t even bring up horse riding).

The cast finally came off and the physical therapy starts, three days a week I am going in trying to get my broken finger to move, plus the other two that were in the cast with it. They are not moving, I can barley bend my broken one and the other two really hurt. At this time I guess I hit a depression. I was worried and pissed at my job, and I was gaining weight like crazy. I broke my finger in March and it was July and I was skating my first bout, and I figured out it was a year since my last bout (I was in a car accident end of last season). People with broken legs heal faster than me.

My first bout back was great, I thought I did really well I got all kinds of compliments and was pretty happy with myself. Then as stupid as it was, it was the next practice and it was time to see who got the rewards for performance. The team captains always give little star rewards to the girls who did well at the bouts. I thought it was my time to finally get one, First bout back after an injury and I did well. However my name was not called, so I guess I didn’t do as well as I thought. I am not a jammer or a flashy blocker so I don’t get a lot of notice, it’s just the way it is sometimes and most times I am fine with it. When it comes to getting MVP I am SUPER happy about it (those paddles hurt) but every once in a while it would be nice to look on my fridge and see a star.

I think that was the start of my downward spiral of my 2011 derby season. It seemed that whatever I did I was terrible at, some practices made me cry and feel that I was useless and could not skate at all. I made rosters but did not play much and my stupid finger still was not moving. However I figured out a lot of things, you learn a lot about yourself and your team when you sit out a lot of practices. I learned that we didn’t listen to our coach and why he got so mad at us sometimes. I learned the rules and plays better. I can NSO the penalty box if I need to.

Flash forward to my final doctor appointment, or at least what I think is my final doctor appointment. He keeps looking at my finger and saying he wants it to move better, well duh it barley moves at all. His solution is I have to have a second surgery. Are you serious another surgery on this stupid finger, more time off work, more time off skates. The only good news is I can wait until after the end of the season party, because I need to go back to therapy and get it ready for surgery. I schedule the surgery for after the end of season party and take two weeks off work so I don’t have to see the looks and hear the whispers.

The end of the season party is approaching and I look back on my derby season and there is nothing good I can say about it. I played terrible I had the world’s most stupid injury, no awards and no confidence. I did have a derby family that still loved me no matter what, a family at home that understood and a plan for next season. And somehow I didn’t win the best injury award. I decided to just put my 2011 season behind me and remember it for what it was the year of my sucking and getting fat.
I had my second surgery at the end of October and my finger was not moving because of all the scar tissue, but they got rid of it and I was in therapy the day after my surgery. I had a different therapist this time and she really made me work and pushed hard on my finger. I went back to the doctor 10 days later and was sent back to work on full duty. I could not hurt the pin in my finger anymore and I just need to move it.

I had my last doctor appointment on 1/10/2012 and I was completely released I never have to see him again. My finger still does not move the best, but it is a lot better than it was. I don’t have to go to therapy anymore but I still have to do all my exercises and use all the gadgets they gave me. I can make a fist but it really hurts when I do. I still tape my fingers when I skate and I think I always will. I never realized that a stupid finger could cause so many problems but they are finally over or at least they better be because I have a plan for this season……..

Last year, I hadn’t passed evaluations when the end of season rolled around. I was so focused on getting better enough to pass, and I was still in the honeymoon phase, when all I thought about was derby and its wonderfulness. But by the end of the season I was a little burnt out. There is a lot that goes into being on a team in this league that has nothing to do with practicing or bouting. A lot of the Fresh Meat often don’t realize this when they sign up for bootcamp. I had some inkling, just from spending a season NSOing, but I really had no idea the time commitment that’s involved in playing derby. Let me give you an example: At each and every bout there are a number of items to take care of. As I said in an earlier blog, just on the day of the bout, there are a hundred different jobs to do—one reason why we have to get there so early. But the job starts even before bout day. There are tickets to sell, because that’s how we make money to pay for the venue (sadly, they don’t let us play for free, even though they should…). Someone has to coordinate the NSOs—who can be there, who knows how to do what jobs, etc. Someone else has to coordinate the volunteers that help us do other things, like the DJs, the announcers, the photographers. Girls who aren’t skating still have to put their time in manning the merchandise booth, or sitting at the front door collecting tickets.

