March Skater of the Month: Emily KickNsuM

Emily is a Dire Skates Original; she joined when the team started five years ago! She has been blocking and jamming for the Dire Skates since the beginning. Emily is a naturally good skater and is, as anyone who has watched her knows, wonderful to watch on the track.

Emily's team job is bout-coordinator, meaning she coordinates getting everything planned, reserved, and prepared for bout day. Emily is also a trainer (alongside her derby wife RollHer Zombie), meaning she helps to teach new skaters skating and derby basics, but also helps the other vets hone their skills.

Emily welcomes dedicated players with open arms, helping them learn, but also showing them what to strive for. In addition to her derby skills, Emily is a joy to be around.

Our coach, The GolfFather, had this to say:

"Emily KickNsum grew up a rink rat and put her work as a skater into that of a derby girl. She has a very demanding job as an ER nurse and I think relieves and lets go of all that on the derby track. Emily is a triple threat on the track. She is a great jammer even though she doesn’t like to. She is a ultimate blocker that can keep girls contained for a long time and as a pivot is a big leader on the track. Emily has done a lot off the track as well behind the scenes. She has done fundraising events, handled getting NSO’s, getting everything set with the different venues that we have used for games. She has been a leader on and off the track and has scaled back her responsibilities from the past few years but that doesn’t mean she is any less important to this team. I am glad that I can coach her and more importantly call her a great friend."

Fellow skater, DJ SMear-O, said this:

"She's been dedicated to this team since it's inception. She's part of coaching and training and teaches us all so much. She encourages and inspires and smells awful. She helps put bouts together. She's always got a silly attitude. Stupid, ugly, happy holiday sweaters...she's known for those. She's fun. She's kickass and one of our founding sisters. She's got more skating ability in her pinky toe than I could ever dream to have. And "hot" doesn't begin to cover it. She's amazeballs. And I'm glad she's my sister from another mister...and missus :)"

Emily's little derby sister, Terahrizen, had this to say:

"When I tried out for the team I remember looking around at all the vets and wondering which one would be my "Big". Emily walked in late and I think it was really nice to see her in street clothes because it made her "real". The other girls were all geared up and going drills and that was both amazing and terrifying. Emily talked to me very briefly and it was very calming to be approached by Emily Talbot rather than Emily KickNsum. When I got the call that she actually would be my Big, I was very happy. I learned that she was practically born with skates on her feet and was one of Dire's best players. I had to step it up and make my sister proud!

Emily is very dedicated to the sport and her team mates despite what may be going on in her life outside of derby. I respect that about her. I appreciate the quiet encouragement and the over all support she has given me. The first time I ever went to the gym, Emily invited me to go to some insanely difficult class, it was probably called something like "do burpees and core work until you die." I didn't realize it at the time, but I really needed the gym to improve my game. I am absolutely proud to call her my sister and watching her skate is definitely one of my favorite things. Skating along side her is even better. If I'm jamming, I know she's got my back and I'm not worried how big the other team is or how good they are. I also love her attitude about games, she constantly says "I'm having fun. Lets just worry about having fun and staying together!" I think a lot of new skaters look up to her, while we can't all be born on skates the way Emily was, we all admire her drive and natural ability. She has been really tough on me as her little, and I have a long way to go, but I wouldn't be where I am today without her!"

Emily's derby wife, RollHer Zombie had this to say:

"My beautiful wife, man where do I even start. A heart as big as the hits she doles out on the track. Equal parts beauty and Braun. I absolutely love watching her skate and play the game, almost as much as I love sharing the track with her. Emily being so much younger than me, I use her to gauge my own performance, she definitely keeps me on my toes and pushing.  She is a bulldog on wheels and I have nothing but respect and love for her, quit isn't in her vocabulary.  We have both grown up skating and we love it.  Derby gives us that outlet to bring it to that next level. I look forward to many more years on the track with her by my side.  Love your face off Em!
<3 RollHer Zombie"

 Emily KickNsum photo gallery:

Thanks for all you do, Em!

November Skater of the Month: Bilbo Stabbins

 The Dire Skates blog is typically written by Jessika or “Bilbo Stabbins". She takes care of the blog, takes votes and writes “Skater of the Month” posts, updates the FB page and a plethora of other things for the team. This month, however, Bilbo has been selected as the Skater of the Month and as her Sister, I have stepped in to write it for her. 

As Jessika’s “Big Sister” it is an absolute honor to write this entry about her. In roller derby, when a new skater comes on it is customary for that skater to be assigned a veteran skater to be her (or his) “big”. My job as Jessika’s big was to build a relationship with the new skater and answer any questions she may have, to spend time making sure she felt comfortable as a new addition and encourage her as she transitioned from new recruit, to team member. That relationship has evolved from a derby “assignment” to a real friendship. 

