An open letter to ELRD family and friends, our fans and the roller derby community;
Tonight, as I write this, I reflect on what I would have been doing on the eve of our third home bout of the season. Bout day eves are a mixture of last minute finishing touches for production, coaching preparation with line ups and strategy, hydration, stretching, maybe watching some footage, skate maintenance; anything and everything to make sure Saturday would be as smooth sailing as possible. Instead, due to the pandemic, our roller derby world has been turned upside down . Bouts and practice are no longer existent, with no real definitive outlook for when we are able to return to play.
That’s the problem with all this really, there are so many unanswered questions and no way to prepare or plan for the future. In fact, with the constant change of information, even if we do make a plan, it’s almost certain it will have to be modified or changed based on information provided to us that week or day. ELRD’s leadership has been keeping a close eye on changes and updates on the situation. Personally, as an employee of MDHHS, I’m flooded with daily email updates regarding state COVID-19 updates. I haven’t quite decided if it’s a benefit or a curse at this point, but it does keep me well informed. I’ve also been keeping myself decently connected on social media, again not sure if this is a positive or negative thing, but this source continues to be a consistent stream of heart breaking cancellations. I’ve had folks ask me if we plan to play in the 2020 season, or when our practices and boot camps will resume, and every time, I have to say, I hope so, but in reality I have no idea. So much is out of our hands and completely dependent upon our State and Federal guidelines on when it will be safe to return to social gathering activities, especially something as physical and contact oriented as our sport is. Even then, life as we knew it, will be changed. I’m sure new safety protocols will have to be taken. I’ve seen several leagues already, due to their own situations cancel their entire season. WFTDA just announced my most favorite event of the year, WFTDA Champs, has been cancelled. It’s been a couple hard months. ELRD leadership has decided to take each event case by case, making our final decision one at a time. We are very lucky that our venue has been able to work with us so we are able to make last minute decisions like this, and as such, we plan to hold on to as many dates as possible until we can’t. Should we see an opportunity for a safe return to play, we fully intended to jump on that whenever possible. Myself and our other coach and captains have recognized our skaters will need time to get back into derby shape upon return, so we know we will need to account for that time as well. That being said, we are all anxiously awaiting the opportunity to return to any sort of game play or practice.
Personally, of the biggest challenges I’ve experienced serving as President to a nonprofit roller derby league during all of this is being the consistent messenger and bearer of bad news. I realize two months in, people have come to expect these cancellations, but in many ways, the sting of telling people you care about, the thing you all love so much can’t happen, is exhausting and depressing. I’ve actively found myself avoiding it some days, most days. I also realize it sounds really privileged to be sad about a hobby being cancelled, but the reality is, for so many of us, this is more than just a hobby, it is our world. This is our source of therapy, mentally and physically. It’s a source of connection, the family we chose. Our escape, the ability to be our truly authentic selves. Our competition, the place to be a fiercely, unapologetic, strong, athlete who lives on that adrenaline (I mean seriously, nothing matches that adrenaline.) It’s all of that and more for us, and the reason we joined this money-sucking, body-aching, life-consuming sport in the first place.
From my perspective, it’s easy to see that the roller derby community realizes this whole thing is bigger than just roller derby itself. It’s about protecting our communities and doing our part to minimize the spread of this terrible virus. The most beautiful thing is that the roller derby community has always understood the value and benefits of community-oriented thought. Without question, we’ve proven that it is possible that when we fully embrace each other and support one another, and genuinely care for one another, we all see positive influence and success on our lives. Combating COVID-19 is no different. We are all doing our part, giving up what we love, because we know it’s what is best for our loved ones, our community and the world. It doesn't make the heartache of the loss any less, but we recognize it’s what has to be done, so we do it.
Since this all started, ELRD has been doing our best to stay connected. We’ve maintained a consistent virtual practice schedule, keeping opportunities to connect online twice a week. Admittedly, I've learned I’m a much better in person coach, but we’ve discussed rules, rules scenarios, strategies, or just shared stories and laughed with one another and it's been as good as it can be. We attempted working out online in the beginning, but boy, trying to get the right camera angle wasn’t ideal in our crowded or space constraint homes. Not for me anyway! Instead we’ve posted some workouts and encouraged folks to keep up on exercises on their own time that works for them. ELRD has also prioritized staying connected in other ways. We’ve created a COVID support group, where folks are able to share resources or essential items through a safe distribution process with teammates. Leadership has been committed to meeting virtually, as often as needed to keep up on all of the changes. All in all, I’ve been really proud of ELRD’s response to the pandemic, and more than ever I’m confident this league has everything it needs in place to withstand this hard hit. I’m hopeful when I see new league members who just started their derby journey earlier this season in January 2020, continue to be present week after week on our virtual practices, or seeing posts about how excited teammates are to return, or how they will never take for granted practice again. If anything, maybe it was just the perspective we all needed to remind us just how precious and valuable this opportunity, playing roller derby, really is.
Sending everyone lots of love and strength through this weird, challenging, life-altering time. Be kind to yourself and others, and when we get out on the other side of this, I hope we can all live life more genuinely connected than we ever have before!
Jahrmageddon #22
