Volunteer of the Month: Thunder Muffin

Please help us in congratulating our volunteer of the month…Thunder Muffin!

Thunder began skating with HRD back in the day when the league was brand new. As a new skater I was always terrified at the prospect of coming up against her in a pack. There is footage out there of her knocking the panty off of a jammer: she hit this girl SO HARD that the panty fell right off of her helmet, talk about brutal. After skating with the rollers for four seasons she had to step off the track due to an ACL injury which required surgery and cadaver ligaments to repair her knee. But Thunder’s love of roller derby didn’t stop just because she went under the knife, she continues to coach and inspire in our Redwood Saplings Junior Roller Derby program. Thunder pushed for the creation of a junior league so that the young women of our community would get a chance to play roller derby. There’s magic that we all feel when we lace up our skates and Thunder wanted to share that with the Saplings. Thanks to Thunder’s hard work our junior league has grown and thrived up here on the North Coast. Our Saplings bout each other regularly and get to travel to play other junior leagues in California. HRD is so proud of the Saplings and so grateful for Thunder’s dedication to ensuring the future of our sport.

We love you Thunder! Thanks for all that you do!

Fun fact: Thunder is a total water baby. When she’s not on the track she can be found swimming in the rivers of Humboldt County and is often mistaken for a mermaid.

Skater of the Month: Ruckus!

The name says it, all this girl brings the Ruckus! Don’t let her size fool you, Ruckus is a tenaciously vicious blocker. Just when a jammer thinks they are out of the pack, she will come in for the hit and suck her back in! Teammates describe her as a great team player that always has her teammates back out on the track. Ruckus is currently coaching for the Redwood rollers and for boot camp. Off skates she helps with booking the season, as she is one of the inter-league coordinators, scheduling competitive teams for our Rollers and Widows to bout against all season long. Ruckus first joined HRD in January of 2009. She started off as a Widow Maker and earned her spot on the Redwood Rollers in the 2010 season through her hard work and dedication. Ruckus is super dedicated to the league as she drives 45 min to come to practice 3-4 times a week!

 

Fun Fact: She is a huge Wu Tang fan… Hence the name Ruckus… Because she definitely brings it!

Volunteer of the Month: Ruby Red Delicious

Ruby in all of her cherubic glory, timing penalties for a recent scrimmage

Ruby, aka Christiana Coffman, is one of the super-est of super volunteers Humboldt Roller Derby has ever had the luck of having. Ruby first fell in love with roller derby when she started skating in our drop-in clinics in 2009. Though she soon decided that skating just wasn’t for her, she stuck with HRD – finding many ways to lend her time, expertise and a helping hand.

By day, Ruby works at a local credit union and in her spare time she miraculously volunteers for a host of other local organizations. Ruby has not only served as an HRD board member, HRD head of non skating officials, and HRD PR chair – she also serves on the board at The Sequoia Zoo. When not at one of her volunteer gigs, she is either in the kitchen baking fabulous gourmet treats worthy of their very own bakery or out on the town with friends. How she manages we will never know!!!

Ruby has since retired from the HRD Board of Directors and is now serving as the Head Non Skating Official and a member of the PR committee. You can see her in the middle of the track during bouts – working diligently with a clipboard and making sure all of the other non skating officials and the referees have the support they need. Behind the scenes she is coordinating the posters and making minor updates to the webpage. We are very lucky to have her as our very own Ruby Red. We’re convinced, she must be magic! We truly don’t know where we would be without her.

HRD thanks Ruby for all her work and the part she has played in building this great organization that allows women and girls in Humboldt County engage in the athletics, empowerment and community. Next time you see her at a bout, give her your thanks too!

Skater of the Month: SumBody!

Our newest skater of the month is not just anybody, it’s SUMBODY!!!

SumBody’s watching…

Sumbody, #Dial 911, is starting her first season this year as a valued teammate of Humboldt Roller Derby. Fellow skaters describe Sumbody as, “Tough, determined, and improving everyday”. Sumbody is a really hard hit’n blocker, who can make a jammer shake in her star panty.

By day Sumbody is a bookkeeper, crunching numbers, and by night, as a skater for HRD, she crunches opposing players. Sumbody uses both of these skills to contribute to our league, being badass on the track and using her bookkeeping smarts to help with the teams budget and financial organization. Sumbody says that she enjoys her work, which gives her the opportunity to meet many entrepenuers in Humboldt working on exciting projects.

In her spare time Sumbody loves to cook and have friends over for dinner. Her and her husband, Carter, restored a 1964 vintage Shasta travel trailer that they like to take camping.

Sumbody is strong and powerful, but also someone you can talk to. Skaters comment that she is always helpful when you,”need Sumbody to lean on”. Sumbody says she likes to let her actions speak for her, and that she admires the women who have built this league on pure heart and hard work and hopes to make a lasting contribution as a show of appreciation to those that have come before her. In the short time she has been in the league, she has already accomplished that, and we appreciate all of the hard work Sumbody does on and off the track!

