Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: Happy Sunday after Thanksgiving, you guys. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone. Oh, my goodness. Are you recovered from Thanksgiving? No.
[00:00:19] Speaker B: It takes two weeks to get recovered.
[00:00:21] Speaker A: I know. I still feel like I'm in this wonderful, magical food coma right now.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: You know what I love about Thanksgiving? So I don't eat the turkey, I don't eat the ham. I don't do all that kind of stuff. But I eat all the carbs, and I'm still, like, trying to process through my body every casserole or sweet potato, unsweet potato, sugar. Like, it's just still all happening in my brain. No, I belly.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: Considering the fact that I'm in the same boat right now. Even though I did eat the turkey and the ham, my body is like, what did Whitney just say? Cause I'm still trying to process everything.
[00:00:55] Speaker B: It's strange, though, when you get done eating Thanksgiving food and you immediately check out, like you can't think of anything. All your blood flows, like, to your belly to try to process that food.
[00:01:05] Speaker A: Absolutely. Well, you know, I mean, I think I told you right before we opened the show that I was excited about. Like, oh, man, I've got a good question or discussion for Whitney and I to talk about. So Thanksgiving is now under our belt. What is your favorite Christmas holiday song? Like, what is your holiday jam? Like, I have to know.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: You're gonna kill me. I don't like any Christmas music.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: You don't even like Wham, like last Christmas.
[00:01:32] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:01:33] Speaker A: Come on now.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: That would be the only one I would choose. I'm just not, like, when the Christmas radio music comes on the radio, which hopefully our producer won't play any Christmas music. I'm hoping any holiday music between our show, but I just don't like it. I'm, like, playing whatever I listen to because I'm trying to combat it. But I will ask you what you like.
[00:01:53] Speaker A: Well, I do like some Last Christmas.
[00:01:55] Speaker B: I burst your bubble. No, I'm sorry. Oh, the Jackson 5 may like frosty the Snowman. Yeah, that was good.
[00:02:00] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. No, no, that's fair. I will actually. I'm not gonna be ashamed of this. I do like some Mariah Carey All I want for Christmas.
[00:02:09] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:10] Speaker A: You know, it's more so because of the movie Love Actual.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: Oh, that's such a good movie.
[00:02:15] Speaker A: That to me, like, between that and Christmas Story, there's, you know, I don't
[00:02:20] Speaker B: know, maybe I need to quit being such a scrooge and, like, make a Playlist.
[00:02:24] Speaker A: It's just good for me to know this. Cause I know you're such a music lover. I am.
[00:02:27] Speaker B: It's just when you get to the. Oh, well, I do like, what? The Beatles have a couple of songs. They're my favorite bands, so I could listen to those.
[00:02:34] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:02:35] Speaker B: All right.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: Okay. So aside from holiday music, what kind of things do you like to do at this point in the year? Like, what's kind of like what gets you in the mood or gets you festive?
[00:02:44] Speaker B: I honestly, the food is still always really good. I love drinking hot drinks, so I'm that person that goes to Starbucks. I do not like the pumpkin spice latte. I'll have you know, I do not go for all of that business. But I do like a peppermint mocha.
[00:02:58] Speaker A: Okay. That's very holiday.
[00:02:59] Speaker B: That is so good.
[00:03:00] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:03:01] Speaker B: And it's just. I mean, like, jacks you up, too, because it's got caffeine and sugar and chocolate, so it's amazing.
[00:03:05] Speaker A: Yeah, I totally understand.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: What about you?
[00:03:09] Speaker A: I don't know. I feel like the shopping thing has always been fun, but now I don't know if I've just become antisocial or just, like, against the craziness. Like Cyber Mondays. Yeah. It's the online shopping, so I just get really excited about that. But I've tried to be more responsible with some online purchases, because, really, any kind of Black Friday shopping that I would do with would be for myself. And honestly, not for me.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: Did you get out and all that? Did you get on all that mess?
[00:03:35] Speaker A: I did once. I literally stepped on my head and felt so I would.
[00:03:40] Speaker B: Girls, pull those earrings out and fight.
[00:03:42] Speaker A: I know. It was for a stupid pair of black boots. They weren't even real leather. It was really. It was shameful. My husband warned me, and I still did it anyways.
And I did not tell him that somebody stepped on my head. If he's listening this afternoon, as I assume he would, as a good husband, he'll now know why. I was like, oh, I'm over it now, so.
[00:04:01] Speaker B: Well, I do think this time in the year, we're still trying to, like, promote physical activity and promote wellness. And really, it's the social aspect around the holidays. Coming off of Thanksgiving and going to Christmas, it's all about social wellness. And I feel like our show today is amazing and perfect for that.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: Yes. Oh, my gosh, y'. All, after the break, you are gonna be blown away by the amount of people for, one, that we have in the studio. And two, just. I don't know. I'm like, super excited. Like, I'm not usually like this pumped on a Sunday, but this is amazing. But ok, it's Sunday afternoon. We gotta take a break. Grab your hot chocolate, your peppermint mocha, your pumpkin spice, maybe jam out to some Wham if you want to. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone.
Welcome back. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone. If you are just now joining us, before the break, Whitney and I were talking about holiday music and Whitney revealed that that's not necessarily her jam. You know, she loves some other stuff, but that's totally okay. It's just something new I learned about you. I felt like I knew you really well and I actually had some assumptions about I thought you might be like me and like, Wham.
