Name: Miss I'll Strike
Number: 321
Travel Team: Brawlers
Home Team: Bombshell Bettys
Years skating: 1
If you’re ever in her target zone, brace yourself for a massive hit! Get to know one of our newest Brawlers, Miss I’ll Strike!
You were nominated by Killer Kanary, who wants to know why you wanted to do derby, and do you feel like you’re in a cult now?
Oh yeah [laughs] yeah, in a good way, you know? It’s like a bonus family.
So how did you find out about derby?
Honestly, social media. I knew about Hard Knox because of Facebook, and social media, and it’s something that always I wanted to do. I just kind of took the leap of faith and did fresh meat last year.
Had you skated as a kid?
Yeah, yeah, no I loved skating. That was one reason I wanted to do it. I always liked going to the skating rink and I loved skating. I kind of just wanted to be involved, and I also wanted to be involved in the sport, but I did like skating when I was a kid.
What was your fresh meat experience like?
My fresh meat experience: I loved fresh meat. It was honestly more than I thought it was going to be, in a good way. I learned a lot, and I felt prepared for the season, even though I didn’t know it at the time, right? You’re always scared going into the season, and you’re like, “Oh, I’m going to have practice with people who know what they’re doing!” [laughs] And then it started, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought because fresh meat was really thorough. It was good.
How did you pick your skater name and number?
Ooh, okay that’s a good one. So I wanted it to be a pun, and I wanted it to be funny, but I wanted it to be…not aggressive. [laughs] But I wanted it to be a pun, and I wanted it to be a kind of an in-your-face name. There’s this rock artist that I really like—her name is Dorothy (I feel like nobody has ever heard of her, there’s a couple people that might listen to it). She has a song, “Missile,” and I was listening to it, and I was like, “Ooh, Miss, Miss I’ll, that’s a really good pun.” And then it took me a couple of days; I finally came up with Miss I’ll Strike.
And then 321 is like “3-2-1 blastoff,” right? It’s like you’re a missile, so I just kind of thought it was funny.
Yeah, they definitely go together!
[laughs] I wanted to have a theme!
What is your favorite position to play?
I block most of the time. I don’t really ever jam in the games, but I like jamming at practice. I like blocking on the inside of the track (so [lane] 1 as we say). I just think that’s my stronger side. I turn more into my right, so when you play 1, it’s natural to kind of look over your right shoulder, so I think I’m stronger on that side.
I’ve really been trying to get more comfortable doing the other positions. I braced a lot in the last game of the season that we played in Greenville, which is the first time I did that, bracing a lot in the game, so that was—I was kind of proud of myself because I hadn’t been doing that.
Doing that and pivoting, pivoting is what I want to work on too. I think you have to be a good blocker and a good jammer to pivot, so I think it’s important to have good pivots on the team.
How would you describe your derby playing style?
My playing style, oh that’s hard because this is only my first season. I just wanna be like the person that’s aware of everything on the track. I don’t ever want to be caught off guard. I wanna always be the person that goes where the jammer is and knows where our jammer is so that I’m aware if I need to brace or need to go give O [offense]. But I think I’m aggressive in the fact that I always try to go after the jammer. I don’t ever want to give up when the jammer gets through. I want to chase them down if I can. I just need to work on being faster and the footwork, but I know I guess that comes with time.
I think I’ve seen you grow a lot this season with your recycling and trying to go after the jammer even after they’ve gotten through.
[laughs] I know, it’s really hard! It’s really hard to catch people, especially when we’re playing against our A team jammers, and they’re so fast that, I guess if you don’t try, you’re never gonna get there.
If you could teleport to anywhere in the world right now, where would you want to go?
Oh that’s…hmmm…somewhere on vacation, I guess! Somewhere totally different. I have a long list. I’ve really been wanting to go to Greece lately, that’s been on my bucket list for vacation, so I’m gonna say Greece.
What would you most want to do in Greece?
I want to go to the beach. Oh the food! The food, the architecture, the beach, just seeing, you know, the culture, all of it!
Well, what is your favorite part of bout day?
