Derby Name & #:Low Ride Her #99
Home League: Nickel City Roller Derby (Sudbury, Ontario Canada)
Team: Sister Slag

[Widow LaRue: Q] How did you discover Roller Derby?

[Low Ride Her: A] In May of this past year, I was walking through the mall and spotted a booth with a pair of roller skates, a helmet and a lap top showing videos of people playing roller derby. I looked at the people sitting there and realized, I had went to high school with one of them; Elle aka Dirt Devil. I said, “Hey; is this like the movie Whip it?” She said “yes!” I immediately knew that I had to sign up!

[Pictured left: Low Ride Her studio shot. Photo courtesy of Melissa Deschesne from Design De Plume]

[Widow LaRue: Q] Have you had any past sporting experience?

[Low Ride Her: A] I grew up playing sports like Ringette, and I was a pretty good skater so I figured roller skating would be pretty awesome to pick up.

[Widow LaRue: Q] How long have you been skating with Nickel City?

[Low Ride Her: A] The league just started out this past year in Sudbury and were going to be wrapping up their very first fresh meat training in July; the second set of girls were set to commence their fresh meat training at the end of June; I was one of them!

This being the first time I had ever been on roller skates, it was not as easy as I had anticipated. It took quite a few major wipe-outs, but I kept at it.

[Pictured right: Low Ride Her studio shot. Photo courtesy of Melissa Deschesne from Design De Plume]

[Widow LaRue: Q] What motivates you to keep pushing yourself for Derby?

[Low Ride Her: A] The first bout I ever watched live in July, when NCRD invited London’s Thames Fatales to play GTAR’s Derby Debutantes with some skaters from Sault Ste. Marie; that was it.

I had only been skating for about a month at this point and watching this bout justified how much I wanted to play this sport! Between Mirambo’s hard hitting ferociousness and relentless efforts at not letting anyone past her, to Piepshow’s amazing maneuverability at jamming right through the pack and Bruiseberry Pie’s jaw dropping hits, I was in!

[Widow LaRue: Q] When did you do your minimum skills and how did that go?

[Low Ride Her: A] NCRD did their first WFTDA testing on August 19th. I was so nervous doing my laps; my legs were wobbling when the whistle blew to start skating. I fell half way through my first lap, got back up and continued to skate. One of the girls, who was in charge of counting my laps hollered at me; “breathe Carolyn, breathe!” Miraculously, I started to feel calmer once I relaxed and I managed to finish my laps in time. After successfully completing the testing, it was time to submit my name and number.

[Widow LaRue: Q] About that, what does your name and number represent?

[Low Ride Her: A] Basically, I would have to say that my derby name Low Ride Her comes from me being able to get really low and staying there, plus I like the song!. The number 99 comes from one of the greatest hockey players, Wayne Gretzky. Not only was he fast and an amazing hockey player; he was protected. I knew that I wanted to be a jammer and it seemed to me that the jammers are for the most part protected by their blockers; so the number fit perfectly!

[Pictured right: Low Ride Her with SuzyHot-Rod and SmartyPants]

[Widow LaRue: Q] You guys just had your first ever bout in London, had did that go?

[Low Ride Her: A] We had just over a month to prepare for our team, Sister Slag’s first bout; to be held October 2nd. Practice, practice, and more practice was heavily underway. The bout in London was a double header, us versus the Luscious Lunch Ladies!

I was extremely nervous leading up and felt the anxiety setting in. The day went by way too fast and I barely even took the time to eat. The bout began, and it was GO, GO, GO without ever feeling like you were able to sit on the bench long enough between jams, it was exhausting to say the least. Nearing the end of the first half, I couldn’t even feel my legs anymore, but I could not give up, I had to keep playing.

It was half time; we were in our little dressing room curtain at the Western Fair Grounds and our coach, Executive Bomber passed me a Gatorade. I can remember thinking, all I want is to feel my legs again, I still had another half to play! Within 15 minutes, my legs no longer felt the way a rubber chicken looks and I knew that I would never go into a bout without Gatorade again! The Lunch Ladies won, but I knew that I had given it my best and I was proud of myself and my team for our efforts.

[Widow LaRue: Q] How was the Blood and Thunder experience?

[Low Ride Her: A] Through the fall, I kept hearing about Blood and Thunder’s training camp to be held in December, and as soon as registration opened, I was in there. I had no idea which category I would fall into when it came to being a beginner or an intermediate. There were 6 of us that headed down for all four days, and another 4 skaters to arrive Saturday. When we got there, it was difficult to see where we (a bunch a rookies from Sudbury) would fit in, as we did not have a long existing league with actual rookie and veteran skater rosters.

[Pictured right: Blood and Thunder All-star team board. Low Ride Her makes it!!. Photo courtesy of Mirambo]

First thing Thursday morning, we were all going down to the car to head to the Hangar and there was Smarty Pants! I had viewed some footage, read about and watched the TV series Rollergirls prior to Blood and Thunder, so I was pretty excited to meet her!

