In collaboration with Seven Generations Ahead, The Chicago Outfit invites you to join us for “Derby for a Day,” a fun way to spend a winter afternoon with your family and friends. This is also a great team building exercise for your company. Maybe it’s time to just try something new! The Chicago Outfit roller derby league will be on hand during the event to encourage skaters young and old, as well as lead all skating activities.

Proceeds from this event will benefit Seven Generations Ahead’s efforts to build healthy, sustainable communities.  Plus, there is an option for pledge sharing with an additional wellness-based, non-profit organization of your team’s choice. Ditch your cabin fever and catch roller derby fever instead.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

4:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Family/Kids Skate (registration starts at 3:30 p.m.)
6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Adult/Corporate Challenge Skate (registration starts at 5:30 p.m.)

Lombard Roller Rink website
201 W. 22nd St. Lombard, IL 60148
630-953-2400

To learn more, check out who’s skating and pledge online here!

However, it took a couple of years for me to try out for the Outfit. I was finally able to do so with the help of some great fellow skaters who finally helped give me the confidence that I needed. One sticks out in particular.

We met in Derby Lite, which I had decided was the best way to dip my toes into the world of derby. I figured that if I liked it enough, I would move on to trying out for The Outfit. I immediately loved it and made some great friends (a few of which are on the team now *ahem* Scream, Flutter, Devil’s DaLight), but I often questioned my abilities and wondered if I would be able to skate with the Outfit. I had a lot of lame excuses for why I couldn’t muster up the courage to just try out.

Sometimes, you need a certain someone to give you an extra push. This skater asked me to try out for the Outfit as soon as the opportunity arose. When I expressed my doubts, she assured me that it was something that I could do. She helped me realize that I had no excuses, that I am capable of more than I give myself credit for. If I had continued to be reluctant, I would have missed out on a great opportunity.

The skater that I want to be my derby valentine is The Big Lebekski. I am so thankful that she talked me into trying out. I’m skating with so many women worth admiring- women that are strong both on the track and off. Plus, they are some of the nicest, most welcoming people I’ve ever met. Derby seems to bring together a lot of kindred souls. Joining the Outfit has given me a new level of confidence and satisfaction that I have not felt before- and I have The Big Lebekski to thank for it.

Bekski, thanks for being a great friend and teammate. Will you be my derby valentine?

Love ya,

13th Floor Hellevator

Says my mom-in-law.

Similar to the friend in elementary school that you shared a “BEST FRIENDS FOREVER” heart necklace with, a derby wife is the girl that you connect with while going through the crazy roller derby adventure. She’s the one that you can share your secrets without fear of judgement and the one who will bring you a beer at work during a stressful day; the one you can confess when your stomach is in knots because of a scrimmage and she’ll always be your partner when you’re forced to “pair up” during a drill at practice.

Rogue is my Derby Wife.

She’s the kindest person (other than my husband) that I’ve gotten the chance to meet and I am so lucky to have her and my all of my leaguemates in my life.  It’s hard to maintain friendships when you work nearly every moment of the waking day but having two to three hours of better-than-the-gym workouts have made me a happier person.

The whole Chicago Outfit Family (skaters, coaches, ref’s, NSO’s and everyone in between) is my Valentine but Rogue has been the best part of it all.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Rogue is sweet,

And so is the entire Chicago Outfit.

I <3 YOU, ROGUE!

There’s always been part of me that wanted to pack all my things and venture off to travel the world. I wanted to move to London and be a nanny, go to sea and work on a cruise ship, or become a flight attendant and fly around the world. But I never thought this dream would be a reality. I never thought I could be happy without my friends and family close to me. I never thought I would actually live my dream until I joined roller derby.

Roller derby has given me a second family and set of friends. I realized I could move anywhere and would have friends and a family because I could play roller derby wherever I went. So when I was given an opportunity to soar the skies and become a flight attendant for American Airlines, I took it in a heartbeat. I packed my apartment in three days and was on my way. No worrying about where I was going to live or whether I would make any friends. I knew there would be 60 girls somewhere, ready to welcome me into their derby world.

That’s exactly what has happened with The Chicago Outfit. They have welcomed me from the very beginning, from the first email I received. They sounded excited to have me – coaching welcomed me, girls have driven me to practice and Agony Andy help me become a member. Even just girls smiling at me and introducing themselves have all made this transition a little easier.

