My Two Year Bout-aversary

I almost forgot - the bout I played in on May 12 against Rideau Valley was my two year anniversary of my first bout against the Utica Roller Girls (May 8, 2010).  In 2011 I bouted the same weekend (May 14), against Garden State.

November 2009 in Philly for 2009 Champs

I joined the Hellions in September 2009.  The first practice I showed up to was actually at Frear Park... it was right before we moved to Rollarama.  It was also the end of their season, and there were no bouts even scheduled until April 2010...it was 6 months before I could even think about playing in a game.

For those 6 months I trained and learned the game.  I watched a lot of roller derby and really fell in love after attending the 2010 WFTDA Championships in Philadelphia.  We didn't have the formal fresh meat training we have now.  Our league has grown a lot in the past 2.5 years.  Remember when I said we didn't bout for 6 months when I joined? Things somehow changed after that... from April 2010 to November 2011 we had at least one both every single month with the exception of two.  22 bouts and two tournaments in 18 months.)

It's also strange to think I've been the league manager for over a year, having been elected in early 2011 and now serving my second term.  I love being part of this growing league.  We earned our WFTDA Apprenticeship in October 2011 and we're working towards completing the requirements for full WFTDA membership. I will say that's our biggest accomplishment during my tenure with the league. Followed up by our third place finish at Empire Skate Showdown in September 2011.

I have personal goals and goals for the league...but on that subject, I'm not gonna talk about it, I'm gonna be about it.  Here's to another amazing year as a Hellion.

Hello Denver

Packing last minute.

This isn't a total derby update, just a little post about my first day in Denver, the day before the 2011 WFTDA Championship Tournament started.

The second weekend in November I attended the 2011 WFTDA Championships in Denver, CO.  Even though I got my tickets to Championships back in August, this was kind of a fly by the seat of my pants trip. I wasn't 100% sure I was going to get my time off from work approved, so I put off buying plane tickets as long as possible. I thought I might not get to go period.

I also wasn't sure where I was going to stay.  Everything came together barely three weeks before the tournament - it turned out Jonny Malice of Capital District Trauma Authority was moving out to Denver November 1 -- taking the "long" way there but arriving just days before Championships, so he invited me to stay with him for the weekend.  Putting that one thing in place ended up being a catalyst, because two days later my time off from work was approved and by the end of the weekend I had my plane tickets booked.

So fast forward.  I flew out Thursday morning. It was my first time flying solo but I did a good job catching all my flights and finding the right gates.  I love looking out airplane windows. I always try to look for baseball fields. Here's a shot of Colorado at the beginning of our descent into Denver. No baseball diamonds, but lots of squares.

Malice picked me up from the airport and we grabbed some lunch with his dad who, who made the road trip out with him (he flew back to Albany on Friday morning). It was really important to me to get to Denver a day before the tournament started because I knew I wanted to see at least a little of the city and they surrounding area.

Luckily, we found the perfect place to check out that afternoon: Red Rocks Amphitheater and Park. The Amphitheater is amazing. There were a lot of people exercising on the stairs, and we saw some other derby people checking it out, too. I heard Gotham flew out to Denver a week early - I wonder if they did any training there? It also reminded me of Roarshock, who is also praising plyometrics.

The Amphitheater is build right into the mountain. We were there at sunset and it was so beautiful. There was a hiking trail (a little over 1 mile) so we checked that out, too. Here's some pictures:

This is at the top of the amphitheater. That's Denver in the distance.
My scarf blowing in the wind haha.

Red Rocks!

On the trail.

After the hike we headed to Boulder to have dinner and take a walk around. Boulder reminds me of Burlington, VT. At the bar where we had dinner there was football games on every TV - not just NFL but also college.  It appears Boulder is kind of a big college football area. We also saw a quick segment about Championships on the TV?? I think it was a news interview. Exciting!!

The weather all weekend was perfect. It was 60 degrees and sunny every day.

So that concludes my first day in Denver. I do plan to write more about my trip - and of course the tournament - so tune in for that. I am so happy that I was able to go after all!

Bought my tickets to the 2011 WFTDA Championships

*deep breath*

I bought my 3-day pass to the 2011 WFTDA Championships - Continental Divide and Conquer.

I'm going to Denver in November.

Happily, my girl Ursula Udders is heading to the mile high city with me. Who else has plans to go?

The tournament will be held in the 6,500 seat 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, CO, the home of the Denver Roller Dolls.

I did some blogging about Nationals last year: my thoughts on Nationals 2009 in Philly, when I finally decided to go to Chicago (note: last year I didn't buy tickets until October), and then some pictures from the first day.

Next stop... plane tickets.