“It’s Fresh Meat Season!”: Rebel Yellow
I’M SO EXCITED. Yes, my home team’s doing great, and yes, our WFTDA-sanctioned season is beginning, but it’s not because of that. It’s because it’s FRESH MEAT SEASON.
I love having new skaters. I’ll gladly coach them every weekend, and I’ll hover over our baby birds with a devotion that probably verges on creepy. Every year, they amaze me with how fast they learn. Each year, I’m amazed by how much I care about how they turn out, even ten classes after the first group of Meat I oversaw as Head of Training.
Rebel as a Rookie
I was Fresh Meat a million years ago (2008) in a far-away land (Baltimore, home of the Charm City Rollergirls). The rules were different, the sport was different – but some things never change. Our coaches were awesome and formidable (see Holly GoHardly, Dolly Rocket.) The whole experience was simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying, learning to swim as a tiny, awkward fish in a big, badass pond.
But what you, as Fresh Meat, don’t know is this: we need you, and we like you, a lot more than you think. Your enthusiasm is infectious, and it helps carry us through the various waves of burnout inevitable each season. Every year, it seems like you’re more fit, quicker to learn, more athletic, and more impressive – far beyond where I was as a Meat so long ago.
So don’t be worried about the looks you might see at practice (we’ve got a few cases of Resting Bitch Face among us), or be concerned because we’re watching you. We’re watching because you’re a sign of what’s to come, because when we see Amy (now Jean-Juke Picard)’s agility or Michelle (now Shovely Rita)’s speed or Kelly (now Alicia Brains)’s sexy, sexy plow, it’s both exciting and a warning that the game changes as the faces change. We’ve all got to work to earn our spots in the awesome future of derby.
Tryouts, Fall 2011
So if you’re thinking about jumping into the Fresh Meat adventure, I say DO IT. It’ll change your life, and it’ll also change ours. I can’t wait to meet you, Meat Class of 2014, and I’ll see you at tryouts. I’ll be the one with the crazy happy face on.
Tryout to be an Atlanta Rollergirl! Tryouts are this Sunday, May 4th at 10am. 1721 Wilwat Drive, Norcross, 30093. There is no cost.