I first met Jessika in high school and became reacquainted with her in a Zumba class where she expressed interest in the upcoming Dire tryouts. Though apprehensive in the beginning, she has proved to be a strong, positive player who is willing to go the extra mile to be the best player and teammate she can be. Besides being a wife and mother of 2 wonderfully behaved and adorable boys, Jessika is a professor, a student pursuing a doctorate, and a blocker for the Dire Skates. She writes this blog and helps in pretty much every working group the team has....Aka: Derby Unicorn.  

Fellow skater Gina “RollHer Zombie” had this to say about Bilbo:

“What can I say, [Bilbo] is amazing. Her intelligence in life certainly comes through in her approach to the game. Although physically she is not where she maybe thinks she should be, I see her improve each time she hits the track. She truly does accept constructive criticism and pointers and she acts on them.”……”Our children are the same age and I truly enjoy our time both on and off the track. I am so glad she is part of my derby family.”

Dire Skates coach, “The Golf Father” has been coaching Bilbo for over a year now. He had this to say about her:

“Bilbo is a wonderful addition the the team both on and off the track. She has shown a lot of drive and is willing to learn and grow in the sport. Off the track she does a lot with the teams Facebook page and game day activities. I am looking forward to seeing where she might take herself in the game."

Fellow skater Emily KickNSum said:

"I love how she uses her talents to highlight the team in the blog. I also love how she is working hard on her PhD and still makes time for derby. She also pushes the team to learn more about derby by inviting people over to watch derby at her house."

Dire Skater, EnTruder says:

 "Bilbo Stabbins is one of the nicest and most giving players on the team. She is always    available to help out, and works hard during practice. One of the things I most admire about Bilbo is that she balances work, family, friends and is still so committed to derby that she finds extra time to skate the trail, workout in the gym etc. Thats dedication. Bilbo has a great sense of humor, and is possibly the person I see most often in my professional life. Usually it's kinda weird to see my derby sisters at work (because you want to hug, hip check, etc) but we laugh about it and move on"

Congrats, Bilbo and thank you for all that you do!

October Skater of the Month: RollHer Zombie

Gina, or as she is known to us, RollHer Zombie, is both a blocker and jammer for the Dire Skates.  Gina is one of the founding members of the team and her dedication has held strong over the years. Her dedication is most evident in her ability to motivate her teammates to push themselves to do their very best.

On the track Zombie is a powerful and valuable player, a crowd favorite. Off the track, Gina is in charge of our finances, which means she keeps track of money spent for bouts, our skater dues, taxes, merchandise, and our donations to local charities and organizations. In addition to this, she is a trainer, which means she works hard to whip us into shape, leading workout sessions outside of practice, off-skates practices, and often leading or joining in on trail skates.

Additionally, Gina can always be counted on to listen and support her derby sisters. Gina is a considerate friend and teammate who often puts others and her team before herself.



Assistant Coach, Mr. BadAZZ had this to say:

Zombie is a big part of Dire Skates. She is a trainer, handles financing, and is a lot of help with the team merchandise. She also gives me a helping hand when Coach can't make to practice. She helps me by running drills and conditioning for the team. She hits hard and skates fast. Thanks for all you do, Gina.

Goregon says of RollHer Zombie:

Gina is a natural leader who gets results when leading the team in drills, exercise, and on the track. She's also a tireless worker, balancing the books and monitoring our team accounts. It doesn't hurt that she's got an amazing personality.

DJ Smear-O had this to say:

Gina has been totally dedicated to this team since its inception. I look up to her in mad ways. She's awesome on wheels and a rocking chick with a tender heart. She's a sister and friend to me as well as a tough as nails trainer who whips my saggy, floppy ass into shape

Emily KickNsuM added this mushy bit about her derby wife:

Gina has always been one of my biggest rivals on the track, even though we are on the same team. The Dire Skates used to host scrimmages against each other and we were always on opposite teams and it felt like jammed against each other over and over. Even though pinned against each other some how we fell in love, or I did anyway. That’s how I found what we call a derby wife. She is that person on the team that pushes me harder at practice; we see eye to eye on most team decisions, but most importantly she has became someone I can call for anything. It's something I love about derby because I found a great friend that I believe will be a friend beyond derby careers and crazy life changes, someone that I don’t think I would have ever became friends with if not for roller derby. "Roller Derby saved my soul," is a quote used often… but its not just roller derby the sport that saved my soul its skaters on the team like RollHer Zombie that saved my soul.

 Thank you for all you do, Gina!

