- [Woman] I just really want to do well at this sport.
- [Woman] I'm expecting to feel really good
at the end of this.
- I'm ready to conquer something
that not a lot of people know about.
For 30 days we are training to be LA Derby Dolls
and I feel overwhelmed.
- Sports are not my thing, I'm not athletic.
I go to the gym and run on the treadmill
and call it a day.
- I know how to maneuver myself on roller skates
but this is a whole lot of woman coming down.
So I'm not planning on falling.
- I'm the most nervous actually
about the time commitment.
Being a mom I feel like
you do not do things for yourself.
- We're all going to a sport
where we don't know what's going on.
We're not very skilled at it.
- I don't know much about roller derby honestly.
(guitar music)
(whistle blowing)
- [Woman] Stop stop stop stop!
(whistle blowing)
(derby instructor yelling)
- What our league does is that
you can borrow skates, a helmet, protective gear,
until you can actually afford your own.
No one's paid.
We do it because the league needs it
and we all want to help out in a certain way.
- I didn't know what I was getting into.
I'm walking in
and then I hear screaming and yelling.
- There were so many people there
which I was not expecting
and we were just thrown into it.
- The beginning of day one to the end of day one
was just like an emotional roller coaster.
We were just like some kind of crew.
- [Woman] Derby is a very demanding sport.
You definitely have to commit to it.
- It was really a lot for me to take in that first day
like I was damn near ready to quit.
We had our first derby practice today
and I hated it.
I cried, I felt so unfamiliar.
I just felt like I was thrown with everything today
and it's not what I was expecting.
I expected to inch into this one at a time
but we went over t-stops today
and I don't even know how to t-stop.
I'm a joke, I'm a derby joke.
- I need to work out more.
I need to train more.
I'm in so much pain.
- These adults come in
and they're so full of I can't,
they're full of decades of you can't
and decades of I can't.
And they come in terrified
and they do it anyway.
And to me that is so beautiful.
And suddenly they realize they're capable of so much more
than they ever thought they could be.
- If you come here and you put your skates on
and you tell yourself,
"Today I'm going to try something new."
And you just go for it,
it might not work out.
You might not pick up a skill that time
but you will eventually.
(bright pop music)
- The second week came and we did jumps.
- I fell a lot.
I learned about falling and just getting back up,
just get back up.
It's okay, it's okay.
- I felt like for the first time since I was a teenager
I lost the fear.
I got up on that bank and they tell me to just
pick up as much speed as I could
and I pick up as much speed as I could
and I aimed straight for the cement floor
and sometimes I jumped the cone and I'd be fine
and sometimes I'd fall on my ass
but every time I would get up.
- I definitely was sick a lot more often than not.
So it was definitely difficult
'cause I felt like I was sick the whole week.
I feel really sick 'cause I was sick the night before
and I was like wobbling around
and then my TMJ kicked in.
This is getting real.
- I feel great.
I had a great day.
(laughing)
I loved it.
This is so much fun.
I went on my own pacing.
I went on my own time.
I eased into things, I challenged myself enough.
- Just fight a lot of anxiety.
I didn't wanna come
and I'm glad that I did it
because now I don't feel anxious anymore.
(cheering)
- What I find really interesting
about my experience in derby
is how it is both informed by
and informs my professional life.
I have learned to speak up for myself,
say in a meeting at work
because of the confidence that I get from derby.
- I was really getting into the groove of things
with week three.
I was getting used to it.
Okay, I got this.
I still fell, I think I improved.
- Certain teachers it was harder for me
to learn certain steps
but with other teachers I just learned it like that
and it was sort of an awakening for me in a sense
because I had realized
that I learned differently from different people.
So I learned to be less hard on myself.
- Being that my expectations
weren't the biggest for us anyway,
there were a lot of things that I did
that I did not think I would be able to do.
- Today we learned how to break
and our foot has to go this way.
It's so strange.
- I want to go to this place where women are free.
I want to go there every week.
- I talked to the woman that was instructing us at the end
because I feel like I'm holding myself back
but I don't feel comfortable
being on the actual round part
but I think next week I'm gonna have to try and do it
because I'm not pushing myself hard enough.
- I learned a lot about the sport in general.
I learned that it's sort of
like a relay race which is kind of fun
but on skates.
- I think it's just important to
put yourself outside of your comfort zone and try new things
because I think a lot of the women that skate here
never thought that they could even roller skate
let alone hit and fly and block the way that they do.
I'm really lucky that those women
stuck around and tried this
'cause some of them are my best friends.
- Common misconceptions about roller derby,
we don't fight each other.
I think a lot of times when I meet people
and they find out I play roller derby,
the first thing they do is go
"Oh elbows."
And it's like, no, that's illegal.
It happens but I try not to do it
and when I do it I feel really guilty about it.
- They're celebrating what their bodies can accomplish.
They've worked really hard to get really good at this sport
that's not gonna elongate their muscles
that's not there to like give them a dancer's body.
It's there to make you (bleep) strong
and kind of hardcore
and give you some tools I think
to really take up space in the world
and not just on the ring.
- I would definitely say
that one of the biggest things in derby
is just empowering each other
and encouraging each other.
Yes, I was skating fine
and the coach even came up to me and she was like,
"I think you're ready for that track."
And it was great but I didn't feel like I was
until the end practice where my partner was like
"Hey, let's go up on this track."
And I was like, "All right."
Well I'm not about to bring this other girl down.
I just feel like we needed that encouragement
to be, "Hey, you don't have to be amazing at this
"but you can push yourself."
- I was afraid that if I make a wrong move
I would just cause everybody to fall
but one of my partner's was like,
"If you fall and we all fall,
"that's okay, we got you."
- Right off the bat they want to support you
and help you because eventually
you're gonna be skating with them,
eventually be on the same team.
So everyone wants to help each other.
There's no competition like there's X amount of spots
and only X amount of people are going to make it.
Eventually we want everyone to be skating.
So there's always this camaraderie, this sisterhood.
(upbeat music)
- Derby for a month, it was a lot physically.
I think it was a lot mentally
but at the end it was very rewarding.
- To get to see other moms who make time for themselves
and have this cool hobby.
To get to see working women who make time for themselves.
All of us had a day that we were like
"Oh god no, this was horrible.
"I can't do it."
All of us had a day where we were like
"I'm in so much pain, what am I doing to myself?"
And all of us loved it.
Ultimately, I think there was something about it
that all of us loved.
I'm gonna take my life one week at a time
but I'm going to roller derby again on Sunday.
- I'm not the kind of person that falls down
and then gets back up again.
I'm the kind of person that's just like I'm down.
But this required me to fall and get back up
and to praise me in my falling,
to praise me in my failure,
to fail big which is something
that I need to learn in general.
It's okay to fail big
and you can always get back up and try again.
You can try again as many times as you want.
- Don't let stereotypes or people
dictate what you do.
If you have a dream or if you have a goal
or if you have a sport like derby you want to do
then just do it.
Just freakin' do it.
- Everyone, please support your local roller derby team.
We are doing amazing things
not only physically and athletically
but also we are fostering a community of strong girls
who know who they are at 12.
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