[00:05:28] Speaker D: I don't know.
[00:05:28] Speaker B: I mean, I'm down with Wham. Like, Wham's awesome.
[00:05:30] Speaker E: I just.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: It's a thing.
[00:05:31] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: I need to get over it, but whatever.
[00:05:33] Speaker A: No, that's fair. Okay, moving on. Amazing show today.
Our topic is the Druid City Derby. And you might be thinking, how does this tie into Fit to be tied? How does it not tie into?
[00:05:45] Speaker B: How does it tie? How have we not had Druid City Derby on here?
[00:05:49] Speaker A: Well, and you might remember our guest from a couple weeks ago, Holly Groff, who just happens to be a skater and the league president of Druid City Derby. So, Holly, welcome back.
[00:05:59] Speaker D: Hi. Thanks for having me back.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: Yes. And. And you brought a bunch of friends today.
[00:06:03] Speaker D: I did bring a bunch of teammates and friends today.
[00:06:05] Speaker A: Okay, so we're just gonna like, literally hand the mic over to you, literally, like introduce your crew, and then we're gonna let them kind of talk about themselves.
[00:06:14] Speaker D: You know, Holly. And dining services coordinator is my day job, but Hollandaze is my roller derby name.
[00:06:19] Speaker A: I like it.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: I love it.
[00:06:20] Speaker D: It's Hollandaze today. And today I've got with me a Salty senorita. You can just call her Salty for short.
[00:06:27] Speaker B: Hello.
[00:06:29] Speaker E: Hola.
[00:06:31] Speaker D: And she does have a given name too.
Introduce yourself.
[00:06:34] Speaker E: I'm Kelly Wolf and I work over at the College of Continuing Studies and I'm an assistant director over audio, visual and project management.
[00:06:44] Speaker A: Awesome.
[00:06:46] Speaker D: And Salty is our coach and a co founder of the league as well as skates.
[00:06:50] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:06:52] Speaker D: And we brought one of our newest members as well.
So, Lavagirl.
[00:06:56] Speaker E: Yes.
[00:06:58] Speaker D: Tell us about yourself.
[00:07:00] Speaker C: Okay. My name is Heather Pleasance and I work in the office of Institutional effectiveness, and I'm an associate director there.
[00:07:10] Speaker D: All right. And we've also. Heather is training to be an official with us, and we have another official with us as well.
So Haley's comment.
[00:07:19] Speaker F: Hey, excited to be here. Thanks for having me. So, Jay Haley is my given name, and I work in human resources benefits at the university, and I am a referee, and I just finished my first year. I've been reffing for about one year now.
[00:07:33] Speaker D: Yes. Very glad to have Jay. And we've also got a student with us. Have a few students on the team as well.
So we've got Grit and Barrite with us.
[00:07:43] Speaker A: Hi.
[00:07:46] Speaker D: So tell us a little bit about yourself. Grit.
[00:07:48] Speaker G: I am a master student in the College of Geological Sciences. I'm actually graduating in December.
I did my undergraduate here as well, and I'm actually head of training on the team.
[00:08:01] Speaker E: And you're not leaving us in December.
[00:08:04] Speaker A: Right.
[00:08:04] Speaker D: But we will give her a hand.
[00:08:05] Speaker A: Resumes are out there. Resumes are in the wind.
Can't, you know, can't stifle her ability to fly.
Well, no. Well, obviously, you have brought a huge crew with you and Whitney, if you're okay with it. Do you care if I ask Holly to kind of just talk about the logistics of derby really quick?
[00:08:22] Speaker B: I'm Holly sitting back and taking it all in. So, yeah, y' all just go for it.
[00:08:26] Speaker A: So explain, because some of our listeners might be. Derby. Roller derby. What? What is this?
[00:08:30] Speaker D: Yeah, let's see. I'm probably not the best person to explain. Maybe saltier grit wants to jump in here. But the goal of derby, we are all on quad roller skates. We are in an oval track, and there are two players that are designated as jammers, and all of the other players are blockers. And your jammers are trying to get through the opposing blockers.
And every time after the initial pass, every time they pass one of the blockers, then they score a point.
So both jammers are trying to get through at the same time. So you're actually playing offense and defense at the same time. What do y' all want to add to that?
[00:09:07] Speaker E: I mean, I think that explains everything.
[00:09:10] Speaker D: Okay, good, good.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: Yeah. I feel like our listeners right now are on their computers or phone, like, looking up YouTube videos of, like, roller derby just so they have, like, the best visual possible.
[00:09:18] Speaker D: Good. I've been involved for, I don't know, maybe two. Almost two years now, so I think I finally passed the test of explaining it.
[00:09:24] Speaker B: Because you started out as a referee, right?
[00:09:25] Speaker D: I did start refuse.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: I remember I Think I went to. Do you call them matches?
[00:09:29] Speaker D: Bouts.
[00:09:29] Speaker B: Bouts.
But I went to bout, I guess last year when y' all were at playing at Super Skate, but I can't remember what time of year it was. But I remember seeing you because you were reffing, and I think that was
[00:09:39] Speaker D: the first time I was playing. I started last season and I ended playing.
So I was training to skate, but we have to check off set skills before we're allowed. So you work up on your skills, you start off with basic skills, and then as you check off those skills, then you get to move into more contact drills. So it took me a while to pass off all of those skills.