After arriving at The Hangar and getting all geared up I started to shake and was very hesitant on which first class I should take. I knew that I really wanted to take the first class as it was an intermediate jamming class and I wanted to learn all of the skills that I possibly could as a jammer, but I was hesitant as I didn’t know if I would fit in. I went up to Smarty Pants to ask for her opinion and she asked if I would like to watch the girls skate a bit and then make a decision and I agreed.

She made a quick announcement requesting all intermediate and advanced girls to skate together on one track and for the beginners to go on the other track and skate until training started in approximately 5 minutes. All of the girls were skating and I was just feeling the nervousness in my body and just couldn’t be decisive. The 5 minutes were up and it was time to jump into your groups.

I made a decision and jumped into Wile E Peyote’s jamming class with no regrets! I then carried on and went to the following class with Smarty Pants where she was teaching accessing different parts of the body to initiate blocks. Towards the end of the class she wanted to show some moves on blocking and she asked me to join her. My goal for this drill was to get pass her while jamming and she was going to block me.

She was amazing; she didn’t even have to look at you. She had perfect timing, it was like she knew precisely where you were going to be and when. I actually got past her a few times and she made silly faces as she rushed to get right back up in front of me to stop me. It was so much fun and helped me with all of the nervousness and insecurities I had been feeling all day.

[Widow LaRue: Q] How did the B&T All Star try-outs go?

[Low Ride Her: A] I had no intentions on trying out for the Blood and Thunder All Star team as I thought that it would be completely out of my league, but as my first day progressed in training, I started to feel more and more like it would be a fun experience and that I had nothing to lose. I decided that I was going to do it; I was going to try out! Two of us from NCRD decided that we would do it, me and my buddy Wheels of Misfortune.

[Pictured right: Low Ride Her with Quadzilla and Wheels Of Missfortune]

The try-outs were an open scrimmage, everyone randomly divided into two groups; Black Mambas vs. White Trash. I got in line and jumped in to play with girls I had never even met before. As my first jam was set to start, I looked around the track and realized that the girls on the opposing team were all seasoned all stars from across Canada who were about to give it their very best too, so I had to dig deep. I felt as though I was a little rag doll who couldn’t even stay up on her feet, it was hit, after hit, after hit. I had to push myself so hard to get back up and keep trying to work my way through the pack.

The scrimmage carried on and in all, my body took some of the biggest hits ever. At one point I was taken out with a can-opener slash sternum hit and fell so hard that I didn’t think I was going to be able to get back up, but somehow my brain told my body, you gotta keep going. When the jam was called off, Wheels and I skated back in line to go up next, my NCRD team mates; Pinky N Da Pain, Violent Fembot, No Mercy Mercer and Bossy Jocy were right there to cheer us on. In this scrimmage, there were 3 girls in particular had done a real number on me that left me with some harsh rink rash and bruising all over my body; Mega Bouche, Boo Ya Ya and Trash and Smash killed me.

Finally the long whistle blew at what seemed the perfect time to let us go back to our hotels and sleep. Smarty Pants said that they needed to go and “discuss” and they would be right back. Just when we thought that was it for the night, Suzy Hot Rod, Quadzilla, Coach Pauly and Smarty Pants decided that they wanted to have another 10 minutes of scrimmage, as they said there was just so much talent being shown and it was too hard to decide. I jumped back in, went out for 2 more jams and just when I was about to go for my 3rd the whistle blew. They decided that they needed to put more thought into the trials and base it not only on the scrimmage, but what they had seen in the classes that day and they would announce it the next morning.

During lunch the following day the training squad was ready to announce the All-Star Team! I wasn’t feeling very confident in myself and had pretty much told myself that odds were, it’s a no, but I still had to know, somewhere deep inside me thought, there is still a chance. When Smarty Pants and Coach Pauly finally turned the board, I looked and did not see my number. Then all of a sudden my number just popped out at me, there it was, number 99. I MADE THE TEAM, I MADE THE TEAM.

In all honesty my eyes got all watery and a tear or two may have oozed down my face. I kept saying Oh my God, Oh my God. I just couldn’t believe it. What an amazing and special moment that was. Not only were the girls from my own home league proud of me, but so were all of the girls from London’s Forest City Derby girls. Ohhh, I still remember the feeling.

I later went up to Smarty Pants to thank her for choosing me and she told me that she liked my style. That was the nicest thing I could have heard from someone who really inspires me and is so talented at this sport. That was a moment I will never forget.

[Widow LaRue: Q] What was it like playing for B&T All Stars: Team Black?

[Low Ride Her: A] Friday night was to be our one and only team practice. We were team black and we were to scrimmage against Team White. Immediately, all of the girls agreed that Georgia W Tush should be our team Captain. Tush suggested that we form lines and play by trial and error to see who worked best with each other. We started to play and again, the nervousness set in.

