Skater of the Month: Suzy Snakeyes

 

How did you get involved with roller derby?

 

Roller derby came into my life at a time when I really needed it. It was November 2003 and I had moved from Fresno to Los Angeles about seven months earlier. I had a low-paying job with long commute, and few friends and little to no social life to speak of. Suffice to say, I wasn't very happy. One day, I was looking at the Craigslist "Activity Partners" section just to find a hobby or something to do, and I found an ad for a new roller derby league that had recently formed. I had always loved roller skating and secretly harbored the desire to play roller derby*, but I thought the sport was long dead. So naturally, I responded to the ad, and was at my first practice days later. It was just around 20 of us skating circles and doing pace lines in a rink, but I was instantly hooked and never looked back. 

*I once drove from Fresno to LA to audition for Rollerjam back in the 90's. True story, but it's a secret...so SHHH!

Derby or non derby related, who is your hero and why?

Having been involved since the early days of modern derby, it's hard for me to subscribe to the derby hero worship theory. There are some amazing skaters that play the game, but the people I truly admire are those who have stuck with derby and never quit. Despite injuries, tragedies, personal setbacks and other life events that dared them to quit, their love for the game and all the surrounding goodness of it kept them in, kept them sane and kept them driven. Those are my heroes. As it turns out, I have a lot of derby heroes after all.

 

Whats was your personal favorite derby moment?

The night the Tough Cookies won our first championship has to be my personal all time favorite derby moment. I have been on the Tough Cookies since the team formed in 2004, and we had a long and rocky road to our first championship. We didn't even make it to a championship game until 2008. But that year was a magical run to champs. It was an election year, so we promoted our COOKIES 2008 camPAIN all year long. On champs night, we got special, one-time-only red, white and blue uniforms, and told no one about them until game day. I remember right before the game, as we were coming out of our dressing room to head to the track, there was a band onstage playing Welcome to the Jungle. And we stopped right then and there to rock out for a few minutes before rolling over to the track, as a team, chanting YES WE CAN over and over again. And then we played our hearts out in a tight game before eventually coming out on top after a close game decided in the last jam. When team captain Iron Maiven handed me the trophy to hold for a victory lap, it may have been the most euphoric feeling I've ever had on the track up until that moment. We went on to win two more back-to-back championships, but you know what they say...you never forget the first time.  

 

What is your pre-bout ritual?

My pre-bout ritual starts the night before when I eat ridiculous amounts of pasta at my team dinner. Ideally I sleep in the next morning, but if I have to work in the morning, I'll get up and do that. I'll come home and eat lunch and, if I have time, I like to clean my wheels and bearings.  I always love to get a nap in, but that's not really different than other days. I usually make a smoothie and bring it to the track so I can have some light and easily digestible foodstuffs before warm-up. Then I eat a banana after warm-up but right before the bout, which tends to give me just the right amount of energy for game time. At some point, I like to do some dancing with my team so I can get nice and fired up before the first whistle!

What is your theme song?

Ben Folds Five - One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces 

A genie gives you 3 wishes, what do you wish for?

First wish is for the genie to eliminate any roller derby-related fear I may have. Second wish is immunity toward injuries I may sustain due to my total lack of fear. 

And if I learned anything from Disney, I'd use my third wish to set the genie free. But in reality, I'd wish for a standing suite on all future SS Coachella cruises for my husband and me. He deserves that since I will be playing derby forever, what with my lack of fear and inability to get injured!

What is your goal for the 2013 season?

In 2013, I'd like to become an effective jammer for my team. When I started years ago, I was solely a jammer. But then we had great, speedy jammers come in and I started playing in the pack more. And although I love being a blocker, I'm currently in the best shape of my life and am ready to push myself as a jammer once again. 

That said, ultimately I want to do whatever I need to do to help take my team back to champs again. We have a bunch of newer skaters on the team who have never won a championship before. I want them to feel the elation I felt back on that fateful day in 2008.

How has roller derby changed your life?

Prior to joining the LA Derby Dolls almost ten years ago, I had never played a sport, and nobody would have ever considered me an athlete. I didn't even work out regularly. I tell people constantly that roller derby is the first workout I ever stuck with for more than a month, and now I'm approaching a decade. A DECADE. It still kind of blows my mind. And beyond the sport, I have found this amazing community and have made friends that I now consider my family. I even met my husband through former skater/matchmaker extraordinaire Kasey Bomber! Speaking of that, roller derby is such a big part of my life that my husband proposed to me on the banked track during a game, and we got married on that same track a year after that! It's through roller derby that I developed a love for fitness and training, and it's because of roller derby that I had the confidence to go back to school, earn my training certifications, and start a derby training business. The community is filled with so many inspiring, motivating and supportive people, and the game is still the single most challenging thing I've ever done and continue to do - and I say that even as a veteran skater. Yet I wouldn't have it any other way. My goal has always been to play roller derby for ten years, and that goal is rapidly approaching. But it hardly feels like the end of my derby story. As long as my body cooperates with me, I think I'll keep playing...which explains my new favorite motto: I'LL RETIRE WHEN I DIE!