Spotlight: Grizzly Barrett

Check out that fierce helmet Grizzly painted!

Name: Grizzly Barrett 

Number: 046 

Position: Blocker 

Tell us about your non-derby self: By day or sometimes night I am a radiology student. I take x-rays and try to make people feel even a tiny bit better about their hospital stay. In my spare time, besides derby, I have several different hobbies. I love to paint, draw, and do all things artistic. I also love to be outdoors hiking, swimming, or lazing about. People say I have a song for every situation. I love to sing, and random spoken words may or may not cause me burst out in song. 

Were you a fan of the Dire Skates before joining? I hadn’t actually ever been to a game before I joined the Dire Skates. 

Why did you join roller derby?: I joined roller derby because I wanted to become a stronger me. Part of it was just to prove to myself that I could, and then I fell in love with derby.

What is your favorite part of roller derby?: My favorite part of roller derby is getting to know and being around all of my amazingly strong teammates. They have really supported me, some of them literally pushing/pulling me along, when all I wanted to do was give up. 

What are your roller derby goals?: After passing my laps, my biggest goal is to learn as much about the game as I can. I also want to work more on transitions and backwards skating. 

What do you hope Dire Skates can do for Richmond?: I just hope more girls will join and have a healthy outlet to express themselves. I know when I’ve had a bad day; a roller derby practice is the quickest cure. 

What are you skating on right now?: A pair of used Riedell Carrera’s I picked up online for $5. Best deal ever! They needed a few alterations, new homemade straps and bigger shoe strings, but they’ll do until I get some new ones. 

If you could skate anywhere, anytime, where and when would it be and why?: I wish I could skate around the town I live in, but the roads are way too rough and there aren’t any paved trails. 

Tell us one thing you want us to know about yourself: I’m super loyal and will stick by my friends and family no matter what. 

Tell us one thing about another skater: All of my teammates have been amazing, but Terah pushed me super hard to pass my laps and she’s an awesome trainer!