Contributed by Melinda Peterson
Summer, the Alaska State Fair, and fishing season have all come to an end. Now what are you going to do all winter? While getting cozy with Netflix and Hulu sound like great ideas, are they really how you want to spend the next 6 months? Are you open to the idea of active YOU TIME? That’s right. You time. You need it. You deserve it.
Boom Town Roller Derby is entering Season 9 and is in search of … you guessed it, you! We are actively recruiting new Officials (both on and off-skates), Skaters, and Volunteers.
“But I don’t know how to skate.” “I haven’t roller skated in at least 10 years!” “I have only used inline skates before.” “This sounds great, but I don’t want to get hit.” “This sounds so cool, but I cannot skate because of my health.” “I don’t have a lot of time, how can I possibly volunteer?”
We’ve heard all of these and you bet we have a response for every single one!
We can teach you. We have an excellent Skater Skills Program with trainers who can take you from learning to balance, to turning around and skating backwards.
Most of us hadn’t skated in at least 15-20 years when we decided to try roller derby!
Transitioning from inline to quad skates is less difficult than you’re imagining.
The floor is hard, and we have to learn to take some pretty big hits. What about becoming a Referee (skating official)? You get to skate, but nobody is hitting you (incidental contact may occasionally occur).
You can’t skate? That’s okay. Games don’t happen without non-skating officials. NSOs run the game clock, score boards, manage the penalty box, track lineups, keep scoresheets, and more. No NSOs, no Referees, no games. Officials, not fat bottomed girls, make our rockin’ world go ‘round.
Volunteers: we love them! Photographers, deejays, Anthem singers and Color Guard, ticket sales… we can keep going.
Skater Skills Program. What’s that?
Skater Skills is our revamped and renamed “Fresh Meat” program. In Skater Skills you will learn the skills necessary to become a roller derby athlete or a roller derby referee. Boom Town Roller Derby’s Skater Skills Program is open to women and men 18+ and out of high school.
Okay, keep talking. What ELSE do I get out of this?
Current Skater Skills Program member Ana, 38, is a teacher in the Mat-Su School District. She tells us that participating in roller derby has helped her to set new fitness goals “but has also helped me find a part of me that I had forgotten a bit. I have gone back to doing more things on my own and I go after small goals for myself.”
New Rookie skater (she just passed assessments to test out of the Skater Skills Program) Addaconda, 42, is also a Middle School teacher. She has played a lot of sports to include rugby, hockey, figure skating, dance, and running. (WHOA.) Team sports keep her motivated to work hard. “Roller derby has changed my life by giving me a fun sport and team to look forward to! I enjoy challenging myself and taking time to learn a new sport, it makes me happy!”
Casstastrophe has also recently moved up to Rookie level. She’s a 34-year-old Insurance Producer who credits derby with saving her life! “I was going through a major life change when I started, and having something that was just for me made a huge difference. Went from not a lot of self-confidence to knowing I can do just about anything. Derby was scary but not taking a chance for myself seemed scarier.”
Do I have to have prior athletic experience to join?
No. Boom Town doesn’t hold “tryouts”. We are a “Come as you are, because you are just right, where you are right now” kind of team. You’ve heard of the “Couch to 5K” runner training program, right? Lineblocker, 32-year-old HR Manager: “I went from couch to skates. I weighed 300 pounds and was in terrible physical shape. I am the most muscular and fit I have been in a long time.” Lineblocker tells us that she had been diagnosed with multiple autoimmune diseases just months before joining roller derby. “I was the most unhealthy I had ever been, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I found the ability to love myself again; to be proud of myself; I found strength and solace amongst strangers who became friends.”
There is an expression in the roller derby community “Roller Derby saved my soul.” Take a chance on you, you’re worth it! Boom Town has our fall New Member Intake session on September 22 at 10:00 at the Mat-Su Borough Community Gym. Come see what we’re about!
For more information, visit http://www.boomtownrollerderby.org/join-us.