So, like grit is part of the training committee that helps check off all of those skills and keep us on track there. That's awesome. Yeah, so it took me a little while before I got to where I was able to play.
[00:10:10] Speaker E: But while she was reffing, she learned a lot about the rules of Roller derby. So Jay has been learning for the past year some of the penalties that get called in roller derby. And this doesn't really have to do with the fitness aspect of it kind of in a way. I mean, you have to keep your balance on the track, which is sometimes difficult to do on eight wheels. But some of the things that we can and can't do. Jay, I know you can talk about.
[00:10:34] Speaker D: What do you call penalties on us for?
[00:10:36] Speaker F: Well, you know, it's amazing how the women are all excellent skaters, but a lot of them don't know, like, all the penalties.
They're like, that's a penalty. I'm not allowed to do that. I'm like, no, you're not allowed to do that.
You can't elbow someone. You got to keep your elbows in.
[00:10:52] Speaker D: You can't hit someone in the back.
[00:10:54] Speaker F: I mean, the rules are very complex. There's a lot of them. It takes a long time to learn and it takes the skater. Skaters have to learn how to play block. Like she said, offense and defense keep their balance and learn the rules. It's very complicated.
[00:11:07] Speaker E: We play two halves, two 30 minute halves, and our penalties are 30 seconds long. You have to sit in the box.
[00:11:14] Speaker B: Oh, so do you get to such a chin?
[00:11:17] Speaker E: You can't have anybody?
[00:11:18] Speaker D: No, I. Soccer.
[00:11:19] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: Is that how soccer is? I just threw out.
[00:11:21] Speaker G: It's kind of like hockey.
[00:11:21] Speaker B: Okay. I know nothing about sports, so I just act like a shorty.
[00:11:24] Speaker A: Hockey.
[00:11:25] Speaker D: In fact, last bout in Mississippi, Salty and I might have been the only two blockers on the track because we might have had two in the penalty box.
[00:11:31] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:11:33] Speaker D: You did really well being one of them.
[00:11:35] Speaker B: I was one of them, but I
[00:11:37] Speaker G: got to join you once I was out of the box.
[00:11:39] Speaker E: We do something that we call strong arm. When we only have two people on the track where you hold the arm of another blocker. I mean, nobody can see this right now, but Heather and I are locking arms like Red Rover intense, and we give the other blockers our side so that if they do hit us, we have more stability to take that hit. And she can actually push me over to the side of the track and hit the block. The opposing jammer or blocker, whoever's trying to come in, mess us up out of bounds so that they have to get in behind everyone else.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: So, man, I'm just thinking about, like, all the physical exertion that like, basically just you've got to prep your bodies for this.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: Well, I remember when I went to about, I. Because I had never seen before. I saw the movie. What was it?
[00:12:24] Speaker D: Whip It.
[00:12:24] Speaker B: Whip It. Yeah. I don't even know how y' all feel about that, but I was like, this looks like a cool movie. I'm gonna watch it. I liked the movie. I thought it was great. I was like, I'm gonna go to about now. And it was amazing. Like, I couldn't believe the strength, the stamina, the endurance. And, I mean, first of all, you're skating, and if you've never. If it's been a while since you've skated, I mean, like, then trying to. Because the jammer doesn't. The jammer is the person that you, like, hold on.
[00:12:48] Speaker D: Like, they go through.
[00:12:49] Speaker B: Like, how does that work? What's the logistics of that? And we may have to go on a break soon, but we can at
[00:12:53] Speaker D: least start talking about it.
[00:12:54] Speaker E: Sure. No, the jammer tries many different.
Many different ways to get through the pack. One of those ways is what we call juking. So they have to be very agile and go back and forth on their feet, and some is just basic trudging. So I don't know if Grit wants to kind of explain what that is, but we do a lot of drills that relate to both of those ways that a jammer can get through a pack.
[00:13:20] Speaker G: So the juking. When I think about some of these jammer techniques, I usually think of, like, quarterbacks in football. Like, when you see them getting about to get tackled, and then all of a sudden, they just step to the side and get out of the way. That's kind of what we talk about. When we're talking juking, it's like they're avoiding any kind of contact with anybod. And they're using their quickness to get around, which is really hard when you've
[00:13:37] Speaker D: got wheels on your feet.
[00:13:39] Speaker G: And then trudging is literally just, again, kind of like football. Just plowing through with your own muscle getting through, which, again, can be really difficult with wheels on your feet.
[00:13:48] Speaker E: And you have to do it where you're not hitting their back. You have to kind of go in between a seam, try to get a hip in, try to get a shoulder in.
[00:13:56] Speaker D: I think that's one of the things I like about derby so much. You guys can't see us that are out there listening, but we've got some different body types in the room today, and there's really a place for everybody in derby. You know, there's short, there's tall, there's stout, there's lean. There's a little bit of everything in there. And there's a place for it in Roller derby.
[00:14:15] Speaker A: Well, I feel like that's gonna be a good segue too, because I know after the break, I'm kind of just curious about, like, what got everybody interested.
[00:14:22] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, let's. Yes. Let's take a break. Let's do that and then we'll come right back. You're listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney on 90.77, the capstone.