Throughout the year, we are also doing fundraisers and charity events. We do the Spina Bifida Walk and Roll each year in support of one of our biggest fans, Jeremy Moses, along with numerous other charity events. We do Citybeat events to earn some advertising space for the bouts; we have to hang flyers for each event and fundraiser. And someone has to design those flyers and the programs for the bout. We skate in every parade that will have us, spending hours stuffing little bags full of candy and schedule cards to throw out at those parades. We do interviews with local radio shows, and generally do everything we can to promote ourselves. Fundraisers are another big time consumer. This year we were trying to raise money for a new venue, and I’m ecstatic to say we made our goal (come see us at the Bank of Kentucky Center next season!), but it was really hard work. Everyone was brainstorming, coming up with new ideas and ways to make money: yardsales, volleyball tournaments, reverse drag shows, public scrimmages. It was exhilarating, but also exhausting. As BBRG grows, we have growing pains, and everyone has to step up and take more responsibility, because the executive directors and the captains can’t do it all. All of this stuff is fun, but it takes away time from your family and your friends outside of derby.

Earlier in the season I got an email from a close friend, who accused me of dumping her for derby…and she was right. I did. I stopped being able to hang out as much, because I had so much going on. I cancelled on her at the last minute more than once. I found myself scrambling for babysitting, because I had so much I needed to do, and there were times my son was holding onto my leg, with tears streaming down his face, to stop me from leaving. There is a reason that they call those stay-at-home partners and husbands “derby widows.” I bought my son a shirt that said, “I’m a derby orphan.” It was funny, but sort of true, and I don’t feel great about the time I missed with him. I try to bring him along when I can—he loves being in the parades—but not everything we do is kid friendly. And forget about dating. Trying to date as a single mom is hard enough. Trying to date as single mom who plays derby is ridiculous. Who has time to go out to dinner when you have practice three or four times a week and events every weekend? Relationships outside of derby suffer a lot when derby is in-season. For every new relationship that begins (usually with someone in derby too), there is another that ends, and it’s not fun to watch.

Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE roller derby. It’s changed my life in so many amazing ways. But there is a reality to all the time and effort that we put in. I may be a better skater, but am I a better mom or a better friend? I don’t know the answer to that, but sometimes I feel like it’s “no.” All I do know is that I was looking forward to the break after the end of season meeting. I wanted to spend time with my son and my other friends. I love my teammates, but at the time, I was tired of looking at them every day. I was weary of asking my friends for money for the team and walking the streets to hang up flyers, dragging my son in tow. It was getting too cold for short skirts and tank tops, and I’ve always been one to get the winter blues. Some of the veterans on my team have told me that every year by the end of the season, they’re just sort of “over it” for the year, and for the first time, I understood why. But they also tell me that when January rolls around, they realized how much they missed it, and by the time of the first bout, their derby love is at its height again. They miss their teammates; they miss the practices; they miss the adrenaline of a good bout. It’s now the beginning of the year, and I’m starting to feel it too. I spent the off season unable to skate because I got cellulitis in my leg from a spider bite. It was frustrating, because I wanted to keep some momentum going, even if I wasn’t going to beat myself up for missing a practice here and there to spend with my son. Instead I found myself not skating at all for almost 2 months, and it’s definitely taken a toll on my body. Holiday binging and sheer laziness have left me feeling pretty pathetic. I find myself itching to skate again so badly, it’s all-consuming. I miss how good I felt last fall from a season of exercise for the first time in my life.

