Monday, February 11, 2008

Rocky Mountain High (and Low)

I skated in my very first away bout this Saturday and also dealt with the added pressure of captaining a team of all-stars. Not to mention the pressure in my ears from a lingering infection mixed with the altitude. Sound like a fun-filled weekend?
Oh really? Pffft.

Our expectations were high coming into it. HaRD Knocks is an extremely talented team filled with the leading blockers and scorers from HRD. In the WFTDA-sanctioned bout against the Pikes Peak Derby Dames, we were up against a team with no previous interleague wins. HaRD Knocks has a few under our belt, so we felt strong. We believed we were more evenly matched with the team we scrimmaged against on Sunday, the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls. Boy, were we wrong.

I haven't felt very secure in my beliefs or my skills since halftime of the Pikes Peak bout. We were up by 20 and thought we were overcoming the difficulties of an old, slick skating surface, a crowd cheering like crazy for their home team, and a mostly inexperienced group of referees. Then we managed to score in only 5 out of 17 jams in the second half and ended up losing by 20. It actually should have been a closer gap, but the celebration had already started when we were scoring some points on the final jam. Please pardon my pettiness.

Sunday was even worse, performance-wise. We didn't wake up until the second half, and by then, the damage was done. Once we realized that it would be almost impossible to make up the deficit, it seemed like the pressure was off and we skated like I knew we could. Even though we lost by almost 40 points, it felt much closer and friendlier.

HaRD Knocks is still looking forward to a great season. We have a tough practice schedule before our next bout(s) in May. Even people we don't know think we have a chance.

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