Hello, friends, we are back. You're listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Winnie on 90.7, the capstone, and we are talking about roller derby and the Druid City Derby. And this has been so far a really awesome conversation. And during the break, we're talking about injuries. I think we should continue this conversation about injuries because that's the one thing I think about in derby is, like, bruises and, like, cuts and just. It's. I mean, it's like, what's the worst injury? I don't know if we should talk about this, but let's talk about it. What's the worst injury, y'?
[00:15:14] Speaker D: All? Oh, yeah, we have a broken wrist and a broken ankle at the moment, but it's part of the game.
[00:15:19] Speaker G: Not amongst the people here.
[00:15:20] Speaker D: Not amongst the people on the team, honestly. Yeah.
[00:15:24] Speaker E: Lauren with things, you know, still in their legs from roller derby or it
[00:15:29] Speaker G: used to be in their fingers from roller derby, actually.
[00:15:33] Speaker B: I mean, it's like, no joke, though.
[00:15:35] Speaker D: I mean, it's a full contact sport.
[00:15:36] Speaker B: It is a full contact. See, that's what I think about, like, myself too. I was like, I'd love to skate around, like that'd be great. But I don't want to hit anybody.
[00:15:43] Speaker D: But that's what the reffing is also a great place to be. But yes, that is what penalties are for.
[00:15:48] Speaker G: It's actually mostly for safety. Yeah.
[00:15:49] Speaker D: And that's why we check off as well on skills and make sure that we aren't doing certain drills and that we aren't in play before were ready to be doing that.
[00:15:57] Speaker A: So given the fact that there is this safety risk, but obviously like this adrenaline rush of just going out there, I kind of want to know around the table, like what got you interested in this? You know. And I know we've got some co founders in the room, like what kind of like birthed this idea? Like yeah, I just want to hear everybody's story related to like how'd you get plugged in?
[00:16:17] Speaker E: Well, let's go back to 2006.
I used to watch the TXRD roller girls on A and E and in Alabama we didn't have a roller derby league at the time when I watched that show. But a couple years later I heard that there was a league in Birmingham and I started going to watch them. In Birmingham, a girl named Black Betty was jamming and she skated past me at halftime and my 28 year old self was like, oh my gosh, you're amazing.
And she turned around, she did a 180 and you know, derby girls can be a little intimidating. So I wasn't really sure if I had offended her or what was going on. But she came back to tell me that they were having recruitment the next week.
So I started in 2009 in Birmingham.
[00:17:09] Speaker D: Wow, that's a cool story.
[00:17:12] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:17:12] Speaker D: I wish I'd have found derby when I was 28. I didn't find Derby until I was 37, but very, very glad that I did.
[00:17:20] Speaker B: How did you get into it? Did you start going to the.
[00:17:22] Speaker D: Had a friend of a friend on the team who kept hitting me up and saying, you know, come to recruitment, come to recruitment. I was a skating rink rat all through middle school. Growing up that was definitely. And I was a team sports person growing up and so I think I missed that in my life. So yeah, went to a recruitment and was hooked after that.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: That's awesome. Now Lavagirl, you are the newest member. Like what got you curious? Because I know you as Dr. Heather Pleasance on campus and I was actually telling some co workers earlier this week I was, oh, I'm gonna have derby on. I was like, yeah. Did you know that Dr. Heather Pleasance is on the team? And they're like, what? What? So I need to know what got you interested.
[00:17:59] Speaker C: Well, a couple years ago, I was looking to de stress and I started going to super skate just to, you know, just to skate.
And I was like, I love this. I love roller skating.
And it was just so relaxing to just be there, you know, skating around and you don't have to think about anything, work, you know, anything that might stress you out and just skate around. And also, just for anybody who is thinking about trying out for a roller derby or coming out to a recruitment event or whatever, if you skate on Saturdays and Sundays when they have the little kids and the birthday parties, that is excellent training.
Excellent training for roller derby because they will zig when you think they're going to zag. And I have more bruises from five year olds playing or being involved in learning how to skate in roller derby. So I was just there one weekend and another person on the team, Princess, came by and she's like, you know, you have really good balance. Have you thought about trying out for roller derby?
[00:19:16] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:19:19] Speaker C: So I decided to do it because. Mainly because I just wanted to learn more skills. And I was at a stopping point. Like, I could go really fast around in a circle or oval, but in terms of stopping, that was a problem.
Stopping was a hard to do skating backwards.
No, that wasn't going to happen in life or it was going to take a really long time. And I'm like, I need some help.
[00:19:49] Speaker D: It's happening now.
[00:19:50] Speaker G: Yes, it is.
[00:19:51] Speaker D: Now.
[00:19:52] Speaker A: Does the skating feel more cathartic now that you can hit people legally?
[00:19:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:19:56] Speaker C: I actually don't hit anybody because I think I'm the.
[00:19:59] Speaker F: I don't.
[00:20:00] Speaker A: Am I the oldest person on the team?
[00:20:02] Speaker E: That has nothing to do with this.
[00:20:06] Speaker D: We've tried to convince her.
[00:20:08] Speaker E: We've tried to convince her to be. I'm on the fence. I'm on the fence for real.
[00:20:12] Speaker D: The bug will bite her. Eventually.
[00:20:13] Speaker B: It will.
[00:20:14] Speaker C: Oh, trust me.
[00:20:15] Speaker E: I've already, you know, she's been training to officiate with.
[00:20:20] Speaker A: I gotcha.
[00:20:21] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:20:21] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:20:21] Speaker G: But she's still learning all the skills I got.