Fun fact:

Sumbody is a licensed contractor for finish carpentry, cabinetry & millworks, who used to travel the world installing bars and fancy woodwork in homes, restaurants etc. before she got into bookkeeping.

Skater of the Month: Harley San Quinntin!

Harley assesses the situation on the jammer line

Please join us in congratulating HARLEY SAN QUINNTIN as our Skater of the Month for January 2013!

Harley joined our bootcamp in 2011 as soon as she turned 21 (our former age requirement) after waiting 2 whole years to join Humboldt Roller Derby. During those two years she spent her time practicing her skate moves at Blue Lake Roller Rink, where she currently works, which helped her breeze her way through the bootcamp system. Since being placed on the Widow Maker’s roster Harley has continued to work hard to hold down a spot as one of our leagues least penalty heavy jammers (only 4 trips to the box thus far in her career!!!). Harley was also a co-captain of the Widow Makers last season, as well as helped out in our bootcamp as a Level 1 trainer and also as a coach for our league during our off season. She’s a great teammate and will do whatever the league asks of her, whether that’s doing inventory on loaner gear for our boot camp attendees or hosting off skates workouts for her team mates.

When she’s not on her skates Harley can be found on campus at Humboldt State University where she is studying for a degree in kinesiology and participates in the Humboldt Circus. Harley can break down athletic movement for you AND juggle or spin fire at the same time! Harley likes puppies, Ru Paul’s Drag Race, Pokemon, and other awesome nerdy things. Harley also likes to experiment with hair color: she often shows up to practice with blue, pink, red, or black  hair depending on how adventurous she’s feeling.

Fun fact:
Harley skates without her glasses, and technically can’t she while she skates. She’s pretty much like a bat, echo-locating her way through the pack.

Thanks Harley for all that you do!

Volunteer of the Month: April Gay the Volunteer Coordinator

April is the captain of the whole shipload of volunteers that make our bouts sail smoothly.  April started training as a skater for HRD in 2009 but soon thereafter broke her ankle while at the Kinetic Sculpture Race.  Her commitment to HRD has never faltered.  April volunteered for just about every bout job for HRD before taking over the coordination of bout volunteers last year when our beloved BOD, Susan Seaman, retired from the position.   April’s diligence made the transition from our longtime coordinator to a newbie go off without a hitch.  Tracking the 80 to 100 volunteers needed for each bout is a big job!  The Magical Bout Productioneer, Hoosier Daddy; Usher King, David Rivera; Concessions Queen, Kate Ortiz; Merch Mavens and April work as the perfect team and we couldn’t do it without them!

April’s love affair with skating began at a young age.  She could be found at Roller Haven at the Antioch County fair grounds at least twice a week while growing up.  Later as a teen, she could be seen around town roller blading with her friends.  April also loved to lace up ice skates and hit the ice!

When asked what April loves about roller derby the most, she says “that any woman old or young, of all shapes and sizes can become an athlete.”

HRD thanks April for the part she plays in building our organization and helping the women and girls in Humboldt County engage in the athletics, empowerment and community of HRD.  Next time you see her at a bout, give her your thanks too!

Feline, APRIL, Grungie and Vena all pose before taking off for the Kinetic Sculpture Race

Skater of the Month: Rotten Tula Core

Congratulations to our Skater of the month, Rotten Tula Core!

Teammates describe her as a “great overall player”, and “a strong member of the team, always willing to play any position, even if it’s scary!”-HRD

Tula laughs about when she first started, back when she was that kid at the rink that would slam face first into the wall to stop, but boy has she come a long way from that!

Tula started with HRD back in 2010, quickly making her way on to the team. Immediately after making the team however, she succumbed to the infamous *nine-month injury*also known as Emerson, the youngest of her four children. Now back from her “terrible injury”(pregnancy), she has come back in December of 2011 full force putting a lot of time and energy into skating. Tula says that roller derby has helped her overcome an anxiety disorder, and that despite being nervous when answering phones, she loves skating so much that she hardly gets nervous at all in front of the hundreds of fans at bouts.

Tula says she didn’t have much access to athletics until college where she rowed with the HSU Crew team for four years, which ignited her passion for competition. That passion shows not only in roller derby, but when running marathons, (one in her 20′s, and currently  training for the Trinidad to Clam beach marathon), and even taking a plunge into moonstone beach to start the new year.

Off the track she stays busy caring for her children, Grace(10) , Ashton (7), Avery (5), and  Emerson (15 months). Not only is she athletic and beautiful, but also smart. Tula has a degree in engineering, and currently works with Traffic Safety for Caltrans, doing Roadway Departure investigations. Tula is a vegetarian, and if you see her at the after party, her favorite cocktail is vodka and cranberry.

Volunteer of the Month: Kate the Concessions Queen

It’s hard to imagine what goes into the process of running a successful bout. Our skaters are obviously a huge part of it but many people don’t realize what it takes to set up and clean up a bout, and also what it takes to keep those fans in the stands happy.