Being the new girl is not always the easiest thing, especially if you are also new to the city, but there are always those one or two people who go the extra mile to make you feel welcome. Those people who go out of their way to make sure you always have a ride to practice, make sure you do what’s needed to get to play and who are really looking out for you. This is why I would like to give a shout out to Devil’s DaLight and The Big Lebekski.

Devil’s DaLight is a new member of The Chicago Outfit and has jumped into becoming very involved with the Outfit. She is always helping out in any way she can. She is very dedicated to making herself a better skater on and off the track. The Big Lebekski has not only been a huge help to me but she’s hungry for derby so I can relate well with her. She thinks about roller derby all the time and can’t wait until she can get back out on the track to skate again. She’s an amazing skater who is constantly striving to make herself a better skater and team player. Both these ladies have made me feel part of The Outfit. I know I am not alone in this big cold city, because I have two people here who are looking out for me.

I also want to say that Valentine’s Day isn’t necessarily about having a significant other but its about having love in your life and feeling loved. These two skaters have made me feel very loved this year. So…

Devil’s DaLight and The Big Lebekski – will you be my Derby Valentines this year?

Early this month, a bunch of us headed up to Dame’s shop in Evanston to try on bridal gowns, and this past Saturday, we (me, Rogue, Scream Printer, Smashley “the Spaniard” Destructo, and Agony Andy) gathered at the Ravenswood Event Center to wear beautiful dresses and roller skates. Professional hair (with a retro/rockabilly vibe), makeup, (thanks to Tigerlily Salon!) and custom fitted gowns made us feel like the very best versions of ourselves, and skating through the crowded expo made us impossible to miss. We totally had a blast!

I know you just want to see the photos, so I’ll quit my yappin’. Here you go!

The Traveling Photo Booth

Magnolia Photo Booth Co.

Ben Chandler Live Photobooth

Also Ben Chandler (with our awesome designers, Gretchen and Megan)

John Dart Photography

After I was knocked out (literally, with a concussion–no I didn’t pass out on the track) for the remainder of last season (after a nail biter in the Quad Cities)—I have thought about my play.  I have visualized skating on a smooth surface and making clean hits.  I’ve thought about my teamwork and what it takes to be a solid team player.  I’ve done tons of push-ups and crunches and ran lots of miles.  I’ve also been to a number of doctor’s appointments and finally got cleared to play. This morning when I left the house, I saw my work hard hat and my new hockey helmet next to each other–my white hard hat and my black hockey helmet.  I thought about how those helmets represent two different parts of my life—the clean, defined nature of project management and the mysterious, ever-changing world of roller derby.  I thought about the encouragement that Tommy Gunz, my friends and family have provided me with so I could have enough confidence to go back and skate.  I thought about how Tommy told me that I’m going back, and that there is no other answer.  I thought about how the concussion knocked me out of work, but how my coworkers are excited to see me go back–see me bruised at Sunday practice and back in the office for 9am Monday meetings.

I’ve had a lot to think about.  One thing’s for certain—The Outfit’s playing this season for keeps.

You walk into the venue with your team, holding all of the confidence in the world. You gear up in the locker room, paint on your moustache, listen to Lola’s Outfit Regionals 2011 iPod mix, talk strategy,  skate out to the track and warm up. You proceed to have a flawless bout. Every single hit, stall, juke is done to perfection. Your teammates are exactly where they should be. Nobody is in the penalty box, and teamwork is the best it has ever been. The Outfit is triumphant, winning each bout. Then you drift to sleep. You do this every night. Visualization. It’s like Field of Dreams; “If you build it, they will come.” So, the idea was “if you visualize it, it will happen.” And it worked!

The Chicago Outfit Syndicate skated into the 2011 North Central Regional Tournament ranked at number 9. It was The Outfit’s first chance to really prove itself to the derby world. And we did. To prepare, we spent hours together at extra practices; additionally, we spent time studying film of the best leagues around the country, coming up with new strategies, perfecting our old strategies… the list goes on. We really worked on trust. Trust in your teammates, and in yourself,  to get the job done. Bottom line: teamwork. That was the mentality that came to fruition during the time leading up to regionals. When we play together, we win.  That’s the plan. Couple all of this preparation with individual visualization, and we were set.

After a successful home season, we were ready for Regionals.

Because our game was the first of the tournament, we were the first team to warm up. For some reason, when we did our warm-up paceline, we all started singing, beginning a new tradition: the singing paceline! This lightened up the mood and got us pumped! We also made sure to “raise the roof” a ton! Add an amazing fan section (our extended Outfit family), and we were in business.

