Allstar Team Coach Since:November 2007
Hometown: Anywhere you find roller derby.
First Bout Coached: As head coach, November 22, 2008… though I did help out on the sidelines a couple of other times that season.
Real job: Isn’t coaching roller derby a real job?!?
You wouldn’t know I…… am also a phillumenist.
Why did you join CQS?
Just had an immediate connection with the players and the sport. I started as an announcer and that is my true love… so I hope to get back behind the microphone sometime soon!
What do you like most about Derby?
The varied personalities… derby is truly undefined and undefineable.
What’s your favorite derby memory?
Jumping over the railing at Cricket Arena in January 2008 and running into the locker room… then watching as the team came back to beat Charlotte in their first ever home bout in front of more than 2000 Charlotte fans!
What’s your derby mantra?
Head on a swivel!
What is your biggest accomplishment with CQS thus far?
On the track: beating the Carolina Bootleggers.
Off the track: Managing to avoid getting on the track!
What other teams have you worked with/coached?
I have guest coached for Camel City and am the announcer for the Lowcountry HighRollers.
What is your favorite exercise to prepare you to perform your “jump up and down, call off the jam” move?
No exercise is needed… that’s just natural talent. Ha!
What would you say is the average height you can jump when excited? I always thought that my vertical was somewhere between 2 and 3 inches. Apparently people say that I jump higher than that on the sidelines. If that’s true, then I am one of the rare mortals whose vertical increases with age! I am usually in traction the day after bouts… but once the adrenaline is flowing, it’s hard for me to stand quietly on the sidelines.
Which of your dogs gives you the most effective pregame pep talk? Huey is the mouthiest of the three, so he gives the loudest one. But Cosmo and Buster are more leaders by example, which I appreciate more.
If I could trade places with any member of the team, I would be able to roller skate for the first time in my life without falling (oh, and I guess I’d also be a woman, but that somehow slipped my mind when I filled this out the first time.. a bit too focused on the derby side of things).
What is the funniest reaction you’ve received telling someone that you coach roller derby? You know, you’d think I’d have a good story but everyone pretty much takes it in stride, including my 90-something grandmother. (She doesn’t like to reveal her age… vanity!)
Does the magic of CQS’s success lie in your facial hair?
Hmm… never thought of that…. I am going to have to say no… it probably lies more in the talent and commitment of the 14 skaters who lay it on the line in each bout.
Favorite word (Explain what it means for May Q. Panic): I have lots… but I’ll go with Lagniappe (and May can look it up for herself)
Most inspiring person in your life: My friend Jennifer Ingrum, who died far too young. She was still doing what she loved – teaching inner city D.C. special needs kids – long after the doctors told her to stop. She just loved what she did, and she was going to keep teaching until the last possible moment. And she did. She is a constant reminder that I need to enjoy everything I do. When the joy disappears, it’s time to try something else.