[00:20:24] Speaker E: Right. And she passed her 27 5, which is something that we have to do.
[00:20:27] Speaker G: Do 27 laps in five minutes.
[00:20:29] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:20:30] Speaker A: Okay, so you were scouted. So my solid balance. Okay, good to know.
[00:20:35] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:20:38] Speaker B: You know, it's funny that you say that about Saturdays at the birthday party when I turned 30 or may have been 32, I can't remember. I was like, let's go roller skating. I haven't done it in 15 years or longer. Let's go do it. And it was amazing because, like, when I got on, I was always like, a good skater. But when I got on the skates, I was like, I can't do this. I can't do this. And all of a sudden, it just kind of like, it just comes back to you. And I was like, crossing over. And I was like, oh, I got this. And then all of a sudden I was like, but I don't know how to stop.
[00:21:02] Speaker D: Wait, you can do crossovers and you haven't joined us yet?
[00:21:06] Speaker A: That's a very important skill.
[00:21:07] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:21:09] Speaker D: You let out some very vital information there.
I shouldn't have said that.
[00:21:14] Speaker B: But you're right about, like, dodging the kids. I was like, oh, oh. Cause it's scary.
[00:21:18] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:21:18] Speaker B: Cause they're little and they have those
[00:21:21] Speaker C: little, like, walker things.
And sometimes we'll just let those go.
Like, did you do that on purpose? Like, are trying to swing them to fall.
[00:21:31] Speaker D: You know, if you want to come out and skate with us, UA Wellness and Work Life has actually partnered with us and professional staff assembly and OCTSA and faculty senate on campus. So we've actually got a skate night coming up this week on December 4th.
So no admission, $5 skate rental. Come and just have a fun skate night with us. In fact, I think that's how Jay started with the team last year.
[00:21:53] Speaker F: That's how I started. I skated in law, skated when I was younger, all the time and loved it. And then at the university, I showed up to the skate night, and I saw the skaters. I thought, this is the coolest thing. They were all wearing their uniforms. It was awesome. And then I talked to Salty, and she said, oh, we need refs. I was like, sign me up.
[00:22:15] Speaker A: That's awesome.
[00:22:16] Speaker F: And that was it.
[00:22:17] Speaker D: Absolutely. And J skates on inline players all skate on quad skates, but our refs are also able to skate on inline skates. Interesting.
[00:22:24] Speaker B: I would definitely be more comfortable on four wheels.
[00:22:27] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:22:27] Speaker A: Like, same.
[00:22:29] Speaker D: It's funny. The skills are a little different.
[00:22:31] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:22:31] Speaker D: Jay's contemplating a change. Maybe.
[00:22:33] Speaker F: Maybe next year.
[00:22:34] Speaker D: We'll see.
[00:22:35] Speaker A: I like it.
[00:22:36] Speaker D: So grit, we didn't hear from you on how you joined the team.
[00:22:40] Speaker G: I had a friend who called me up one day, was like, hey, there's this recruitment thing going on tonight for this roller derby thing, and I'm interested, but I don't want to go by myself.
So I just Want you to go with me so I don't be. I'm not all alone, and you don't have to stick around or anything. And here I am three years later.
[00:22:56] Speaker B: So did the friends stay as well, or. Okay. Yeah.
It's not social. And this is getting into, you know, kind of what our show is about, of being, you know, having the holistic approach to wellness. And we sometimes we don't focus a lot on the social side of things, which can then contribute over to the emotional wellness side of things. And you guys are also physically. I mean, like, physically active.
[00:23:20] Speaker D: You're practicing.
[00:23:20] Speaker B: I mean, how many days a week do you practice?
[00:23:22] Speaker A: Two to three.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: I mean, that's a lot. That's your two to three days of physical activity a week that you need. And you're doing some resistance training because you're pushing people and you're moving people around. You're also doing some cardio and some endurance.
[00:23:32] Speaker D: Yeah. Wait till you do up downs on skates or suicides and, you know, imagine.
[00:23:37] Speaker G: And planks.
[00:23:39] Speaker E: Because we're a full group of adults that work, and we're very busy, we have to assume that folks are not going and individually training on their own. So we do a lot of strength training and endurance training, speed and agility. We do all of that not just for, like, our drills that we do for roller derby, but just to make sure that everybody is in a good shape to play.
[00:24:03] Speaker B: So conditioning your body so that you can be efficient. Yeah, I think that's great. And you guys seem to all really love being around each other, and you're a team, and that's. Well, sometimes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:24:14] Speaker A: Faces that they're making.
[00:24:15] Speaker B: But I love that team atmosphere. Kind of what you were saying, Holly, earlier, like, you. You wanted to be a part of a team, and you found a team.
[00:24:22] Speaker D: Yeah. Like, Jay said, hey, we looked cool. We'll take that.
[00:24:25] Speaker B: But, yeah, y' all look awesome.
[00:24:27] Speaker D: Because when I walked in a super
[00:24:28] Speaker B: skate one day and, like, to one of your bouts, I was like, oh, yeah, yeah.
[00:24:32] Speaker D: It's my support structure as well as my physical activity. I've absolutely. And kind of like Heather said, you can zone outside. I feel like a good workouts, like, meditation sometimes, for sure.
[00:24:42] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Hands down.
