in which I wax poetic about roller derby

So when I was talking about the revised WFTDA minimum skills a little while ago, I came at them from the POV of a veteran skater, someone who's been doing this for the last thirty years and whatnot.  I've also been thinking about the shift of derby from "hey here's this crazy thing that we're doing on roller skates" to "actual pure sport."  My conclusion is this:

I got into derby at exactly the right time.

When I started back in July 2008, there was no 25 in 5.  There was 5 laps in 1 minute (for speed) and 20 laps in 5 minutes (for endurance).  The very first time I had to do it to be rostered for a bout, four months after I started, I did 5 laps in 0:56 (11.20 seconds per lap) and 20 laps in 3:59 (11.95 seconds per lap).

Using those number today, I'd finish 27 laps in way over 5:00.

I've been able to keep up with the minimum standards (and improve upon them) because I've been skating.  (if I had to do the original test today, I'd do 5 laps in about 46 seconds, and 20 laps in, at most, about 3 and a half minutes.)

So yeah, I feel bad for the people like me, who never played sports in high school or college, who come into roller derby with the same starry-eyed THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER I HAVE FOUND MY TRIBEness that I had when I started, only to realize they can't do 27 laps in 5 minutes.  And if these people aren't given the right support and "you can do it!" attitude, they'll drop out, and derby will be poorer as a result.  Like I recently said, athletic ability will only get a league so far.