Scarface Clawdia: So fresh and so clean

Freshmeat, huh? Great image: glistening, fresh, bloody and raw. Quite apt really. As one of the 20 who signed up for the inaugural Freshmeat course, I was ready for action and we got three full hours of it every Sunday.

Having been nervous after watching my first bout, there was no way I was going near the game until I felt comfortable. It was a relief to know there was no way I would be ALLOWED until the league coaches confirmed I was safe enough to - I can't think of anything worse than a newbie taking to the track and getting injured straight off the bat just because they didn't know what they were doing. Well, the newbie being me would be worse...so this course was looking to be an answer to my fears. We hit the basics. I'm talking stops, falls, skate form, crossovers, blocking, taking a hit and learning some rules. Talking derby.

Six weeks of training - the hours were packed with skills, drills and bruises. Yeah, I could have said spills but I don't feel like turning this into a rhyme fest. I think I'll leave that to the rest. They'd do it best. Fuck. Anyway. It was daunting going into the course knowing we had a skills test at the end of it - six weeks didn't seem long enough. Bunches of us were heading out to the raceway in Porirua on Tuesdays for extra practice, and mixing it in there with the league helped big time - a chance to practice form, speed, endurance and general stability, plus learn a few new skills before trying them at Freshmeat. A good opportunity to make up for the time I turned up to Freshmeat horrendously hung over - never again...although on the upside, I didn't feel like hurling unless I stopped skating, so there was an added incentive to just keep pushing through...

It seems strange, but sometimes I wish I could go back to the days of Freshmeat (not that they were that long ago, but...still) and learn it all again - the pace accelerated once we had passed the skills test and jumped into full league training. Being launched into a league of skaters that I'd admired from the stand and trying not to be an awkward fan girl - argh! Doing drills and scrimmage amongst them and feeling like everyone was able to see just how fresh and green I was (am?)...ahhhh awkward, you are my good friend. And then the reassuring ego check to remind myself that actually, no, everyone is thinking about what they're doing - and that there's so many other skaters. Just got to keep that in mind from time to time - and maybe keep up with the Tuesday extra practice!