WEBVTT

00:00.189 --> 00:03.920
No , the first time I even heard or

00:03.930 --> 00:06.263
saw the words roller derby put together ,

00:06.263 --> 00:08.880
I think it was during my tour in Korea .

00:08.890 --> 00:11.939
So a long time ago now , and I kind of

00:11.949 --> 00:14.171
looked into it a bit , but because that

00:14.171 --> 00:16.171
tour was so short , I didn't really

00:16.171 --> 00:18.505
have the time to follow through with it .

00:18.505 --> 00:20.505
And then it happened , just kind of

00:20.505 --> 00:22.671
happen stance here . I how to actually

00:22.671 --> 00:24.838
recreate my Facebook page just because

00:24.838 --> 00:26.949
Yokota uses Facebook for everything .

00:26.949 --> 00:29.005
And I just randomly saw a post about

00:29.005 --> 00:28.809
roller derby . And I was like , well ,

00:28.899 --> 00:31.066
why don't , you know ? So I clicked on

00:31.066 --> 00:33.288
it . I showed up to one of the meetings

00:33.288 --> 00:35.510
and it seemed like really fun sport . I

00:35.510 --> 00:37.732
coached two teams at the moment because

00:37.732 --> 00:39.788
I really wanted to play and that was

00:39.788 --> 00:39.720
the fastest way to play . There wasn't

00:39.729 --> 00:42.700
a team here when I came . So I joined

00:42.709 --> 00:44.729
Zama Killer Kaas because they were

00:44.740 --> 00:46.629
established . And then when I was

00:46.629 --> 00:48.796
recruiting for them , somebody on Yako

00:48.796 --> 00:50.962
said , oh , why don't we form a team ?

00:51.840 --> 00:55.700
It's a very niche sport , but it's also

00:55.709 --> 00:59.700
a very inclusive sport . Like where

00:59.709 --> 01:03.250
is a sport like basketball ? If you are

01:03.450 --> 01:06.110
tall , it's always great and is a

01:06.120 --> 01:08.699
preference . Well , if you're , you

01:08.709 --> 01:12.150
know , less than 5 10 , there's some

01:12.160 --> 01:14.349
limitations to what you're doing on a

01:14.360 --> 01:16.471
height base . While rule it , it does

01:16.471 --> 01:18.693
not matter what size you are , there is

01:18.693 --> 01:21.410
always a role for you regardless of how

01:21.419 --> 01:23.641
big or small you are , which I think is

01:23.641 --> 01:25.697
quite unique . While roller derby it

01:25.697 --> 01:27.752
varies so much and there's a job for

01:27.752 --> 01:29.752
absolutely everyone , regardless of

01:29.752 --> 01:32.709
height size , whatever . It's just , it

01:32.720 --> 01:35.849
makes it more welcoming for anybody .

01:36.260 --> 01:38.427
You know , people come to roller derby

01:38.427 --> 01:40.593
for all different types of reasons for

01:40.593 --> 01:42.427
me . Um , it was something I was

01:42.427 --> 01:42.370
interested in , but it wasn't something

01:42.379 --> 01:44.970
I pursued until my father died . And

01:44.980 --> 01:47.036
then we moved to Germany and we were

01:47.036 --> 01:49.147
stationed there right after he died .

01:49.147 --> 01:51.258
So it felt like a really lonely place

01:51.258 --> 01:53.313
in my life and I wanted something to

01:53.313 --> 01:55.536
kind of obsess over and get my mind off

01:55.536 --> 01:58.349
of it . So I decided to try and I found

01:58.360 --> 02:00.360
that I actually really loved it . I

02:00.360 --> 02:02.138
loved being able to focus on my

02:02.138 --> 02:04.193
personal skills . I could see my own

02:04.193 --> 02:06.449
growth as an individual on skates , but

02:06.459 --> 02:08.626
then I could also see my growth in the

02:08.626 --> 02:10.681
team . So for me , it was personally

02:10.681 --> 02:12.903
very fulfilling and I know other people

02:12.903 --> 02:14.848
join because they want a different

02:14.848 --> 02:17.600
persona from being a parent or , you

02:17.610 --> 02:19.554
know , they want a hobby that they

02:19.554 --> 02:21.443
haven't tried before . I was just

02:21.443 --> 02:23.610
talking with someone earlier today who

02:23.610 --> 02:23.399
said that they never played sports .

02:23.410 --> 02:25.679
This is their first sport and I was

02:25.690 --> 02:27.690
pretty much that way too . I hadn't

02:27.690 --> 02:29.690
played sports since I was a teen so

02:29.729 --> 02:31.896
everyone joins for different reasons .

02:31.896 --> 02:34.007
For me . It , it just came at a great

02:34.007 --> 02:36.690
time in my life . Roller , especially

02:36.699 --> 02:38.477
the Yokota team here , the Fuji

02:38.477 --> 02:41.360
flatliners . I think it means

02:41.369 --> 02:43.869
everything to me because like I said ,

02:43.880 --> 02:45.970
it's a community and you get to meet

02:45.979 --> 02:48.035
ladies from different aspects of the

02:48.035 --> 02:49.812
base community where I wouldn't

02:49.812 --> 02:51.812
otherwise run into them . Right ? I

02:51.812 --> 02:53.868
mean , maintenance overall is a male

02:53.868 --> 02:56.035
dominated career field , especially in

02:56.035 --> 02:58.201
my unit . And I didn't want to get too

02:58.201 --> 03:00.368
make that connection here when I first

03:00.368 --> 03:02.423
P CS to Dakota . Just I think of the

03:02.423 --> 03:04.701
job and living off base and everything ,

03:04.701 --> 03:06.757
the unity this team brings is really

03:06.757 --> 03:08.757
good for me . I liked the community

03:08.757 --> 03:08.600
aspect of it and that's kind of like ,

03:08.889 --> 03:11.000
I don't know the girl power behind it

03:11.000 --> 03:13.333
and I was like , all right , sign me up .

03:13.333 --> 03:15.500
I didn't know how to skate or anything

03:15.500 --> 03:17.722
when I first started and now I am doing

03:17.722 --> 03:17.399
roll derby .