[00:24:43] Speaker A: Well, I love the fact that you each kind of shared your story about how you got involved, because I remember actually one day Holly had invited me to talk to y' all as a group, just as far as, like, nutrition goes and what that looks like. And I, you know, joked with Holly, I was like, man, I'm, like, actually kind of interested, but I was, like, now I'm, like, with child. And you were telling me about someone in one of the leagues in Mississippi and how, like, during, like, in between the bat, like, she'd roll over, breastfeed her kid.
[00:25:10] Speaker D: And that was great. That's awesome.
[00:25:11] Speaker A: And I was like, you know, I might need to talk to my husband about this, because that sounded.
[00:25:16] Speaker C: And then.
[00:25:17] Speaker A: But I was, of course, just imagining somebody, like, rolling over, breastfeeding their kid and then, like, getting back out, But
[00:25:22] Speaker B: I was like, hey, absolutely.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: In fact, there are people that do that.
[00:25:25] Speaker D: Our last two practices that we had, we had a skater come back from maternity leave, so. Absolutely. All walks of life, man.
[00:25:33] Speaker A: Okay, well, we're gonna take a break, and during that break, I'm gonna actually really contemplate this. But you guys continue to stick with us. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone.
Welcome back. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Shane and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone. And this afternoon, we have had some amazing members of Druid City Derby. And with that said, you know, Holly, I think when you were previously on the show with us, you had been telling us off air how there was the name change where it had been Druid City Dames and then switched over to Druid City Derby. And that's a pretty recent change for you guys, isn't it?
[00:26:27] Speaker D: It is. I think our co founders, Salty and Megan Gunter Val had some intuition when they started the league. So, yeah, registered as a Druid City Derby, played Druid City Dames, but we actually had enough last year that we were branching into two teams. So Druid City Dames is our A team, and we're actually a WFTA World Flat Track Derby association team now as well. So we will start in an international ranking system this year.
So, yeah, our first.
Our first home bout this year is actually what's called a Strength Factor Challenge, which will kind of, like, help set our rankings. So March 28, Dixie Derby girls from Huntsville will be coming down to play us at Super Skate, and that'll start us with our Strength Factor Challenge and start us into that ranking system.
[00:27:16] Speaker A: Man, what a time to be alive, y'.
[00:27:18] Speaker G: All.
[00:27:18] Speaker A: I mean, so I would think listeners are like, okay, sign me up, or I kind of want to sign up, but, like, what does this look like? So I don't know, like, what would you say to those folks? Or what kind of things do you guys have coming down the pike?
[00:27:31] Speaker D: In terms of recruitment, we've actually got this year a fitness boot camp in January. So it's a great time to start with those New Year's resolutions, work off some of that holiday food that we've been talking about today.
And if you are just interested in the fitness aspect, then please come join us. Registration is on our website, druidcityderby.com and it'll be every Monday and Wednesday starting January 6th, we'll have a skating fitness camp. And then if you are interested in joining the team as a skater or an official, then that'll be a good intro into that as well.
[00:28:07] Speaker B: I'm curious, when you talk about officiating and all the penalties that you have to know of and all the rules, I mean, do you have an official rule book that you go through that can things be added to it or. So it kind of just depends on different scenarios that can happen or.
[00:28:22] Speaker E: I mean, since 2008, since I've been in derby, I think our rules have changed 13 times or something.
But, yeah, I mean, it changes and our refs have to know it better than anyone else because they have to know, like, the whistles and how to call penalty and everything else. But, you know, playing derby, I think we all have to be very aware of what we're doing. And sometimes our refs are the best way of, you know, getting an inside look into that because we don't always know that we're leading off with an elbow or that we're pushing on somebody.
[00:28:59] Speaker D: Jay is pointing at me right now.
[00:29:01] Speaker E: Pushing on someone. So. But yeah, we have a ton of rules. You know, how you can hit people, where you can hit people, what you can use to hit people.
[00:29:10] Speaker A: People.
[00:29:11] Speaker E: And I don't mean by like, I don't mean objects.
[00:29:13] Speaker D: It's not what parts of your body, what's a legal block.
[00:29:18] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:29:19] Speaker D: No kicking, no punching, no chairs. Yeah. And that's all outlined by wfta, World Platte Track Derby Association.
They set our governing rules set for us. So, yeah, Jay's constantly having to keep updated with that.
[00:29:31] Speaker A: Now, how many different leagues have you guys had bouts against? Like, and what's the farthest you all have traveled for about?
[00:29:39] Speaker G: I think the farthest that we've traveled was we went to Fort Walton last
[00:29:43] Speaker E: year and we'll be going to Pensacola.
[00:29:44] Speaker G: We'll be going to Pensacola next year, this upcoming year.
But we've played people in Mississippi. We've played people from Georgia.
I don't think we've played anyone from Tennessee. So it's mostly been. And We've played people, L.A. have we played them?
Nobody in the planning to play me.
[00:30:03] Speaker D: And I think in derby life in general, Salty's definitely gone the farthest at this table. She's actually.
Over the years of being in derby, where's your furthest you've traveled to?
[00:30:12] Speaker E: I think maybe Puerto Rico. Yeah.
[00:30:15] Speaker A: I was about to say you went
[00:30:16] Speaker D: out of the country.
[00:30:18] Speaker A: Are the Puerto Rican chicks, Are they hardcore? They are.
[00:30:21] Speaker E: I think they actually play outdoors.