The last season was amazing and getting my jacket was the culmination of a lot of hard work. But everybody needs a break sometimes, and I was definitely ready for mine. Now that January has rolled around, I’m renewed and re-energized, ready to take on some more great teams in spring, and I feel like I’ve gotten a little of my life back. We have a new practice space that we’re working on cleaning and getting ready and our new bout venue debuts in May. I’ve already started cleaning my skates and gear for when practice starts next week. All I can say is that it’s good to be back!

Rosie the Riv-hit-her, a regular “gym rat” at Terry Bryan’s Fitness Center, can already tell the difference working out with Terry has done for her overall health. “I ended last season with a bad sprain in my foot and ankle, which left me in a cast for two months and unable to skate. Keeping up with Terry’s workout plan allowed me to stay in shape, avoid physical therapy and lace up my skates sooner than expected.”

“Terry Bryan’s Training Center has changed my life,” per Beka Rekanize. Beka has been training with Terry Bryan of Terry Bryan’s Training Center since August of 2011. Since then she has gained 3lbs of lean muscle and weaned off 2% body fat. In addition to that the workouts that Terry plans work a wide range of muscles that help to improve skater stability, ability, endurance and overall strength. The proof is in the pudding – Beka has reported that her teammates have noticed a difference and that she isn’t as easy to knock around anymore. Terry himself has a solid understanding of what the needs of a roller derby skater are and implements a variety of exercises (including bands, free weights, exercise balls, cardio and endurance building) to help skaters improve their performance.

Proud Mary states: As the oldest member of BBRG, Proud Mary, I personally would not be physically fit to be competitive with my other teammates if it were not for Terry Bryan’s workouts. He has helped me with strengthening my shoulder which I injured last season. Terry has workout sessions mornings and nights which helps me because I work all different times of day being that I work in the restaurant industry. I also have been going to Terry since August 2011 and have enjoyed every minute. He is a motivator and knows what your personal needs are.

Check out Terry Bryan on Facebook

Link.

I also got to play in two away bouts. One was a last minute game against the Rollergirls of Central Kentucky (ROCK), who play in Lexington. We get along with them well and consider a lot of them friends. The team was mixed that night, because it was so last minute. There were A and B skaters on our team, and we won with an amazing final jam by Sheneeda Spankin, one of our best blockers and an all-around great skater. I was more nervous at this game than my first two, because I’d never skated on a floor that wasn’t ours before. ROCK skates on concrete, and it was a completely new surface to me. For those of you that don’t skate, you have no idea how different surfaces affect your speed and agility. I found myself unable to plow stop, because the surface was too grippy. I’d stop and pitch forward because it would happen faster than I expected it to. But everything I was doing was helping me learn just a little bit more.

The second away bout was at NEO in Akron, OH. I wasn’t originally supposed to play, but was actually an alternate. At the last moment, someone backed out, so I got the chance to strap on my skates. It was definitely hard for me. I was on concrete again, which makes me slower than I already am. I was still not the most stable, and I was getting hit a lot. One fall was so hard, my bad knee began to ache again. I was just waiting for the bout to be over so I could ice it. And I also ran into something I hadn’t experienced before: serious heckling from the other team’s fans. I had heard some trash talk on the floor by other teams, but usually not too bad. Our fans usually don’t heckle, from what I’ve noticed, although they do cheer loudly when one of our blockers makes a good hit and takes out another team’s jammer. At NEO, for the first time, I heard people yelling some not so nice things about our team—talking about weight and other personal things. And a few times, I would get hit and fall hard and their fans would laugh at me. It was slightly humiliating, very humbling, and made me feel terrible.

