Name: Sinister Siren
Number: 11
Travel Team: All Stars
Home Team: Moonshine Moxies
Years skating: 6
She makes quite a splash on the track, both from her fabulous makeup and her bold offensive moves. Get to know February’s Skater of the Month—Sinister Siren!
You were nominated by Shine-Her, who knows you’ve had an interesting career with COVID kind of smack in the middle of her derby experience, so she wants to know how you feel like derby is now that you’ve transitioned into more of a vet role.
Well, first of all, I want to thank Shine for nominating me—she’s my little sister and I’m so proud of her! Literally, I feel like she’s leaps above where I was when I was at the level that she’s playing, so she’s incredible, and I’m really proud of Shine.
But back to the question: honestly, I think it’s been a bit of a whirlwind, but I think you can probably relate because I feel like we were kind of thrown into a vet role. Like in a normal sport, you kind of grow slowly over time and become a vet, but after COVID and us losing so much of our team, I feel like those “vets” really were just the skaters who kept skating from the “original” team (or from the “old” team I should say.) So it’s been difficult. I love teaching and helping, so I’ve loved being in a role where I feel confident to help the newer skaters, but when it comes to performing at an A team level with the other A team skaters, I think it’s been challenging. I took an 18-month hiatus for COVID like everybody else, and I didn’t really skate at all during that time, so when we came back in I just kind of wanted to get back under my feet. But then we were thrown into a vet role, and also teaching and helping. Then starting with bouts, like our first bout was that Mayhem bout against males and I hadn’t bouted in two years! It wasn’t intimidating being a vet so abruptly, but I am grateful that I was able to help the newer skaters because I love the fresh league that we gained last year, and it’s been great to be able to help them.
So you and I did start at the same time! How would you describe your experience of that first year?
Honestly, I think half of it I blacked out and I don’t really remember! I had never roller skated before that first day of fresh meat, and I was like a baby deer out there. Meanwhile, the old Hard Knox team was a lot of A players, and they’re jumping over cones, doing these intense things—like the turn-around toe stops seemed so far away from where I was—and I didn’t know if I was going to survive just that one night. But overall, the experience was great. I mean obviously, I’m still here, and I loved it. It was very overwhelming and intimidating, but our circle of fresh meat was really great, and I made some lifelong friends from that core circle. Although you’re the only one that’s skating with me, so thank goodness we stuck around!
So then if you had never done skating before, what drew you to roller derby?
I played sports my whole life. I did soccer for like four years, basketball, I swam all through college on the club team and my high school team, and so I’ve just always been competitive. But later when I was in my early twenties, I missed sports so I did some jiu-jitsu and krav maga, and I realized how much I loved the contact part of sports. I missed having a team and being competitive and there was only this—like I was never gonna compete in wrestling, that’s not me—but I do love being physical and feeling strong, and I also love a good challenge, and I love learning new things. So I actually just saw someone driving around Knoxville (this was probably six or eight years ago) with chalk paint on their car saying, “Hard Knox is recruiting” or something. I just then Googled “Hard Knox” and I got in touch with Katie Queen, who was the head of marketing, and the rest is history!
Your name, Sinister Siren, really becomes an entire persona on the track. How did you develop that?
I would say that was probably the most natural part of playing roller derby for me. I am a mermaid, I love to swim, I’ve always loved the water, and I wanted to be Siren. My dad actually helped me come up with “Sinister” because I wanted it to be something fun to go with “Siren,” and I like the two S’s. I thought about being a scary mermaid with more black, like a traditional siren is honestly pretty scary, but I’m very colorful and I love Halloween and costumes. So I just knew that first time we bouted—and it actually wasn’t even a bout bout, it was our home team scrimmage, back in 2018—I just wanted to do fun colored scales on my face, and since then, I’ve never done an official scrimmage or a bout without the getup. I feel like it’s almost like my alter ego, and I don’t think I could bout without having scales on. Even when we have away games, I’ve done scales six hours earlier and then sat in a two-hour car ride with the scales, then bouted wherever we are. I just don't feel like I’m Siren if I don’t have the whole costume.
How much overlap would you say there is between Siren and Ellery?
I feel like there is a good amount of overlap. Obviously I am like a mermaid, but I feel like I’m more of a happy, sweet mermaid, and obviously sirens are not sweet. In derby, I’m very competitive. In life, I feel much more like an empath, and I’m much more patient, but when I’m playing a competitive sport, I’m there to win and I’m there to do my best and encourage my team. I want to win, I’m competitive. So I feel like that would be the difference between Siren and Ellery. Like in real life, winning is relative, but when I’m playing a sport, I want to perform, I want my whole team to perform and be confident and work well together, and I want to win.
How did you decide on your number?
Eleven has been my lucky number forever. It was always my number in soccer and basketball. My birthday is 11, but then it’s 29 and 92, and it all adds up to 11. I graduated in 2011. Eleven is just all around my life. I see it on the clock, it’s one of those weird things that’s just always around, so it’s just by far my favorite number.
How would you describe your derby playing style?
I would say, I mean, competitive. I do think I’m pretty level-headed. Even if I’m frustrated or flustered, I don’t feel like I let that get to me because I have an athletic background. I always know that the end goal is to compete and hopefully win, so even if we’re down in points, I don't feel like I get discouraged or let that get to me. Or if there’s an opponent we’re playing that’s not exactly friendly, I don’t let that get in my head and take it personally. I just try to keep a level head. I also think I communicate well with my teammates. So I think those would be two style categories I would kind of fall under.
What’s your favorite position to play?
