By Mathundra Storm
Monday October 5, 2009 @ Rollerama in Schenectady, NY
The Hellions hosted a recruitment night in a very timely fashion with the premier of the major motion picture “Whip It”. We reach out to the community to recruit volunteers, refs, and players; we are always looking for more derby lovers and curious cats. Men are welcome to participate as volunteers, and skating and non skating refs; but the rostered skaters are left to the women because there are no balls in derby. We promoted the event with the tag lines: “ Put on some skates & be your own HERO!” and “Find your Tribe”. Roller Derby has been buzzing around the country for years, but this movie has helped promote the sport even more.
The Hellions attracted a whopping ELEVEN prospects; that’s almost enough for an entire roster! We ran practice as usual with drills and skills while the fresh meat prospects slapped on some rental skates and gave it a go. The experienced skaters assisted those that were uneasy on the wheels. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never skated before; we welcome everyone!
The men and women that showed up ranged in age from18 to their 30’s. We were blessed with the presence of an interested mother as her adorable daughter sat and watched. As all 35+ of us got in a big circle and introduced ourselves; I noticed the newcomers giggling and getting a kick out of hearing our fabulous derby names. We explained what derby has done for us and we could all agree that it’s hard to imagine our lives before derby. We got into roller derby for reasons like: that it rubbed off onto someone else, wanting to be part of a rad community, sisterhood, brotherhood, supporting strong kick ass women, empowering the self, getting in shape and getting back into sports. It was great to see the seasoned fresh meat share their encouragement for the next possible generation of fresh meat. Roller Derby has a big learning curve for beginners but it’s totally empowering to see people make enormous improvements with their skills in just a couple months. Once you get it you can’t stop. Joining a roller derby team may be the best thing you could ever do for your body and spirit. The recruits came from different walks of life as a high school student, college students, mothers, artists, and full time workers.
To continue our introductions, we learned how successful our promotions are doing. We attracted people from facebook, twitter, myspace, our bouts and promotional events. Our ‘Whip It” theater appearances at Crossgates, BowTie and The Spectrum brought at least 5 women to our recruitment night! Ida Feltersnatch had a great idea for everyone to share their favorite bands. From that we got music interests like: The Dropkick Murphy’s, Britney Spears, Green Day, Muse, Steve Miller, Spanish Music, Slayer, A Perfect Circle, and many obscurely named bands.
We finished the evening off with scrimmaging black against colors. The recruits, refs and volunteers got in the middle of the track to experience the referee’s point of view. The recruits left with a positive and entertaining first time skating experience and a wide open door to roller derby amazingness. They got a first hand look at the sport and a sustainable and progressive community. The team left with more than enough recruits to stay in touch with. The Hellions continue to build on their foundation, grow and evolve. Who knows who will be the next fresh meat…….
Hey there:
But, thought I would check it out because I would rock!
I saw a post on craigs list that you’re having another recruitment thing on Jan 23 and you need a band. My bf’s band may be interested, but the link is gone. Also, I’m thinking about joining. I just couldn’t attend the last one because I was still unemployed. I’ve been skating since I was three, and did some speed skating, but never roller derby. I’m 44 and not sure I want to be bruised and broken!
Let me know when you’re doing your next gig.
Thanks,
Amy