So that’s one thing I want to say to all of our fans who might read this blog. Don’t heckle. Just don’t do it. The girls that play us work their butts off, devote a ton of time, and pay for the privilege of playing. This isn’t a professional sport. We don’t get paid and whatever we do, we do for ourselves. Whether they’re beating us or we’re beating them, it’s ok to cheer for us and support us, but that doesn’t involve being jerky. Even if you think they’re being unsportsmanlike or mean to us, it’s not ok to lower yourselves to their level. We don’t want those kinds of fans at our bouts. Every girl out there is trying her best, and it’s tough to go in front of a crowd that’s not your own and play as it is, without the added verbal abuse. Even though I only played in two away bouts, I attended almost every other one this season as a spectator. There were a couple of times the fans at those away bouts were downright cruel to some of our skaters. I’m proud to say that I’ve never seen one of our fans do that, so maybe I’m just preaching for nothing, but just in case, I’m just putting it out there. Cheer us, clap for us, yell loudly for us, but don’t pick on the other team.

We had a recent incident at an away bout that darkened our skies for quite a few days. Our A team was beating their A team quite handily. I was so proud of them. But the fans got louder and meaner with each jam. The tension at the bout was like a thick fog settling over everyone, as the fans raged and fueled both our and the other team’s rage. At the end of the bout, someone (a B skater from the other team who was watching the A team bout) ran onto the track and tried to grab our jammer. The resulting fall-out was blamed on us by their fans. They accused the refs of bias in ridiculous ways. They took to social media and called us everything under the sun. And it was the fans, not really the other team, that were doing this. We know you want us to win. We want to win too. But remember, as fans, that you too can have an effect on the game. The Black n Bluegrass Rollergirls want their fans to be just as great as we are!
But enough of the soap box. The season end was coming upon us. I was honored to be chosen to play in our last home bout. I didn’t play as much as I would have liked to, but in the end, I got to play, and I am truly grateful. Our B team lost our game, and that was tough, but the A team won against Gem City, with another amazing jam by Shaneeda Spankin, in what was to be her last home bout. And that’s another thing about derby. You get so close to these girls. They invade every facet of your lives and seem like permanent fixtures, but sometimes people move on. Earlier in the season, one of our best blockers, Haterade, moved back to Indianapolis and joined the Naptown team. Now, Sheneeda, arguably the best blocker we have, is moving to Knoxville, and my beloved Mellkat has gone to London to go to school. I can only hope their new teams appreciate our girls as much as we did. Bertha Knuckles has retired and is joining the announcing staff, so although she won’t be gone, she won’t be skating any longer. For Sheneeda, Mellkat, and Bertha, these were their last home bouts for BBRG, and it was heartbreaking. (Although Mellkat will be back!)

At the same time, a new crop of FNGs was going through their paces at bootcamp. I watched them struggle to learn their minimum skills, reliving my own experience and feeling a bit of joy over how far I had come in a year. By the beginning of October, there would be an influx of new talent—six girls with drive and love for their new sport. On October 22nd, we had our end of season party, and I, Kung FU Hussy, soon-to-be former FNG, finally earned my team jacket! You know I will wear it with pride, as the new Fresh Meat take their turns to learn and play for the first time, and lust over the prospect of their own jackets. (Insert cheesy Lion King music here) The cycle of derby continues on…

Next week: Slash and Burn(out)

From the article: Northern Kentucky University has added another form of entertainment to The Bank of Kentucky Center, as the Black-n-Bluegrass Roller Girls have skated their way to the arena.

View the full article here – http://www.thenortherner.com/sports/2011/12/07/roller-derby-takes-over-bokc/

Once we get to the venue, we have to do things like help lay the track, clean the floor (so we aren’t sliding all over the place), give out the hospitality bags, clean our wheels, fix our hair, and so on. I was already sweating by the time warm ups started. I had put on what would become my trademark: glittery, red lips—like Dorothy’s shoes. I had also gotten the idea to put some glittery decals on my eyes—something I’d seen another skater do on South Carolina’s team when we played them a few weeks before. This was a mistake. As I sweated, my sweat ran into the decals and into my eyes. When I rubbed them, glitter got in my eyes and they started burning. By the time our bout was getting ready to begin, one of my eyes was completely bloodshot and blurry. It wasn’t boding well.

