Away Games: Gem City and Mortal Kombout

In less than two weeks your Dire Skates will be hitting the road to bout in St. Clairsville, Ohio against Ohio Valley Roller Girls!

But seriously, look at this flyer! It is full of WIN!

FINISH HER!

This will be our first overnight bout in awhile and we can't to spread the Dire Skates love across the nation! Or at least Ohio.

You can see more info on the event page.

Last weekend we played Gem City in Dayton and though they took the win, we played hard. Your Dire Skates is a growing team and we are getting stronger each game! Thanks to the Dire fans who made it over to Dayton to cheer us on!

Yeah, we know we are awesome.

After all of this traveling we will see you all at home in May during our special Mother's Day event on May 10th! More details to come--stay tuned!

--Bilbo Stabbins

Diary of a New Recruit: Passing Laps and Getting Bout-Ready

As we have previously written about, going from being a new recruit to a full member of the team is complicated. The place where all of us new recruits have been "stuck" for a while is laps. This is one of the WFTDA minimum requirements--it requires all skaters to be able to skate 27 laps in five minutes on order to be able to play. Recently Jenocide passed her laps and in this past week Smack Widow and I, Bilbo Stabbins, also passed our laps, which means we are technically bout-ready!

Bilbo Stabbins passes laps and immediately needs a nap and afternoon tea.

Look at Smack Widow go! (Photo courtesy of Tuscan aka Honey VooDoo)

Saying we were excited is an understatement.

There were lots of hugs and everyone was (and is) so proud of us! But now what? We had been so focused on passing laps (which required gaining strength, endurance, and even agility), but now what are we working toward? Oh yeah, playing derby!

Smack Widow and I will both be playing our very first bout, which is coming up quite soon!

If you don't know this already, you have some catching up to do!

We are technically bout-ready, but are we really bout-ready? I am already nervous! How can I cope with my anxiety if I am already feeling like this? My co-lap-passer, Widow, came to the rescue when she sent me this blog, which outlines everything a skater should do to prep for bout number one (and probably for future bouts too!).

 "First, take a deep breath."

Oh, this is good stuff! I hadn't thought of that! What else? *takes deep breath*

"Get your boutfit together – make sure you have the appropriate jersey and that your number is printed at least 4 inches tall – make sure you have the right bottoms, tights, socks – find these items early so you can have a couple dress rehearsal practices (it is very annoying to be pulling at your clothes during the bout)

Tell EVERYONE you know that you will be skating so they can clear their calendar"

These are just a few of the many things the blog tells us to do. Most of it is common sense to a skater and many of the things we have to do even just before a practice (hydrate, make sure you have all your gear, eat healthy, etc.). But I am certainly going to reference this blog often in the coming weeks.

So here I am getting my Map of Middle Earth pants ready, channeling my inner Suzy Hotrod, and telling of you, derby fans, to come support your Dire Skates, new and old. We can't wait to see you!

--Bilbo Stabbins

P.S. I LOATHE YOU

Our first bout of 2014 is fast approaching!

Awesome flyer courtesy of GOREgon

We will be bouting for a new local non-profit organization, Richmond Shakespeare Festival! As posted on their Facebook page:

The mission of the Richmond Shakespeare Festival organization is to produce and promote an annual Shakespeare festival of the highest quality, including theatrical performances and educational opportunities, based in Richmond, Indiana.

We look forward to helping bring the arts to Richmond and we hope you'll be a part of the event.

Also courtesy of GOREgon (though it's a variation on this)