muddy river rollers - moncton roller derby

Our League has a really great private page where we discuss all sorts of details that pertain to running events, practices, fundraisers, parties, and our social lives.  But this past week, a thread caught the attention of almost every one of our members and it has been running like wildfire ever since.  It has even spilled off the page into real conversation and a lot, and I mean A LOT of jaw dropping.

Recently, a user from our muddyriverrollers.com webpage sent us an anonymous message that shocked our webmistress Brandy Swifter so much that she posted it on our private discussion page, and it read (unedited), in reference to women's roller derby:

"I am disgusted that this is allowed in our society.

I thought canadians were against violence against women and expolitation of women for mens entertainment."  

Really?  I mean, really?  It's rare that I am shocked for words, but when the comments started flying and Brandy Swifter suggested that I blog about it, Eve McQueen stated "If she's not interested - I would totally write about it. When I first heard of derby, as a feminist, I wasn't all that down with what I thought the idea of it was, a year later I've obviously been converted :)".  At that point I agreed that I would not only blog about it, but I would blog the hell out of it.  There are probably more than just black and white opinions on this statement and I am curious what they are.  My own is simple: women's flat track roller derby is empowering to women, and there is no oppressor.  It seems that most of the women I play with agree.

Ms Hate's response to the comment was "Funny, because to me this was a natural thing to do as a feminist. Sexuality on our own terms, and tough girl attitudes."  Some humour popped in with Dr Johnny Capote (a well known derby league advisor, www.canuckderbytv.com) when he asked that if that comment were indeed true "does that make me a pimp?".  Floor Play was laughing when she said "aaahh, how I could rant about that comment.  This person is obviously unaware of the term 'Derby Love'"  On a more serious note, Eternal Glamnation retorted "‎'Allowed'...what a great word. We don't need permission and we certainly don't need censorship."  Smasherella echos that in saying "I feel more empowered as a woman, more confident as a whole because of derby. Anyone who gives it a chance quickly realizes it's not all about skating and hitting".

Now, derby has really evolved from what it was in the 1970's  Many members of our community who have never seen a recent game ask us, "Is that like with the clothes-lining and women beating each other up?"  No, it's not.  It's a team sport that requires strategy, endurance, strength, speed, a sense of humour and a tough skin.  The goal is for 2 scoring players (called Jammers) to get through a pack of 8 (4 friendly and 4 opponents, called Blockers).  Physical contact is necessary for this to happen.  Players will be pushed and shoved and often knocked down so that the Jammers can score points.  It is not for the entertainment of our fans, male or female.  We love our fans with an obsessive passion, but honestly we would, and do, play derby even if they aren't there.

Violence is defined as the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes.  Stepping onto a derby track gives all players permission to use whatever force necessary, within the strict guidelines of the 31 pages of WFTDA rules, to block the opposing team and to score points.  That's not called violence, that's called Derby.  I'm proud to be a Canadian who is against violence against women.  In fact, I think you should visit this website to get a better perspective on what true violence against women is: www.cdnwomen.org/EN/section05/3_5_1_1-violence_facts.html

I really believe that everyone has the right to their opinion.  I'm just disappointed when ignorance is what fuels a comment.  Had they not posted anonymously, the Muddy River Rollers would have gifted two free tickets for the user to come see what modern day derby is all about!

I hate admitting this, but my gear stinks.  One night at practice, moments after taking off my skates, one of the most beautiful of our players says "what the f--- is that smell?"  I told her it was my skates.  When she didn't believe me I held them a little closer to her and she said "yup, it's sweat."  I make no excuses for the scent of my gear, only apologies.  At the same time. I'm not the only lady in the locker room whose skates come off smelling less than roses so I thought it would be a good idea to share my gear cleaning journey with you.  I do believe I have tougher than average odours.  I also have a limitation to what I use because I skate bare footed and am sensitive to the chemicals that I will absorb into my system as soon as my feet start to sweat.  

When I first came across this problem it was very minor.  After all, my gear was brand new, and simply airing was enough for it.  It took awhile before we started to search for the dead animal in the house.  Once the culprit was discovered to be my gear bag then it was a simple process of washing gear immediately after practice, including the bag, and leaving it all to air dry.  That lasted for awhile, and then the honeymoon was over.  Sunlight became my newest friend.  I would wash the gear and lay it in the sunshine, including the skates with their laces open as wide as they could go and the tongues hanging out.  Finally, a solution that was simple, and healthy.  As much as I continued to clean my gear though, I also continued to sweat every practice, and I added some gaskets to the mix.  It made matters worse and soon, no matter what I was doing, nothing was getting the smell out.

Then, it was Google to the rescue.  After all, I cannot be the only one with this issue.  I was right.  It's a huge issue, and there are hundreds of solutions.  Among them were all those listed above.  So, I started trying some of the simplest ones.  I found a bottle of Fabreeze™ and sprayed all of my gear  liberally.  I ended up with a migraine the next two practices.  I then filled my skates and coated my pads with baking powder and left them to sit for hours to absorb the smell.  It made no difference.  A few sports products exist on the market to eliminate odours and kill bacteria, and they just don't make a difference, and they also led to migraines.   I tried washing the pads and spraying my skates with three different kinds of vinegar and it made no difference.  Isopropyl alcohol was one of the highest advised products out there to kill athlete odour in its tracks.  It never was up against my gear before because, it made no difference.  I considered bleach at one point, but even if it did kill bacteria, it was going to deteriorate everything at a rapid rate if used consistently.  Somebody recommended Gold Bond Powder.  So again I filled up my skates for hours, vacuumed them dry and put my nose too close to unfortunately discover, you guessed it, no difference.  I even tried vodka (such a sad waste) and the smell was still so bad that my husband thought someone may have vomited in the van after I had skated the PRIDE parade with my teammates.

I had nearly given up though when I jokingly said "maybe gin will work better".  So, after soaking my skates in the laundry tub with a generous portion of gin and a moderate portion of natural laundry detergent, I am proud to admit that my gear finally smells less like roadkill and more like beloved equipment.  I think the essential oils in the detergent might be key too.  It was a matter of finding just the right chemistry for my own body type.  And, I am very grateful, because I was seriously considering investing in all new gear.  Yes, it was that bad.  I think I might market my cleaner and call it Skate Martini®.