random thoughts – Day 1,470 – (Tuesday) – derby daze

On March 26, 2011, a fledgling roller derby team called Red River Sirens took to the rink at Magic Wheels Skate Center and presented the first roller derby event in Clarksville, Tennessee. It was a demonstration of roller derby to introduce it to the community in advance of our first competitive season, which started in May. Our team name was inspired by the Red River, one of two rivers that runs through Clarksville (the other is the Cumberland River). 

Red River Sirens, March 2011. Photo by JHR Photography.

A core group of us had been training as a team for about 10 months by the time of the demo.  Before we had a rink we did military PT style workouts at a local park after work, under the blazing Tennessee sun. After a month or so, we had secured a rink for twice weekly practices and our home bouts. We each learned the Women’s Fast Track Derby Association governing body rules (all 100 or so pages) and formed our league's own governing body with officers, committee directors, dues, and rules. We took our individual skills tests to be allowed to compete and earn our skater names, which were submitted to the international roller derby name register after we checked they weren't already taken by another skater.

We got press coverage which helped us to recruit more team members, referees, and non-skating officials. We held car washes and special events to raise money for our team because league dues go only so far. 

After our first roller derby event, March 26, 2011.

To create awareness that we existed, we attended festivals with an info booth and skate demo, and participated in cardboard boat races, Christmas parades, motorcycle poker runs and toy drives. A local photographer did team photos and individual head shots for team rosters and event programs. We entered chili contests at the local Harley-Davidson dealer, rang the bell for the Salvation Army, appeared at a sports bar ribbon cutting, and every other community event we could be part of. It was a lot of hard work, but it was also exhilarating and fun. It was a time of peak performance and conditioning. 

Immediately following the first event, a local bar hosted an after-party for the team and fans. It was crazy, especially when the bar manager called the team up to the bar. Not just to the bar, but actually on top of the bar. 

Dang, those were good times. All of them. The blood, the sweat, the blisters, and even the tears. And I really miss my derby legs.