Bout day is really, it’s a long day. Honestly, playing. I feel like because I play in the B games, it’s the last thing of the day, so it’s all this anticipation, right? I help with merch, you know, I help Heather set up merch. So we set up merch, we work the merch table, we’re working the merch table during the A game, and then we finally get our skates on and get to skate, and it’s like a sigh of relief, like “Oh I didn’t forget that I know how to skate! [laughs] I didn’t forget how to play derby!” All the anticipation of the day and then you finally get to play and we do warmups and then I feel comfortable in my element, and I can play, so that first jam that I go out, honestly is probably my favorite.
What were some of your favorite achievements on the track from this past season?
Oh, there’s so many because I couldn’t play at all! [laughs] Honestly, just being comfortable playing the game, right? Because it’s so fast paced, and being comfortable, like knowing that it happens really fast and having that awareness of where everything is, and feeling like things slow down, and so that makes me feel like, okay, I’m learning how to play because I don’t feel so overwhelmed that everything is fast. It’s so weird how that happens.
What are some goals that you have for yourself for next season?
There’s a lot! I definitely want to get better at playing the positions that I’m not comfortable playing, like 4 because 1, you know, is my favorite, so playing in 4 because it happens, right? You can’t always be in the same position. I mean in the middle of a jam, we all get scrambled up and you end up being somewhere that you didn’t want to be on the line, so you have to be comfortable doing everything.
So definitely that, and then just skills. Like backwards crossovers, crabbing, that kind of stuff, the skills that help you be a better player. So stuff like that.
How do you find a balance between roller derby and real life?
It’s just scheduling, honestly. It has to fit in with your—I mean, I’m fortunate I guess that it does work with my work schedule and my real life schedule, but practice just kind of fits in naturally into my week. So it’s not too crazy, but it is a lot. I mean, it can be a lot, I guess, if you’re already a busy person. We do practice a lot and then game days are a lot. But yeah, I guess if you’re passionate about it, then you find the time. Which I love, I went into fresh meat honestly not knowing if I was actually going to stay and play. I kind of went to fresh meat to just see what it was about and honestly just be a better skater, and I didn’t know if I was gonna play, and then I loved it, and so I guess if you are passionate about it, you find time for it.
What’s something that would surprise people about you?
Surprise people…I don’t know, that’s hard because I feel like I’m kind of an open book person. Maybe that I’m not from here, because I’ve lived here so long. I don’t really talk about the fact that I’m from Mississippi. Unless you know me I guess, especially during derby, because we don’t—I feel like when I’m at practice, I just focus on practice. But yeah, I’ve lived here for about ten years, and I grew up in Mississippi, and I moved here to go to Maryville College. That’s a fun fact I guess.
Yeah! What kept you in Tennessee?
I just liked it, and I didn’t want to go back, honestly. [laughs] No, I went to Maryville College and I knew that I wanted to probably live in this area or at least in this area of the country, and I just liked it, and I got a job here.
What’s something that you like about East Tennessee?
The mountains, honestly. I love that there’s—Knoxville’s a big enough city to where you don’t feel like it’s a huge city, right, because where I grew up, this is like a huge city compared to where I’m from. But then there’s still the outdoorsy stuff to do.
What is something that roller derby has taught you about yourself?
I think it’s good at teaching you teamwork and trusting others, because you really do have to trust your teammates. I know that’s one of our affirmations, but you can not do it on your own. You really do have to trust your teammates! Definitely life lessons.
What advice do you have for people who want to play roller derby?
Don’t be afraid of criticism, I guess, and don’t take stuff personally because everybody is there to help you. I don’t think that I take stuff personally, but I think some people do, so everybody wants to see you be successful. And invest in good equipment—you want to have good knee pads and stuff.
Who would you like to nominate for next month?
Let’s go with Heather [Pistol Whips].
And what do you want to ask her?
Oh I get to ask a specific question? Maybe what her favorite thing about her first season would be? Like if she has a specific moment, from either a game or a practice, because now we’ve had a full season.
Thank you for a great conversation Miss I’ll Strike! Readers, our new class of fresh meat just graduated, and as she said, it prepares skaters for everything they need to be a part of our league. We’re all excited to watch them grow and for our season to begin again. Until then, be like Miss I’ll Strike, and trust the teammates in your life.
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