You know, like, it's just this pavilion where some basketball goals are. And so it was pretty hot.
[00:30:30] Speaker D: As I was saying, conditioning was extra important there.
[00:30:36] Speaker G: Hydration.
[00:30:38] Speaker A: Well, speaking of that, are there things that you guys have started doing differently in terms of self care and your health? Just personally in this journey, being a member of derby, whether it's been officiating or being a jammer or a blocker,
[00:30:52] Speaker E: I'm gonna say hydration is number one.
[00:30:55] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:30:55] Speaker E: Definitely physical conditioning. But hydration is probably the most important thing to think of the week of about nutrition and.
[00:31:06] Speaker D: Yep, have Sheena come talk to us.
[00:31:09] Speaker A: I'll hang out with y'. All. Still go to Black Warrior bru week?
[00:31:13] Speaker D: Definitely. Black Warrior.
[00:31:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:14] Speaker D: In fact, our after parties are at Black Warrior again this year.
[00:31:17] Speaker B: So every.
[00:31:17] Speaker D: Every time we have a home bout, then it's a great place to come hang out.
And for me, for physical activity, actually hitting up Whitney at some, well, bama yoga classes on Wednesdays is one of my favorite because good cardio and strength at practice. So I definitely need to stretch it out a little bit after that.
[00:31:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I was gonna say y' all probably all need to be supplementing with some yoga to stretch everything out just for recovery.
How long is about, like when you. 60 minutes?
[00:31:45] Speaker E: Two 30 minute halves.
[00:31:46] Speaker B: Two 30 minute halves.
[00:31:47] Speaker E: We typically have a halftime show, so if anybody in Tuscaloosa is interested in showcasing some talent during our halftime show.
No electricity in the middle of the floor, but anything.
[00:31:59] Speaker A: What kind of performances have y' all had?
[00:32:02] Speaker E: Latrell and Keith usually do zumba in the middle of the floor.
[00:32:06] Speaker D: It's one of our other favorite cross training.
[00:32:07] Speaker E: Exactly.
And then we've had the girls at the YMCA do some dance routines for us, but we're always looking to, you know, have a.
[00:32:17] Speaker G: We had a magic act one time.
On skates.
[00:32:20] Speaker E: On skates.
[00:32:22] Speaker B: That's awesome.
[00:32:22] Speaker D: You know, Tuscaloosa has embraced Druid city derby from the beginning. So it's, yeah, definitely awesome to have things like that for halftime and when we can, you know, be involved in the community we're really excited. We've got our tinsel trail tree up for the third year in a row. So as you need to stroll and walk off those, you know, holiday meals, then that's a great family activity. Glad that we have that in town. Absolutely. And we've been asked to participate in the time capsule that'll be buried on December 13th as well.
So. Yeah, some Druid City derby memorabilia going in there.
[00:32:54] Speaker G: And we're gonna be at the parade.
[00:32:55] Speaker D: Yes. All on the same day.
All kinds of good stuff.
[00:32:59] Speaker G: We have a float. We have skates.
[00:33:02] Speaker E: We have a float with a moon on.
[00:33:03] Speaker D: We do. We're really trying to step up our float building skills here.
[00:33:07] Speaker A: Now, did y', all, like, have, like, nostalgia from high school with the, like, float building and the, like.
[00:33:12] Speaker D: Oh, forget pomping. We've gone with, like, wood and great foam construction stuff. Yeah, yeah, we've got. Yep. There's. There was cutting and painting and. Yep.
[00:33:23] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness.
[00:33:23] Speaker D: Yep. The shop teacher at Holt High School helped us out as well as one of the parents of, you know, it's an adult activity right now, our league, but we still got great parental support.
[00:33:35] Speaker A: I love this now, you know, which I know we'll have to take a break soon and this conversation will probably trick over, but I'd love for each of you to just share, like, what have you learned about yourselves? Like, now being part of this community, literally, in terms of just self reflection and, you know, when it comes to your health, holistically, anybody want to open up that.
[00:34:00] Speaker E: I mean, I think that roller derby is a way to show yourself, you know, be more self aware of how strong you are physically and mentally.
A lot of times we talk about how you fall and get back up, and I know we probably use that a lot, but it's so true in Roller derby, all of your sisters are around you or your brothers are around you, you know, helping you back off the floor. Floor if it takes you a second.
But at the same time, it's how fast you get back up, how you get back up, how you get back in the game. And it just makes you mentally tough. It makes you physically and mentally tough. So reflecting on everything, I think that that's. It's really built me up in that aspect.
[00:34:46] Speaker D: Definitely.
Yeah.
About six years ago, I weighed about 300 pounds and was not in a super great state physically. I don't think for myself. And I had lost a little bit of weight right before I started derby. I think gave me a little bit of confidence. Although I say, you know, come out at any fitness level because there is a place on the team.
But kind of I was ready to do something a little bit different and I think the group encouragement really, really helped with that aspect. And you know, had a ACL reconstruction way back in high school, 20 years ago and honestly I think my knee is stronger now than it ever was in high. I played soccer and saw fall on it afterwards and really I think it's stronger than it is now and has challenged me more physically and mentally in roller derby than those things did. But I definitely couldn't have done it without the team. I need that team aspect and that adrenaline rush from a contact sport to push me.
[00:35:41] Speaker A: That's amazing.