September Skater of the Month: Terahrizen

Sasquatch

Terah, or as she is known on the track, Terahrizen, is both a blocker and a jammer for the Dire Skates. Terah is small, but mighty in both physical and mental stamina. She works hard to get what she wants, even attending extra training and hitting the gym with teammates whenever possible.

Terah is in charge of marketing, which involves making and disseminating flyers and working on social media, among other things. She coordinates and delegates to her marketing minions who gladly do her bidding.

Terah is also mom to junior skater Korah the Destroyer.

In addition to being a great player and doing great work for the team, Terah serves as a mentor to her current teammates and, more specifically, to the newbies as they get acclimated to roller derby and their new team. Terah does so much for the team, though, as noted below, her strengths lie in what she makes those around her feel they are capable of accomplishing.



BadAZZ Mothercutter had this to say:

Terah has come so far since she joined the team. She always has a positive attitude and wants to motivate others to better themselves. She is a great example for the newbs to look up to, a perfect example of what hard work and dedication can do.

Our coach The Golffather said this:

Terah maybe small but she can pack a punch. She has been one of the most dedicated players on the team. She puts in more time on and off the track that I know. Getting better is something she strives to do and she by far is doing it. Not only is she so dedicated on the track she does so much behind the scenes that no one sees plus juggles her job, 2 kids, and her photography business. If you need something done she will bend over backwards to get it done. I am proud of her for what she has done and is doing. I am looking forward to seeing what's next for her. I am proud to be her coach.

And Terah's big sister, Emily KickNsum said this:

When Terah joined the team I was named her big sister. She has made me proud ever since. Terah seeks out opportunities to improve her derby knowledge and skill constantly. She is a great teacher and is always reaching out to show others what helped her when she was learning specific moves. Even though she is small, she has a huge heart and I am proud to have her on my team.

Thanks for all you do, Terah!

Vet Profile: Emily KickNsuM

Name: Emily KickNsuM 

Number: 31 

Position: Jammer/ Blocker 

Signature move: Backwards blocking/ penalty box sitting 

Tell us about your non-derby self: I’m a surgical nurse, wife, mom to a weimaraner named Jack, Zumba fanatic, fisherwoman, bargain hunter, cancer survivor, and a bad cook. 

Why did you join roller derby?: I will do anything as long as I can wear my roller skates.


What is your favorite part of roller derby?: Feeling that I belong 

What are your roller derby goals?: To have fun while doing good things for my community. I would really like to see us become a recognized not-for-profit organization in this community. 

What do you hope Dire Skates can do for Richmond?: I would like for the Dire Skates to be a fun, entertaining group that people can be fans of, knowing that we do more than just skate, and knowing we work to help others and organizations in the community. Most importantly, I want the Dire Skates to make a difference in Richmond. 

What are you skating on right now?: Vertigos with custom-mounted pink crazy plate thanks to Malice B Stopless.

 If you could skate anywhere, anytime, where and when would it be and why?: Wouldn’t matter as long as I had good friends, good music, and skates, I’d be a happy girl. 

If you could have any famous person alive or dead join Dire Skates, who would it be and why?: I don’t know….. Shaq, he could take up a lot of room on the track and I just see him knocking some girls down and them not getting back up. 

Tell us one thing you want us to know about yourself: Growing up I really wanted to be a mailman. 

Tell us one thing about another skater: Korah the Destroy actually thought about having her derby name be Korah KickNsuM, which I think is really cool.

January Skater of the Month: enTRUdir

Editor's note: This is a new feature! We'd like to honor a Dire Skates member each month in order to show all the behind the scenes and on the track effort the players put in. As we have previously written about, derby takes a lot of effort and a lot of DIY and sometimes the unicorns are actually members of the team. Look for a new "Skater of the Month" early each month!

enTRUdir, aka Trudi, blocks for the Dire Skates. Trudi tried out for the Dire Skates in January 31, 2010 (which was only the third meeting/practice for the team in the first round of tryouts for the team ever) after watching Naptown play the night prior in a bout called "Scar Wars." She is now our fearless leader, the glue that holds us together

enTRUdir is the official convener for the team, meaning she coordinates meetings and votes and makes sure we all do our jobs. She is basically a goddess. (Have you tried wrangling 20+ women into doing something? Not easy.) She has also been a fabulous mentor to us new skaters, constantly talking with us on the track and off during practice to help us grow as skaters. Trudi is level-headed, and serves as a great mediator. She records videos to recap our meetings to make sure we all know what is happening (because notes...who reads things? Wait...). And she reminds us that we can't cuss or be vulgar around the junior skaters...as much as we hate that, we know she is right. You know what, Trudi does so much that I don't even know what else she contributes (coordinating, logos, merch decisions...she's involved in all of it). enTRUdir is an invaluable member of the team and for that, we love her.

