You're in charge, so act like it

I don't talk about Derby very often because I don't want to talk shit and then deal with the aftermath. As we know, there is always aftermath. It's funny how I will talk all day about how I am rearranging my money and I don't talk about two things that affect me on a day to day basis. Derby and Men.

Today (which is actually a couple of days ago for you) I ran practice.

I've done this before, with just the Reno Roller Girls, but since practice space is scarce in this town, we have been sharing the Rink with the Battle Born Derby Demons. It seems to be working out pretty well for both leagues.

Since our Freshmeat coach had to bow out, I stepped up to watch over Freshmeat as long as I have a syllabus. I don't mind working with FM because they are still really open to learning. It's a place where I feel like I can do the most good with the least amount of attitude.

When I looked over the syllabus, it turned out that I was running the whole practice. Vets, Freshmeat, everyone. Oh my.

So I owned it. And really, for the most part, it went just fine. But with any situation where you have strong heads, there were a couple of times that I had to assert myself. When some of the girls decided during an endurance drill that they were going to throw in some blocking, I had to put a stop to it. While it is true that they hit me while they were doing it, that's not why. I can take a hit (I wasn't wearing most of my pads though so this wasn't wise) but there were untested skaters out there that aren't ready. AND veteran skaters who weren't in a mindset for contact.

The ladies settled down without a fuss. Then there were a couple who decided that they needed to skate in the opposite direction (this keeps our bodies even. It is important, but everyone needs to be going in the same direction together) I reminded them that doing this would screw up the skaters going in the correct direction so they left the track to do their own thing. I had to call them back. Twice.  I was nice about it, but really? We're adults and should able to follow the leader without wandering off.

All in all, it was a good practice. And I am proud of myself for calling out the skaters that decided they didn't have to do what everyone else was doing. Being in charge isn't easy, but I faked it. And I think it will be easier in the future.