For the others, which I know actually we'll take a quick. Let's take a break first. We'll do that and then I want to hear everybody else's stories. But you guys, you're listening to pit to be tied and we'll catch you after the break.
[00:36:13] Speaker B: You're listening to fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney and we have had an awesome Sunday afternoon and I'm not even going to talk anymore because I want to hear the rest of this teammates talk about just having a self reflection on what derby has meant to them and being on the team and I guess grit, you're next. Yep.
[00:36:33] Speaker G: So I started derby around the same time that I started grad school and I think that without derby I would have definitely been in a very different place throughout my college career. Just in like being able to stay physically active as well as like have that release, that mental break from all of that studying and all of that writing and everything. So. And I've definitely developed into a more confident person I think because as taking over training and teaching other people how to skate, I definitely have to be more confident in what I'm saying and be able to instill confidence in the people that I'm training and be like, no, you're doing a great job. No, you've got this like you can do it and then be like, oh yeah, I can do it too.
So it's definitely been helpful in that regard and it's something I want to keep doing after getting out of grad school.
[00:37:24] Speaker D: That's awesome.
[00:37:25] Speaker A: I like that. Now Haley's comment, what has this experience meant to you?
[00:37:31] Speaker F: Well, from a mental standpoint, I definitely had to learn how to focus and concentrate more because I'm primarily a jam ref. So I'm the referee that's following the jammer around who's scores the points.
So I Have to make sure the skater gets through the pack. And then I have to count each skater they pass.
And they could maybe pass a skater and then maybe fall back into the pack and then pass again. So I have to keep track of that. At the same time, you have to look for penalties that your skater is committing. And then you have to look for penalties that are being committed against your skater.
So you cannot. You have to. You know. And I'm holding up a 4.
The Jam rep actually holds up the points each trip that the jammer makes. So you cannot lose concentration at all during a jam.
And so that's been very helpful to me to learn. I've had to learn to refocus and be able to do that. And it's been wonderful.
[00:38:29] Speaker B: I think that mental focus is what. When we think about just physical activity, it doesn't matter what we're doing. It's something that. It gives you a break from everyday life.
[00:38:36] Speaker E: We.
[00:38:36] Speaker B: Which is what we kind of talked about. But it does help you when you have to focus on one little thing like that and you have to keep your mind engaged. It's like I kind of come back to this yoga mindset. Cause I teach yoga. Like, when I'm focused on teaching, it helps in other aspects of my life. So I think that's great.
[00:38:52] Speaker A: Lavagirl.
[00:38:55] Speaker C: I think I could. I'm in danger of like, talking and also honestly, like, becoming emotional. I really been shocked at. See I'm already did.
[00:39:07] Speaker D: I feel it. Let it out, let it out. Oh, my God.
[00:39:10] Speaker A: This is a safe space.
[00:39:12] Speaker C: I have been so shocked at what an affirming environment it is.
People, every single practice, you know, it's always, you're doing a great job.
You're getting so much better. You're so much stronger. That's awesome. You're doing amazing.
So where can you go where you have an affirming environment like that and also you get to hit people.
It's both affirming and aggressive at the same time.
And it's just been really, really
[00:39:53] Speaker G: a
[00:39:53] Speaker C: great space to get better at something. You know, like to see yourself improve in an environment where you're, you know, you're supported but also pushed to do more. And I'm. I'm actually really on the fence about whether or not it's easier to ref or to skate. Because Hailey is right. Like, I went to my first bout a couple weeks ago and I'm glad I was shadow reffing because I feel like half the time I was just standing there with my mouth open.
[00:40:23] Speaker D: Oh, my God, this is intense.
[00:40:25] Speaker C: And I'm like, okay, okay. Right, right, right, right, right, right. I need to be focused on, like, what people are actually doing. And then I would see myself, like, you know, losing that focus again. I'm just, like, watching because it's so intense.
[00:40:39] Speaker F: It moves fast, too.
[00:40:40] Speaker E: Yes. Very fast.
[00:40:41] Speaker C: Yes.
So I don't know.
[00:40:43] Speaker D: We'll see.
[00:40:44] Speaker G: It happens on both sides.
[00:40:45] Speaker E: I also like to comment on what Jay was saying about how he holds up the points that our jammers are getting, because we also have a space for our non skating officials. So people who are interested in maybe not skating, but helping and being a part of this family environment that we have can come out to that boot camp that we were just talking about and learn how to be a non skating official. So when he holds up those points, we have to have someone on the other side that can write those points down and then put them on the scoreboard. So there's a lot of different moving parts within our, what we call bout production.
[00:41:24] Speaker D: Absolutely. Between officials and non skating officials, we have as many people doing those jobs as we do skaters on the floor.
[00:41:31] Speaker E: That's right.
[00:41:32] Speaker A: I think that's amazing. And I think, you know, with everything that you've shared today, for someone who's interested in either watching or being part of the community, you guys have laid out just all of the options that are there, and it's just exciting that our community has been able to. To support the league. But, y', all, thank you so much for taking time out of your Sunday afternoon to be with us. I'm gonna do a little golf clap.
[00:41:53] Speaker E: Thank you.
[00:41:55] Speaker A: But, you guys, this was our shebang for the end of the semester. You have been listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney, and we will catch you on the flip side in 20.
[00:42:04] Speaker D: 20.
[00:42:04] Speaker B: 20.
[00:42:13] Speaker A: Sam.
