You go to Sweden, and make sure that the gospel of derby is spread evenly in Europe. Roller derby needs to be international to become as big as we wish it to be.
But just quitting and leaving derby behind, just can’t do it, it is to large and amazing.

We never know when to hang ‘em up cuz we can’t walk away. Instead, we end up playing longer than our bodies should be subjected to such abuse and end up with one too many trips to the O.R. or divorced!

I took an administrative role, but soon found that the work I did was unappreciated by the league and the attitude of the active skaters was “well, you quit skating, why are you still around?”

At first I thought that helping out in a backstage sort of way would be appreciated, but I found out the hard way that it was not. Not many people talk about their negative derby experiences, most actually toe the party line even after they have retired, which is unfortunate as I feel that these attitudes will not change unless the topic is addressed publicly and honestly.

Since i am new i hope i don’t have to deal with it for a while. But with other sports i have played, its time when you start thinking about no longer playing. It generally means the passion is beginning to be outweighed. Things like reason, pressure from significant others and injuries eventually snowball together. Once your passion for what you do diminishes then your focus tends to go with it, leading to greater injuries and simply not enjoying the sport like you used to.

When its time to stop i would like to get into coaching at the very least. I have had some awesome coaches and would like pay that back. Or forward,,,,,

This is something every derby skater has to come to terms with at some point in her skating career…I’m not looking forward to my time.

As a skater who feels like she hasn’t had her full “take” of derby yet, but is just returning from not skating for quite some time, I question that every practice.

My feet got soft, my muscles lost definition, others progressed as I PT’d. I know I have more in me, but it’s very hard to get back into derby once you are out of the loop. Saying all that…I can’t imagine quitting. I just can’t. I’ll never completely take myself away from derby, but when do we hang up the skates? When our bodies truly fail us? When we walk away with life long injuries? When we grow apart and distance from loved ones?

When does derby cross the line to addiction? I certainly know it runs my life…