B team played second that night (the teams switch off who plays first at each bout). I realized I had forgotten to eat, as my nervous energy had kept me running all day. I tried to stuff down a hot pretzel, but found I wasn’t really hungry. So here I was: bloodshot eyes, slightly sick to my stomach, bouncing around like the Energizer Bunny. I couldn’t even watch the first game for more than a few minutes at a time, because I was unable to sit still. The time came for us to line up for equipment check. At equipment check, the refs make sure that you are properly geared up, for your own safety and the safety of those you’re playing with. I pulled my uniform down one last time (they ride up a bit), took a deep breath, and joined the lineup.

Once equipment checks were finished, I rolled over to the bench, where I saw, for the first time, my name on the back of a seat. MY seat!!! Then it was time for the introductions. Honestly, my biggest fear at that moment was that I would fall during my introduction. Each skater takes a lap and smacks the hands of all the fans standing around the track after her name is called. I was worried I’d miss my intro, or fall, or generally make an ass of myself. But then they called, “Number 42. Kung FU Hussy!” and I took off—slowly, hitting each person’s hand as I went by. They were smiling and yelling, and I felt amazing! I made my lap (without falling, thank you very much) and joined my teammates in center track waiting for everyone to be announced.

We got together for a quick pep talk, put all of our hands together, and yelled a loud, “BBRG!” And then I sat down in my seat and watched the game from a whole new perspective. I didn’t go in the first few jams. I had the least amount of experience of the skaters that night, and I wasn’t expecting huge amounts of play time. But then my back got tapped by the bench coach, “FU, you’re up next.” Oh god. My heart leaped into my chest and my stomach dropped about 50 feet. I started tapping my skates on the floor. When that jam ended with four whistle blasts, I stood up, shakily, and made my way to the pivot line with three other teammates. As I stood there waiting for the 5-second warning, I took stock of the other team. They looked confident, strong, and determined. I gulped a little bit and tried not to fall over. The starting whistle blew and we rolled. One of the other team’s blockers immediately slammed into my shoulder and I fell on the inside of the track. That’s when muscle memory took over. I jumped up and caught the pack. And I don’t remember a thing after that until the jam ended. I have no idea how I did, if we stopped the jammer, or if I had contributed at all. But I had finished my first jam. When I sat down, I was shaking from the adrenaline.

The rest of the game was a blur. I didn’t play in every jam, but I got a lot more play time than I expected. I made mistakes—a lot of them. The jammer would pass me on the inside because I wasn’t looking. I would get distracted by the other blockers hitting me. I would get pushed into people. I fell. A LOT. At halftime, some of the A team skaters, including Red Emma, gave us hugs and told us we were doing great, but also tried to give us some pointers. I tried to take it all in. The second half went by just like the first. I was disappointed in myself as I made each mistake, mentally beating myself up over it. I was almost in tears by the end, angry that I wasn’t better. But somehow, despite my failings, my team managed to win!

At the afterparty, I took stock of myself. I realized that I needed to stop being angry that I hadn’t done better. It was my first bout, and I needed to cut myself some slack. I had accomplished so much, and I had gotten to play more than I expected. I had a ton of fun, when I wasn’t yelling at myself, and I felt like a true Black n Bluegrass Rollergirl. But I also promised myself I’d work harder and do better next time.

Next week: To Everything, There is a Season

Beka has continued seeing Dr. Didio regularly for nearly 18 months and has seen a drastic improvement in the amount of aches and pains post bout or post practice. Didio’s expertise in chiropractic care has made a huge difference in both Beka’s personal and derby lives.

Several members of BBRG visit Dr. Didio on a regular basis – we can’t say enough great things about her!

Visit Dr. Didio on Facebook

Dr. Didio Chiropractic
4971 Houston Rd., Florence, KY 41042
http://www.didiochiro.com