So Thursday I wasn't able to go to the monthly league meeting because my dad was going out to dinner with friends, but I Skyped in and was able to listen and participate.
The main topic of discussion was if every skater on the league should be required to volunteer with the league (which, I guess, makes it no longer "volunteering") in order to be allowed to skate. Opinions varied wildly amongst the league; I fell solidly on the OMG NO NO NO NO NO, REALLY SERIOUSLY NO THIS WILL MAKE ME VERY UNHAPPY. As I said during the meeting (the referee who was handling Skype for me read my words), I am *still* burned out on league administration. I have no problem bringing food to a bout, or helping to set up and take down chairs and clean out locker rooms at the end of the night, or helping out at an event that's beyond the normal practice THANG, but require me to be on a committee and I will whimper.
(Part of the conversation about this topic lead to the thoughts that individuals who are in charge of committees need to know when to delegate their work to other people. I mentioned that I'm not good at doing that, and Former Fearless Leader said that the work I had to do was the one aspect of the league that *couldn't* be delegated out. [Glad someone noticed!])
Anyway, it was determined that the "volunteer" requirement would *not* include being on a committee, but I still voted it down. The general consensus was that hopefully the conversation would get people who hadn't really helped out before to step up to the plate and we'd revisit the idea in a few months.
So that was Thursday.
Then there was the weekend. Oh, hi Dutchland/Ditchland/Doucheland! (I'm just repeating what I've heard from other sources. They were our mentor league for our WFTDA application and seemed very nice from what I have heard.) They are going to have to do a *lot* to get back into the good graces of the derby community. Merv the Perv (the coach who made the decision to forfeit) said (in a post he made to DNN): "I was thinking, what would be best for this team, during this tournament. I did not consider what 'your' feeling would be."
That, I think, is the problem. Derby's such a fledgling sport right now, on the cusp of acceptance by the mainstream community, every step we (as a whole) take has to be weighed carefully. Too many bad decisions and the whole thing will fall apart.
Have I played in bouts where I knew we had no chance in hell of winning? Of course I have! But I remember those bouts fondly because they were bouts where (a) I jammed for the first time in a bout [and got lead jammer aw yeah!] and (b) I got MVP and had the BEST time at an after party that I've ever had. And, like lots of people have been saying, you get to learn SO MUCH even when you're being thoroughly trounced.
So yeah. They made an unpopular decision and hopefully it will not haunt them too much in the future.
Last night was night #2 of Fresh Meat. I didn't skate because I'd cracked my head open standing up too quickly into a shelf Sunday afternoon (I'm ok; no stitches but Roy cut my hair really close to the scalp to try and put a band-aid on it, which failed, so now I have a bald spot on my head that I have to wear my hair differently to cover, but ANYWAY) and I didn't want to sweat into it.
Someone suggested "Queenie's Meanies" as a team name and I was kinda like OMFG YES END OF DISCUSSION I AM PULLING RANK HERE AND THIS IS WHAT WE WILL BE CALLED. Heh. So the Meanies are doing awesome. They rotate through different stations learning different things (falls, stops, stance, etc.) and one of the skaters manning one of the stations came up to me and said "your group is doing the best so far." Yay!
So this weekend we're going to bout the team we thoroughly trounced back on the 10th. Methinks their team will have a few different (read: better) players on it this time around. They are not WFTDA-oriented (though they do play a WFTDA game) and from what I hear we might have 3 twenty minute periods instead of 2 thirty minute halves (something about their venue requiring two halftime breaks, is what I heard - if they do doubleheaders, they play 2 thirties, but our game's a single bout). That will be weird. I think I've only played in a 3 twenties bout once , and that was the very first bout I was in almost 3 years ago. It'll definitely be to their advantage, as (a) they're used to it and (b) it'll help them with their endurance.
Anyway, practice tonight, we'll see how it goes.
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