In addition to this, she works full time and is the mother to junior skater PUKE Skywalker who, I must say, has some big shoes to fill.

Here is what our coach, The Golffather, had to say about enTRUdir:

"Trudi…..what can I say about Trudi….she is one of the most thoughtful hard working people for the team. A lot of what she does in the background and doesn’t get seen directly, but you definitely see it indirectly. She is a quiet leader and is always willing to get out of her of her comfort zone on the track. She is always willing to help others. She doesn’t look to be in the limelight, she doesn’t want it. I am glad that I can say that I coach her, but even more, I call her a friend."

And Emily KickNsuM added this:

"Trudi is one of the older members and on the team and I don’t mean age, I mean the length of time she has spent with the team. Trudi has always pushed the team to hold to higher values and be a positive influence in our community. Her values off the track are very much the same on the track. Though she might not be the fastest skater on the team or have the hardest hit, Trudi is a solid blocker for the Dire Skates. More importantly she uses team work, knowledge, and communication on the track to get even more accomplished than big hits. I have several special memories of Trudi--one of which includes that we both went to the first Dire Skates tryouts and tried out together. To sum up the memory, she has come a long way from a girl in blue jeans with brown clown rental skates on."

Thank you for all you do, enTRudir.

Derby love.

A Way To Progress

(Editor's note: this is Klept-O's first contribution to our blog--welcome her!)

As a skater, you always wonder, “What can I do to make myself better?” First, don’t take extended breaks from skating. Don’t even take a week off. You would be surprised at how much it affects you. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

Seriously though, skate, a lot. Skate with your team, and skate with other teams. Find local teams who won’t mind the guest skaters, and go as often as you can. The Dire Skates are lucky. They have Gem City in Dayton, and A-Town in Anderson near by. While both are an hour drive or more, it is still well worth the drive to help better yourself as a skater.

Is there a scrimmage near by? Go. Grab as many of your team as you can and head there, asap. It goes back to the skating with others point, but it also brings more than JUST those near by people to you. Recently Em, Terahrizin, Dragon and myself (Klept-O) went to Cornfed Derby Dames scrimmage in Muncie. We met A-Towns GoldyBlox and Faye-Tality up there. It put some of us out of our element. It allowed us to do things we don’t normally do. It also allowed Dragon to put me on my butt once. (Be glad I love you, Wifey, or I would never admit that in writing.)

Watch derby, watch as much as you can. Take and bookmark Derby News Network, or subscribe to WFTDA’s youtube channel. Go to every bout that you can. See things that other people can do. That drill you didn’t understand before? Watching elite teams do it, without fail makes it click perfectly. You may not be able to do it as well, but at least you can go, “I know what it looks like, and I will do it myself.”

Finally, and this is something I fail at, cross train. Do some running, yoga, or maybe even some kick-boxing. Find whatever it is that will get that heart going, and do it. Keeping that endurance high will help in those long two minute jams. Especially when you have to do a few jams in a row.

There are probably many other things that can be done, but these are just a few things that come to mind. They also tend to be the more important things for a derby skater. Maybe that is just my opinion, though.

--- Klept-O-Matic

Derby Stank

DJ Smear-O is a recidivist stinky gear offender

Derby is a rather sweaty sport. We sweat even when we are just standing around talking about our weeks and catching up with our derby sisters.

Add skating, jumping, weaving, jamming, blocking, falling, and whatever insane foot drills Emily KickNsum makes us do and we are sweating pretty dang hard by the time we are done.

We remove our sopping wet knee and elbow pads, wrist guards, and helmets and toss them into a bag. Some of us spray them with such fancy concoctions as Lysol (hey, it's pretty effective! And cheap!), though other girls have specialized sprays that get rid of bacteria and smell pretty good on top of that.

Toss all of that into the trunk of a vehicle and leave it there for a week. It's a science experiment. A stinky, stinky science experiment.

Dire Skates practice once a week during the off season and twice a week during the regular season, but even the 3-4 days has an impact.

Imagine bile plus garbage. Vomit in the hot sun. Poisonous Fritos (I stole this last descriptor from the linked blog below. It's too good not to re-use!).

This is what derby stank smells like.

This bacteria-laden gear is removed form said bag and the rancid scent wafts straight to the noses of nearby teammates.

"Ooh, my gear stinks today!"

We know, sister. We know.

The smell of sweat during a workout is fine. It's expected, but the smell of derby stank can reach such unbearable b.o. levels, that it can clear a room (ask Klept-O about that).

There are certain ways to go about cleaning one's gear as outlined here, but the derby stank is an inevitable part of roller derby.

This is just to warn you: if you can smell us before you see us, run. Run far away.