Well, Humboldt Roller Derby concessions volunteer Kate Shea Ortiz knows exactly what it takes. On top of being a mother of two, Kate has spent countless hours not only filling in for every bout job possible but also building relationships with food, beer, drink and ice vendors to ensure that our bouts are run seamlessly. On bout days Kate spends hours running around picking up food, beer, and all of the supplies needed to keep concessions full. Kate usually spends at least eight hours working on bout days and at the end of it all, she often heads home late at night and washes all of the soggy beer-soaked towels. Now that’s dedication!

Even at the busiest bouts, Kate works through the night with a smile on her face. A fellow volunteer states, “Given almost any situation, she can calmly figure out a solution or a work-around. She doesn’t get flustered. She simply moves forward.” Between all of the running around and the training of two beer tables worth of volunteers, she always seems to find another way to offer her assistance. In fact, at a past bout an entire concessions crew didn’t show up at the last minute. Despite the major blunder, Kate calmly moved forward and gathered a group of untrained volunteers to the fill the positions. By the end of the night you never would have known it had happened. Kate is always able to see a problem from various perspectives, come up with solutions, and make everybody feel great while she’s doing it.

Kate’s doesn’t offer her hard work just at the bouts themselves. Behind scenes, Kate handles the concessions invoices to ensure that vendors get paid and that bouts are fun and profitable. On top of dedicating hours of her time to Humboldt Roller Derby, she also works with the Humboldt Area Foundation, the McLean Foundation, and she is currently working for The California Endowment. Kate works with these community groups to help them organize their ideas into fundable strategies that improve the community, much like she does for Humboldt Roller Derby. Kate’s experience in community building is what makes her passionate about what she does and it truly shows.

One fellow volunteer states, “Kate is an unsung hero of Humboldt Roller Derby”. Well Kate, we are proud to say that you truly are our hero and you deserve the recognition! Humboldt Roller Derby might be in a serious rut without you. Thank you for your time and dedication.

Volunteer of the Month — Delia Damage

Please join us to congratulate Delia as the November Volunteer of the Month.

Some HRD jobs seem like they will never end, so it’s a good thing that Delia is a volunteer who never stops!

She skated as a kid and jumped at the chance to apply herself as an adult. She started at boot camp in May of 2007 and quickly noted that she could best apply her mad skills to being a referee and call penalties instead of making them. By the end of that year she proved herself and worked her way the Head Referee. Jammer ref, inside pack and outside pack–Delia has worked every possible skate referee position. She has a perfect record and has served the league as a skating referee in every home bout, including the phenomenal responsibilities of being Head Referee for over 40 bouts!

But her work doesn’t stop there. As Head Referee Delia’s responsibilities stretch from administrative regular duties like budget management, referee insurance management, Yahoo maintenance, and ref attendance records into special duties including communicating with and scheduling visiting coaches, liaison between the officials and both skaters and the board of directors, and then makes time to take care of HRD long-term concerns as a member of the Training Workgroup that creates bout rosters and trains new HRD officials.

Delia’s work and effort has shaped the competent crew of officials which has helped Humboldt Roller Derby obtain WFTDA membership. She is an official HRD WFTDA representative and diligently keeps the team current with new rules, clarifications and practices. She attends WFTDA meetings and keeps the BoD up to date with her professional presentation of topics covered at that meeting

During competition Delia maintains excellent bout flow and keeps the game moving with a minimal number of official time-outs. She calls penalties in a consistently clear, fair and unprejudiced manner and, and importantly, she prioritizes skater safety and does not tolerate any code of conduct violations by the officials.

Thank you Delia, for your commitment that has contributed so much to the growth and reputation of HRD!

Skater of the Month–Xeno

“An awesome jammer, gives it her all” –HRD

Please join us to congratulate Xeno as the November Skater of the Month.

Xeno’s hard driving desire and dedication first showed when she was just three years old and taught herself to skate, despite bruises and scratches. Having only a few skating opportunities through her childhood and youth didn’t dampen her desire, and she kept her competitive spirit well oiled by taking every athletic opportunity she could. She joined HRD boot camp in 2011 and graduated to a L3 skater in May 2012.

She’s a team player and consistently at practice, and her positive, competitive attitude is characterized by her team mates her as a “great team player,” “always positive,” and “an asset to her team.” She’s a hot jammer, jumping and dodging to take advantage of her size and speed.

Off the floor her team spirit and athletic ability are combined with her family. Every summer she plays first base on her family softball team and goes wakeboarding. In the fall she’s a sparkplug on her family volleyball team, and winter she snowboards. We are lucky she squeezes in time for HRD!

Her community commitment shines in her off-track career, working for the Hoopa Tribal Court as the Court Administrator; and her family, her son Pegoy, and her boyfriend and step son.

Her only weakness seems to be a fear of cameras. Her friend complain that there are more photos of Bigfoot than there are of her! But as a jammer for HRD that phobia is fading away under the spotlights and cameras at a bout. We are lucky she has overcome those fears, because with her talent, dedication and commitment she can expect to be in the spotlight for years to come.

Thank you Xeno, for sharing the wonderful you with the team and community!