W O M E N ’ S
F L A T
T R A C K
R O L L E R
D E R B Y
M A G A Z I N E ISSUE 42, WINTER 2018
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proud partner of the WFTDA fiveonfivemag.com | Winter 2018
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PHOTO BY DUANE BAKER PHOTOGRAPHY
want to miss out on derby. My spot on the roster, my fitness, my ability to skate at that level was in jeopardy now. I had played on Team Colorado and was preparing for that year on the roster again. It all came to an abrupt stop. Then came the determination, I was not going to let it stop me. I WILL be skating next season, I WILL be on the roster, and I WILL get through this and fast. It was an adjustment of the mind and I was ready to put in the work to make it happen. There were times I pushed too far and too soon; I tried to walk the day after surgery and I did 80 box jumps less than three months after surgery. At this point my physical therapist was used to me pushing the bar so he just said “be careful”. I set the expectation very early on to him that we were going to hit the ground running, literally; I wanted to be pushed with little forgiveness. I never gave up, I cried every day at home while I did my stretching but I continued to pull the band tighter and further. I went to the gym regularly, got my diet back on track, attended every practice to stay in touch with my team and the training all while putting my mind and heart into it first. I could have taken the easy route, I could have taken more time to come back, and I could have given up all together, but I am a fighter and I have the drive; I am a strong athletic woman and skater.
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During my recovery, Smarty Pants released her Strong Athletic line and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect and motivating. I immediately bought a shirt and wore it to the gym every leg day during my rehabilitation time. Four months post operation I was back on skates, no contact, but able to work on any drill I considered “safe”, so of course I did every stop, every turn, and pushed myself to gain my known speed back. I was doing it, I was back, and I felt stronger than ever. Two months later I was released to skate full contact with one condition, with the aid of a DonJoy knee brace for one full year. I hated that brace, but I tried to make it part of my uniform. I wore it to every practice, scrimmage, RollerCon, and added it to leg day at the gym so I could push more weight. It was helpful, I’m sure, but mostly mentally. It hindered me from a lot of movement I knew I was capable of doing, so 12 months later I was on the phone with my physical therapist and surgeon requesting permission to skate without it. The first tournament without it was less than a week later, Golden Bowl, and it was with my new league/team so I had a lot of reservations and nervousness about skating with one less piece of equipment. My dip game was on point! That brace came with me to California but was quickly put away when I returned home and I haven’t looked at it since. I put my mind and heart into something more than I ever have. While I had moments of failure and surrender, I managed to refocus every time and move forward to now finding myself learning and doing more with my skill than ever before. Roller derby is hard and when you are faced with an injury of any kind, it’s really easy to question why we do this sport. It’s mentally and physically demanding, and as you make travel team it becomes expensive and time consuming. I no longer question why I play, I question what I would do without this community and training. My network is worldwide and my book of friends is large with good and caring people. With every challenge in life or feeling of being set back, remember you can not only come back from it but you can come back stronger, better, smarter. The reward is worth far more than the work it took to get there.
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WFTDA
Keep Your Head in the Game: Concussions In Roller Derby OXFORD TRAUMA, TRI-CITY ROLLER DERBY
If you haven’t seen it firsthand, you’ve heard the story: Someone gets hit and they go down hard. The crowd’s roar lessens; it does not look good. THE MEDICS RUN OVER. The injured skater stirs. After a few tense moments, they sit up. There is no blood, no visible injuries. They stand on their own as the crowd cheers and the other players slowly stand from a single knee in solidarity. The injured party is fine – or are they? A concussion is not a visible injury, but it is a very common injury in contact sports such as football, hockey, and roller derby. Education and awareness are important to prevent and properly assess concussions. A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that can occur when there has been a jolt, blow, or just a bump to the head, neck, or face. It can occur any time the head moves back and forth rapidly, so it can even be caused by a blow to the body. The consequences can be serious – a concussion can change the way the brain
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normally works, so it’s important to conduct a concussion assessment as soon as possible following an incident. The Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 5th Edition (SCAT5) checklist should be added to every roller derby league’s medical kit. It’s important for all league members to know when someone should be checked out by medical staff. Symptoms of concussion that
Symptoms that may be noticed by others include appearing dazed or stunned, showing mood or personality changes, or losing consciousness. Certain symptoms are considered danger signs and require immediate emergency care: loss of consciousness for any amount of time, headache that gets increasingly worse, repeated vomiting, slurred speech,
Raising awareness can help prevent more traumatic brain injuries from occurring. Remember the 5 Rs: Reduce, Recognize and React, Return, and Resources. may be noticed by the participant are headache or pressure in the head, nausea or vomiting, balance problems or dizziness, vision problems or sensitivity, confusion, feeling sluggish or groggy, or just not “feeling right.”
seizures, increasing confusion, or unusual behavior. Some symptoms may not show up for several hours. Per the WFTDA Risk Management Guidelines, a player who has suffered a concussion
or shows signs of a concussion may not return to play on the day of the injury. A single symptom is enough to remove the participant from all gameplay. Returning to normal activity is a structured process, increasing activity lightly to make sure the player can tolerate it without having symptoms. Stage one of rehabilitation is no activity, allowing the player to recover. Light aerobic exercise such as walking, swimming, or stationary cycling can be added in next, followed by non-contact skating drills, endurance skating, or speed skating. The player can then add on non-contact training drills and resistance training. Once medical clearance is obtained, the participant can practice with full contact. If each of these activities is tolerated successfully, they may return to normal gameplay. However, if even a single symptom comes up during an activity, the player should step back down an activity level. This process can take several weeks. However, there are ways to prevent concussions from
happening in the first place. While there is no such thing as a “concussion-proof� helmet, proper fit and maintenance of a safety-certified helmet can reduce the impact to the head. Helmets should have a snug fit and should also sit properly on the head, covering the frontal lobe, with the straps of the helmet creating a Y-shape under each earlobe. Raising awareness can help prevent more traumatic brain injuries from occurring. Remember the 5 Rs: Reduce,
Recognize and React, Return, and Resources. You can reduce the impact by getting a properly fitting, certified helmet. You should be able to recognize and react when a possible injury has occurred by knowing what to look for and realizing when someone needs medical attention. Return to full gameplay following the Return to Play Protocol in the WFTDA Risk Management Guidelines. Finally, educate yourself and others on concussion resources by sharing this information.
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had recently moved, and wasn’t making attendance in order to play games. I made the heart wrenching decision to go unaffiliated and I didn’t expect to need to make a decision this early on in roller derby and felt incredibly guilty. I was worried that my team would think I was being selfish and that I would offend those who had worked so hard to help me pass my minimum skills to reach bout level. A part of me felt like I was giving up; but ultimately it was this feeling that spurred me on and pushed me get to where I am now. No longer with a team, I
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discovered what skills needed work and how much I had been relying on other people to pick up my slack during gameplay. I worked on one foot plows and toe stop pops, I recorded myself training and watched back critically. I skated long, sketchy valley lanes trying to up my endurance. I annoyed my partner (and the neighbors) with skating in the house; most importantly I didn’t stop smiling and I fell in love with skating all over again. I stopped doubting my ability and discovered that it is not just in our day to day life that we have to take
time for ourselves to regroup and discover what we really love and what we need more time to work on. I felt that through this process I was able to re-join a team and be confident in myself and happy being an individual that is part of a bigger unit. So if you are reading this thinking that this sounds familiar or that you wish you could take some time for yourself, give yourself some time to think about you. After all, roller derby is a wonderful thing, beauty and chaos all in the space of two minutes. Life is big, hold your space.
THE ULTIMATE STOCKING STUFFER
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