So definitely a blocker. Jamming is going to be the death of me one day. My goal last season was to become a confident pivot, but then I had so many injuries that I had to kind of not make that my focus. But I do want to be a confident pivot so I can relieve the star jammers. I don’t really ever have a goal of being a star jammer. I love blocking. I also really love offense. That’s probably become one of my favorite things, especially last year, kind of getting back into it, and I say that you (Smalls) could say the same thing. It’s just so rewarding to do an offensive move and then help your jammer succeed. I think that’s probably my favorite part, but just blocking in general is my favorite.
I feel like you’re reading my mind because I was just wondering if you had any favorite achievements on the track! Does anything else stick out at you?
I think my favorite moments are really just playing bouts. I love practice and I love the team bonding and being a part of this community, but I love the sport because I love to be competitive and I like to do all my makeup and really get into the spirit of things. It would be hard to pick a favorite moment. I won a handful of blocker MVPs, and that’s always a nice moment. You feel like you did something right, and at the beginning you don’t have that thought very often because there’s so much chaos. You don’t know what’s going on, and then you get a reward at the end or the trophy! Those are some sweet moments, but I still think just in general, just competing in a bout is always my favorite moment. I just love the sport and I love playing the game.
Do you have any derby heroes that you look up to?
Yes—honestly, Bush is the first one that comes to mind. She’s such an amazing blocker. There are all these incredible jammers and they always get so much attention, like all the famous ones, but I can’t say that I really follow a lot of derby outside of Knoxville and the teams we play, so my heroes would all be from the team. Of course, Unsweet T would be a hero of mine, because she’s an amazing jammer, but she’s also such an amazing blocker. She’s more petite, but spreads out like a daddy long leg and just covers so much of the track- one-on-one against T is impossible. So I remember first starting off, Bush and T were both heroes of mine, and still are, for sure.
How do you find a balance between roller derby and real life?
To me, it’s just a non-negotiable six hours a week that I have to dedicate to myself. It’s almost like self-care for me. It’s obviously a workout, but it’s also therapeutic to go and have that contact sport, and also be with friends you genuinely love and care about. So, of course life is crazy and sometimes it comes time to practice and I realize I have ten things to do, and should I really go to practice? Even on those days, I know I’m gonna be happier after practice if I go, and so to me, it’s just, again, like a non-negotiable. It’s just a part of the week, and especially when it’s active season, there’s just not really another option. I just have to be there, not only for myself but also for my team, especially when it gets to be bouting time because I feel like I’m a letdown to the team if I’m not there. So you just have to find that balance if you care enough to win the game, and so competitively, I just make it a priority.
What is something that roller derby has taught you about yourself?
I would say it’s taught me more patience, especially with adults. I love children and I feel like I’m a super patient person when it comes to children, but sometimes being patient with adults can be a little more difficult. With this group, there’s so many different personalities and so many different ages and so many different parts of the country that we’re from, that I do feel like it helped me be more patient and just kind of roll with the punches of things. So many personalities can sometimes not mesh and get heated, but I always just try to take a deep breath and kind of observe before I react, so I think the social aspect has been good for me.
What is a hobby that you would like to get into?
I feel like I already have so many active hobbies that I love, there’s not really any new ones I’m actively trying to gain. I do want to travel more, so I really wanna go to every national park. That’s probably my biggest goal on my United States bucket list for travel. I’ve been to probably thirty states in the country. In my family, we didn’t camp and do stuff like that, so national parks were never a part of our destination. I don’t know if that’s exactly a hobby, but kind of like traveling and hiking. So that would probably be a goal of mine that I want to do.
Other than that, I would say art—I’ve always been artistic and I love trying new mediums, so if I were to try a new hobby, I would say it would be a new form of art that I haven’t kind of played with yet. I would love to do ceramics or woodworking. I love working with my hands, and so I think that would be fun.
What is a piece of advice that someone gave you that has stuck with you?
Oh Smalls, I don’t even know! Let me think—I don’t know if I really have a specific piece of advice. I mean, it’s so basic, but my aunt always used to remind me—again, the super basic one of—treat others like you want to be treated. I use that every day I would say. We never know what other people are going through, so I really always try to value other people’s perspectives and all the unknown things that they could be dealing with, and just try to be patient and give them empathy and love and kindness. So I think just as cliché as it is, just treating others how you want to be treated can go a long way.
If you wanted to give someone advice who maybe was thinking about playing roller derby, what would you say?
Honestly, if I can do it, you can do it. That’s probably what I would say because, again, I had never done it, I didn’t even know how to skate in a simple circle. I’ve had some friends be hesitant, that are thinking about it, and that is what I tell them. Even my derby wife has told people, “If Ellery can do it, you can do it!” So I think that would be my first piece of advice, but also just come try because you’re not gonna know unless you show up and give it a try. I think the fresh meat bootcamp is a great way to give it a try. It’s super affordable and it gives you a little hint into the whole world of derby, but you have guidance and everyone’s really patient, and then you can decide after that point if it is for you, or if it’s not, that’s okay too. I feel like you don’t know if you don’t try, so just come on!
Who would you like to nominate for next month, and what do you want to ask?
Slamwise Gamgee. Other than her ankle kind of giving her trouble throughout her first year, what was her biggest hurdle that she got over? And also what was her biggest wow moment?
Thank you for a great conversation Siren! It won’t be very long until you can see her out on the track—our 2023 season schedule is out, so make sure you carve out space in your calendar! Until next time, be like Siren and carve out some time in your week just for you and your self-care.
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