[Pictured right: Low Ride Her studio headshot. Photo courtesy of Melissa Deschesne from Design De Plume]

After my first jam, I made sure to mention to all of the girls on my team that I had only ever played in one bout and that I may be lacking some of the skills that the other girls have as well as the endurance to keep going jam after jam. The entire team was awesome and wanted to be there for a good time and to play together as a team. Eight Mean Wheeler, Semi Precious, Georgia W Tush, Assassinista, Jemicide, and Soul Rekker even did some of the little things to go out of their way that made me that much more comfortable and feeling like I had belonged there. They were leaders, full of confidence and sincere kindness. At the end of our practice, Tush said that she would make up some lines that night and let us know Saturday morning.

Tush came to see me in the morning to let me know which lines I was going to be on. She said, I noticed that you just put down a J to be a jammer, but I want you to block too. I asked her if she was sure, as I rarely practice blocking; at home whenever we scrimmaged I always practiced jamming. Tush said “oh yeah don’t worry, you’ll be fine”. In the words of Smarty Pants from one of her classes over the course of the weekend, she said ‘if you want to be a good jammer, you need to be a good blocker too’. My only concern was that in the now, TONIGHT, I am going to block at the Blood and Thunder All Star Game!

I knew that some of the girls took the bout very seriously and there were others who were just so happy to make it on the team that they were just going to enjoy the experience, so I didn’t want to let anyone down. I got some really good advice and tips from Soul Rekker and Semi Precious before the game. We discussed how we would work together during the bout; I had never really discussed derby strategy before, so sitting there with two experienced skaters like them was quite honestly, unreal.

[Widow LaRue: Q] At a place like B&T there must have been no shortage of leadership; did you have trouble absorbing all the mentoring?

[Low Ride Her: A] Absolutely! It was amazing to see the leadership exhibited by fellow rookies Andi Slamberg and Tomahawk of London who have only a handful of bouts under their belts as well. Over the course of the weekend, I had the honor to be instructed by the legendary Quadzilla!

He took his classes very seriously and wanted all those in attendance to listen when he was speaking so that he wouldn’t have to repeat himself and so that we could all get the most out of it. A few times, people were caught talking and he would make the entire class with the exception of ‘those who were talking’ sit in a squat position until he thought it was enough… LOL

He held an open forum class where anyone could ask questions about anything, he instantly had an answer or a drill that we could all do right away. He even hung out with us at the All Star game after party and participated in some of the wild games and even created one of his own (leg wrestling).... He did the human pyramid with all of us too, which I collapsed!

He has been on roller skates since he was 4 years old, just like Smarty Pants! I honestly don't think that there was anything that he couldn't do in his skates. He miraculously jumped 10 people at the All Star half time show, but holds a record of jumping 14! He was an all-around amazing guy who I am very happy to have met and become friends with.

[Widow LaRue: Q] How did the All Star game go down for you?

[Low Ride Her: A] Tush wanted us to be there nice and early before the bout to prepare. Beater Pan-Tease (one of the funniest girls I have ever met!) led our dry land warm up and got us all nice and heated and ready to rock. Man, does that ever help!

We had a total of 6 lines; I was on line # 2 for blocking and line # 6 for jamming. My first jam was against Rainbow Fight of Newfoundland fame, I got lead jammer status and scored 4 points. On my second jam, the most fun and certainly most memorable jam for me, was when I went up against CommieKaze.

We smiled and fist pumped as we got ready in our stance, there was Mega Bouche facing me getting ready to block with a big grin on her face, pointing to her eyes and then pointing back at me, taunting that she had her eyes on me. If anything, all that did was make me want to hip check her as I passed her, I had a huge smile on my face and I told her to go away twice before she turned and skated past the pivot line.

I managed to get right past her as well as the other opposing team mates and gain lead jammer status, but Commie was right there behind me, I called off the jam before making any attempts at getting through for points and unfortunately did not get to see what Mega Bouche was going to have in store for me.

I think I jammed 3 or 4 times throughout the bout and was thrown in to block on about 7 lines, which turned out to be super fun! I didn’t get play in the second half as much as the first as our team spent quite a bit of time in the sin bin. The two times in the second that I did get to go block, I wound up in the penalty box myself.

[Widow LaRue: Q] Who pushed you the hardest during Blood and Thunder?

[Low Ride Her: A] I wouldn’t say anyone in particular pushed me harder during this training camp as Smarty Pants, Quadzilla, Suzy Hot Rod, Wiley E Peyote and Coach Pauly all taught me how to be a better skater, blocker, jammer and team mate. They all have a style all their own that they wanted to share with all of the girls who were there.

From all of the trainers and the skaters at Blood and Thunder I would have to say that my eyes have been opened. So many people who know so little about each other, yet they are all there for each other. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you are from or what you do, everyone is equal and everyone wants to help each other. There is no judging or selfishness. It is beautiful! But, most importantly, I learnt to believe in myself!

I am still in awe with the whole experience, some people may think that I am a real corn dog, but this was one of the best experiences of my life and I will never forget it. My entire team was full of skill and support. Everyone who got to participate in this event did amazing. I made so many new friends and I miss them all already.

[Pictured below: Low Ride Her studio shot. Photo courtesy of Melissa Deschesne from Design De Plume]