Game One: 9am Friday, October 7^th: The Chicago Outfit vs. the Arch Rival Rollergirls of St. Louis, MO, our mentor league who helped us achieve WFTDA status last season. We played them twice before, with a 1-1 record. This game would determine if we played the other league in Chicago, something we have always wanted to do but never had the opportunity. We wanted it. Badly. We went into that game with all of the desire we could have possibly had. Our desire was obvious. Unfortunately, sometimes wanting something so badly can cause trouble. For us, it was penalties, our Achilles heel. We played a great game, had amazing plays, maintained teamwork when we could. Sadly, we were not always on the track with a full lineup. We fought and kept our heads in the battle, but we ended up three points short. St. Louis: 119. Chicago Outfit: 116.

As sad as we were to lose, we knew we had it in us. We regrouped, analyzed the positives and negatives of the St. Louis bout, and got our heads right. Team visualization built us back up to where we wanted to be. Also, instead of watching every bout that day, freaking out over roller derby, we made the team decision to watch a few key bouts and take it easy the rest of the day.

Game Two: 9am Saturday, October 8^th: The Chicago Outfit vs. The Mad Rollin’ Dolls of Madison, WI. Our teamwork was obviously affected by the St. Louis game. We worked on controlling our urges to go for big, penalty-causing hits and focused on positional blocking and working together. Every skater had her head on straight, and the plays were unbelievable. Not only the blockers worked together, but the jammers also joined in and maintained patience and trust with the blockers. We wanted this game, and we took it. The resulting score was to our liking: a 29-point lead. Chicago Outfit: 158. Madison: 129.

We took that energy and determination to our next bout. Singing, raising the roof and ready to rumble!

Game Three: 3pm Saturday, October 8^th: The Chicago Outfit vs. The Brew City Bruisers of Milwaukee, WI. After a disappointing loss to Milwaukee in September, we not only wanted to win, we wanted to murder! We took our thirst for blood and the momentum from the Madison bout and jumped right in. Once again, it was blatantly apparent that our team visualization extended into this game. We stuck to our convictions and played our game. Teamwork, specifically communication,  played a key role in this game. Both on the track and on the bench, we made sure we were always talking. If you weren’t in the last jam, you were taking about your next jam. If you weren’t in the next jam, you were encouraging the skaters returning to the bench. It was all about the team for everybody, even the insane fan section, which had grown considerably in size (and signage!) since our first bout. In the end, we were victorious over Milwaukee. Chicago Outfit: 129. Milwaukee: 103.

Could it be? Were we really going to compete for #5? Our original goal was to just get to Regionals, and here we were, headed to the game that would determine 5^th and 6^th place rankings!

What? REMATCH? St. Louis? Yes, please!! Last time I checked, it was OUR TURN to win!

Game Four: 1:50pm Sunday, October 9^th: The Chicago Outfit vs. the Arch Rival Rollergirls of St. Louis, MO. Again. Wait, wasn’t our victory over Milwaukee a rematch of sorts? Indeed, it was. Feeding off of the emotion and energy from the Milwaukee bout, we were ready to dive in! And we did just that. We came out, guns-blazing and kept St. Louis exactly where we wanted them. Our teamwork was completely different from our first game. It existed fully and completely. We maintained manageable penalties and took advantage of our power jams. We refused to give up, and we refused to lose again. Despite the fact that Arch Rival was able to catch up and tie the score at 63-63, we never gave them the lead. We concluded the rematch, and we more than matched their three-point win with a forty-point triumph. Chicago Outfit: 153. St. Louis: 113.

No Big Deal! Well, actually Very Big Deal!

We went 3-1 in our first-ever regional tournament! What’s even sweeter: We beat every team we played at this tournament (since we played St. Louis twice).

Wait, I’m not done! Did I mention our captain, Sweet Mary Pain? She won MVP of the entire tournament! We could not be more proud of her as a skater, captain, coach, friend. When she was awarded MVP, it was as if The Outfit had won the entire tournament. We could care less about anything else, we were so proud.

Looking back on the events of that weekend, I can safely say that we grew as a team. Not only that, we grew as a FAMILY. Every member of the league played a major role in our success: from the painstaking practice to the intense league meetings. Our fans played a role in our success. They were the ones who encouraged us every step of the way. The Chicago Outfit was founded on the idea that we are a FAMILY, and every member of this family was part of our success, whether skating, raising the roof, holding signs, watching the bouts on computers, whatever the case may be. For that, I am not only proud to be part of the team, I am honored to be part of the 9 to 5 Chicago Outfit Family.

