How to Prepare for Your Next Fresh Meat Class

      Our next fresh meat class starts up on May 9^th!  If you ever thought about taking the plunge into roller derby-dom, here’s some tips on how to get prepared. 

1.     Do your homework.  Not just with gear or what’s the newest trend with knee socks, but with the game.  There are a lot of great websites that will teach you about the history and rules of this great game.  Here’s some examples:

·          www.wftda.com - Women’s Flat Track Derby Association website.  A lot of leagues follow this rule set and you can download the PDF rule book for your viewing pleasure along with practice tests.

·          www.derbynewsnetwork.com - DNN is your one-stop shop for all your derby news needs.  Even better is that they stream select bouts throughout the country for free.  They also have a schedule of Derby bouts happening in your area.  One of the main ways to understand Roller Derby is to watch Roller Derby.  Related: Their sister site www.derbylife.com, which feature columns and advice from fellow derbyists.

·          Read this book.  Roller Derby is a nice short book that will give you an overview of the history of Derby and basic rules. 

·          Get pumped up by watching movies about real Roller Derby (a.k.a. not “Whip It”).  If you have Netflix, “Brutal Beauty”, “Blood on the Flat Track” and “Hell on Wheels” are all available on streaming.

2.     Research your gear.  Online shopping is great for the convenience, but you never know what would actually work for you unless you try it on.  Lucky for us Bruised Boutique is a great derby shop right around the corner in Nashua, NH.  They have great knowledgeable staff and one of our very own skaters (say hi to BA!) there to help you with everything you need to start your Derby career right.

 3.     Skate as much as you can.  You can get a head start by going out to the park or rink and get comfortable on your skates (plus dodging little kids is sort of like Derby).  There are at least five skating rinks in the Boston area and we hold Meat and Greets at Roll-on America every month. 

4.     Reserve your spot for our next Fresh Meat class!  Our next class starts on May 9^th and is a 12-week program designed to help you become ready to skate and hit with the best of them!  For more info contact us at info@baystatebrawlers.com.

We’ll look forward to seeing you on the track!  Now go study up!

  

-       Scandinavian Flick Off (300hp)

Derby Shopping...

So Roller Derby is actually an expensive sport.  But are any sports ever cheap?  Originally when Bad Ass said in her email about the fresh meat class that it was just monthly dues to sign up and annual insurance fee I was like, Score! This is cheaper than when I took yoga.  But her email also said that we needed a helmet, kneepads, elbow pads, wrist pads, and a mouth guard. (Oh and of course roller skates!)  We could borrow the equipment to start but my overactive imagination imagined the sweat of other past derby skaters that used that equipment and I chose to buy.   So one uneventful Saturday afternoon my neighbor and I, along with my 3 year old daughter drove the hour to the Bruised Boutique in Nashua, NH.  Of course we checked out the website but both thought it was best to actually try this stuff on since we had 0 experience with any of this gear.


I had done my homework ahead of time, checking out gear guides and recommendations online and knew where I wanted to spend my bucks.  I wanted better than good knee pads as I knew I would spend a lot of time falling on them.  And I also wanted a skate with a leather boot and a purple helmet.  Did I mention that I research things to death before I buy?  In the store we tried on helmets first.  And of course I have a giant melon and could only get an extra large helmet which meant – noooo purple! Boo!  It was white or black for me so armed with my new white helmet we tried on skates.  We tried on the base package skate first but my wide feet objected to my squished toes.  So I went with the next Rebel skate up which by no coincidence came in PURPLE!! At that moment, I decided Roller derby was definitely fate. 

My Purple Skates!!!

After that it was on to the pads where I settled on the basic Triple 8 elbow and wrist pads.  But for the knee pads I upgraded to the Scabs.  I embraced my inner derby and passed up the basic black for the Psycho pattern.  Then I picked up my least favorite accessory, the cumbersome but very necessary, mouth guard.  Tip on the mouth guard for other newbies- Buy a couple!!!  Heck by 3 or 4 once you find one you like.  This mouth guard and the one after would fall to tragedy quickly. After all the equipment was settled on, my daughter helped me pick out my first knee socks.  I am not yet ready to brave the tiny shorts and derby miniskirts just yet.  Knee socks, tights & equipment in hand, I slap down my visa debit– committing myself further to pursuing roller derby.   




From a Freshmeat Perspective - Nelly