One Year Derby Anniversary: Ursula Udders

Guest post by Ursula Udders

How Caitlyn became Ursula Udders

Before roller derby I was Caitlyn - a secretary by day and a theater student by night - besides that I had nothing all that interesting going on: all my friends were at schools in other states, and I wasn’t really great at meeting new people. So I spent most of my time at home or doing things with my mom. On October 2nd, 2009 I was at the mall with my mom because we were bored and shopping was something to do. The first thing we always do is go past the theater to see if anything good is playing, and thats where I saw it: “Whip It” sneak preview one week early... I had heard of it and was really interested in seeing it. At this point I didn’t think roller derby existed anymore, that it was just something people do in TV and movies to make for interesting plots...and boy was I wrong.

Hair/makeup: Total Image Salon;
Photo by Dino Petrocelli

Before the movie all these girls with odd names like Scarbucks and Doc Bi O’Hazard came in and sat in the reserved seats. I thought nothing of it and the movie started. By the time the movie was over I was in love and wished roller derby was still around. I’d say about a minute after I thought about that and was out of the theater a girl who had the name Kitty Porn on her back was handing me a flyer about a roller derby recruitment night that Monday for the Hellions of Troy. Needless to say that was all I could talk about for days. I wasn’t sure I would be able to make it that Monday because I had a theater history class, so I went to the website and sent them an E-mail asking another time I could come. Within a few hours I had an e-mail from a girl named Shockratease (an e-mail I still have) saying it was no problem and I could come by on a Thursday.

Spicy! Hair/makeup: Total
Image Salon

By the time Monday came around I couldn't wait any long so I set out on going and missing class. When I got there I was greeted by Kitty and Shock. Soon after I was encouraged to put on skates and try it out (Rollarama is an active skating rink, so new recruits can borrow skates until they get their own). The last time I skated was when I was 13 so I knew I wouldn’t be very good at it. I was right - I spent most of the night clinging to the wall with help from a girl named Ivanna. Regardless of my poor skating I wanted to come back and get better. By the third practice I had found my center of balance and got my meat name: Spicy Tuna. I couldn’t of been happier.

Broken ankle cast
featuring Hellions colors

On October 5th 2010, it will be one year exactly that I’ve been with the Hellions of Troy... no longer as Spicy Tuna, but as Ursula Udders. I haven’t actually gotten to play in a bout yet since I broke my ankle on January 14th and took almost 4 months to recover, but I haven’t let that scare me away. Yes, that first time back on skates is terrifying thinking about what if it happens again, but you gotta do it and not let anything scare you. It’s also much easier to do with 30+ girls cheering you on. I haven’t passed minimums yet but I’m determined to pass them by my birthday in January.

This has been the best year of my life. I’ve met so many people on my team and on others. I can no longer imagine my life without derby and I wouldn’t give it up for anything.