1)      What to Bring!

• Skates: (quad skates) are always a good thing.  Yes, you CAN use the rentals provided at Fleetwood roller rink, however, it may be difficult to learn some of the stops on those wheels. So long as you don’t plan on using rentals for the entire rolling recruitment they are a viable option. 
• Elbow/ wrist guards: These are something that you don’t have to go out and get state of the art especially since this is a trial period and you may not want to do it after all (which I doubt cuz derby is AWESOME!)
• knee pads:Knee pads are something you might want to invest some more $$ in. I just used the simple triple 8 ones that came with the elbow/wrist guards but I had to buy better ones a short time later because my knees were getting bruised. Also if you have knee problems you don’t want to risk unnecessary injury. 
• Mouth Guard: This is something that a million people forgot to bring last year at rolling recruitment. Don’t be one of those people because then you have to pray that the Walgreens down the street has one.  A lot of us use the protech dent mouth guard. Like I said though you don’t have to get real expensive gear right away or at all the 99cent ones will suffice. 
• Helmet: Okay so I must emphasize the importance of getting a skateboard helmet. It’s just better protection. I mean you’re not going to be getting hit but for beginner skaters I guarantee you will fall so be sure to get one. 
• Valid ID (18+): Okay not that we’re hating on the youngins (I was only 19 when I joined) but you do have to be 18 and out of high school.  I guarantee it won’t be like Whip It. You have to fill out paperwork and everything. However if you want to do derby and you’re not 18 yet we do have a junior derby league you can check out. The girls are just as equally great and equally fun to be around  

Along with the required gear here are some tips from the other derby girls: 

Bloody Elle: get a decent set of kneepads, realize the amount of time that derby is going to take out of your life, and don’t expect to be super amazing awesome in just a month or two – a lot of the girls on the league have been around for a long time and skills come as you work on them with time so don’t compare yourself to them. compare yourself to only yourself and monitor your own progress from week to week against only yourself.

Scream Printer: You can still join without knowing how to skate or play derby!

Brawly Shore: Everyone should know that derby is great because there is a place for everyone in the sport and in our league. It doesn’t matter your size, skill, experience…you can impact the sucess of our league on and off the track! You will get out of it what you put in to it, and that is one of the most rewarding things you can ask for! And I agree with everything Elle said above…I would beat myself up over my skill level all the time and its senseless because I’m new and learning and need to be ok with that!

Loka In Motion: Know that you don’t have to know how to skate and you learn and your own pace. You don’t have to pass every test right when it’s given.  Also make sure to bring water/Gatorade and wear tights or leggings something that covers your thighs. Short shorts look cute with your skates but it sucks to get rink rash. 

2)  What you need to Know/ Realize

Rolling Recruitment begins November 21^st  at Fleetwood Roller Rink. From 8:30-10:00pm

The Chicago Outfit isn’t just a roller derby team. It’s a family. We look out for our girls and you form great friendships especially with the girls that come into rolling recruitment with you. I am so thankful for joining when I did. I mean I was intimidated by the Syndicate because they have been skating together for years but I had my new girl group to go through it all.

There is a place for everyone on the team. If during the rolling recruitment you feel skating isn’t for you but you still want to be part of the team we’re always looking for Non-Skating Officials to help with the bouts. For more info on that email: referees@chicagooutfitrollerderby.com

One more thing that can’t be emphasized enough is the fact that you don’t need to have any prior skating experience. I barely knew how to skate in fact Goin’ Postal can vouch for me when I say that. He’d see me at the rink skating with my boyfriend (and by skating I mean holding his hand and letting him drag me around). But at rolling recruitment they taught me everything I needed to know and eventually i built up my confidence on skates. Now I prefer to be on skates than just walking around

So come on out November 21^st!  and I’ll keep you guys posted on when the Meet and Greet is. There you’ll receive more info about the Rolling Recruitment and the whole Derby experience. Til then you can either email me personally at dahliapiedra@yahoo.com or email outfitrecruitment@gmail.com

See you guys soon!

~Loka In Motion

Here are the details:

Theme: Dead Celebrities (they already have to be dead)

Place: NEO nightclub 2350 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL

Time: 10pm to 4am

RSVP: for reduced admission all night at do312.

Photos: Glitter Guts photo booth will be there taking free pictures of everyone
all night

Drinks: $3 well drinks and $2 domestic beers

Music: The djs are going to play fun danceable music that everyone can boogie down to.