Name: Endorphin Annie
Number: 987
Travel Teams: All Stars & Brawlers
Home Team: Bombshell Bettys
Years skating: 6
It’s a hard knock life for anyone who has to compete against this Hard Knox skater! Get to know April’s skater of the month: Endorphin Annie!
You were nominated by Psych Wazowski, who wants to know how you feel like you’ve grown as a skater, especially coming back from an injury mid-season?
Yeah, that was a real bummer! It was the first game of the season, our home opener, and I got my rib cracked. I think though I was able—well I had to take time off and recover—and I was able to watch all the practices and a lot of the games, and learn reffing. So I think that helped me a lot too, just getting to be more aware of penalties, and then good strategies as well, [ones] that work and don’t work.
I would say just being able to observe helped me learn a lot and grow. Also just being anxious and wanting to get back on the track, and hating that I couldn’t, that helped me out I think a lot too.
How did you discover roller derby in the first place?
When I was in my early 20s, I heard about it on the radio. It was a local station. She (one of the girls there) did roller derby, and I thought it sounded amazing, but I was definitely more reserved and shy in my younger years, so I was too afraid to go and try something like that. And then fast forward probably a good 12 years, I found a Groupon for it, and I was like, that sounds amazing! But again, I was a little nervous and apprehensive about doing it myself, so I tried to round up some of my friends, and they all had excuses, you know? I understand, I was like, fine, you know what, I’m not going to let that stop me. So I decided to try it and I instantly fell in love with it. I didn’t really know much about it before I went to my first practice, but yeah, it was great. I couldn’t wait to get better. I remember watching from the far end with the baby skaters and just like, daydreaming about One day I’m gonna be over there with the big kids!
You said you heard about it on a local station. Is local Knoxville for you?
No, I came from California, the Sacramento area.
What brought you out here?
To get out of California! [laughs]
So was it [more] getting out of California, or wanting to come to Tennessee, or a little of both?
It was getting out of California, and then my husband and I—we traveled around to a few different states, did a lot of research, and we had never been to Tennessee, but everything sounded really great, what we were looking for (minus the ocean, but gotta give and take a little bit there). So yeah, we just came here and love it.
Wonderful! So you hadn’t done derby before. Had you ever skated before?
Just as a kid on the streets, rollerblading and skating.
So you just totally jumped into it.
Yeah, it was like I had to learn all over again, because I hadn’t gone for so long. I think I was 35 when I started derby. It was my midlife crisis, I call it that.
And we’re glad you had that midlife crisis!
Me too!
What is your favorite position to play?
I like to be a brace. I do like to pivot, but I’m still learning to be better at jamming. It makes me—I get an adrenaline rush, so I’m still trying to get over that.
What are some of your favorite moments on the track?
Having a line that really works, just having the good chemistry. Another one is when you’re actually able to knock somebody down or out, or run up and catch them, those are some of the favorite moments.
I feel like that also gets the adrenaline going too, when you actually do what you wanted to do there.
Right, but that’s not too much adrenaline, like with the jamming!
Jamming is very intense! Well, what is something that you’ve gained from roller derby that you maybe didn’t expect?
I’ve always been a really clumsy person, and roller derby and just skating in general has helped me so much more. There’s lot of times where I’ll just be clumsy and almost fall, and I’m like—woah, I would’ve fallen before, but now my balance is so much better.
What else…great friends, roller derby family, it’s just a great community altogether, I love it. Also, roller derby is the only exercise I’ve ever been able to keep up with. I’ve tried about every exercise there is out there, and I could never stick with it, but roller derby is just so fun that I don’t even realize that I’m working out and getting exercise.
Everyone on the team knows that you’re a big animal lover. Has that always been the way for you?
Yes, I’ve loved animals ever since I was a kid. My parents will tell you that I’d rather be with animals than people. [laughs] I was asking for a horse since I could walk. I used to take my poor dogs and pretend they were horses until my parents actually got me a horse.
What was your first horse’s name?
Lita. She was a pain!
Can you tell us about the sort of animals you have right now in your house?
Yes, we have a couple of French bulldogs, a cat, and we have chickens and rabbits.
How do you balance derby and real life?
Do I? [laughs] It’s hard. There’s lot of times that my husband will actually push me to go to derby because he knows that I’m so busy a lot of times. I’m just like, “Ah man, I should be doing this instead.” He’s like, “No, you should really go, you’ll be glad you did.” So it’s just having to make time because I know I’ll be glad I went once I do. Even when you’re tired, it’s still nice. Or if you’re not having a good day, it really helps. That’s another one too: derby is cheap therapy.
It is! When you’re getting ready for a bout, do you have any rituals, anything that you do to help get yourself ready physically or mentally?
Not really. If I catch myself getting nervous, something I just remind myself is: this is what we practice for. So I do say that in my head a lot, just trying to calm myself down.
What is your most common penalty, and does that say anything about your derby playing style?
I would say multiplayers at first. I think I’ve gotten a lot better with that. I guess the second one would be failure to reform, but I’ve learned a lot this offseason, and I have high hopes going into this season that I will not be one to get that.
It’s very easy to see, off the track, how obvious a failure to reform is, but it doesn’t feel that way when you’re on the track.
Right, it just—with all of our practice lately, I’ve been able to be more aware of where I need to be or don’t [need to] be.
How did you decide on your skater name and number?
I was actually doing roller derby for a few months and I couldn't come up with anything. I always love the punny names, but I couldn’t find anything that I thought was right for me. Some of my teammates threw some names out there, and so one of them (Rainbow Fright was her name) she gave me the name Endorphin Annie.
And at the time my number was 707 because that was the area code of one of my favorite places to visit along the coast of Northern California, right on the beach there. But when I moved out here, I decided to change it to 987 because that was Warbucks’s address in New York, so that’s the street address.
So for Orphan Annie.
Yeah, wanted to tie it in a little bit more.
That’s perfect. What is something that most people wouldn’t guess about you?
I had based my moving from California around where I could get to roller derby, like what states had roller derby and wasn’t too far to get to practice.
And Tennessee has a lot of places close to a lot of different derby stuff! That makes me wonder—had you, like was Knoxville the first place in Tennessee that you looked at?
We just drove across the country and just drove to this area, to the Knoxville area.
Just because Knoxville’s not usually the first place that people think of when they think of Tennessee.
Eastern Tennessee kind of drew us in; what it’s known for is what we were looking for.
What are some of your goals for this season?
To make it through a whole season, to actually get to play. I haven’t played a whole season yet—I started derby in 2018.
What advice do you have for people who want to play roller derby?
Don’t be afraid to do it because you’re gonna love it.
Who would you like to nominate for next month, and what do you want to ask?
Override. Have you always been as fast as you are now on the track?
Thank you for a fun conversation, Annie! Readers, if you missed the excitement of the Honky Tonk Stomp last month, then you’ll have to wait another few weeks to catch Annie and the rest of the team at home. We’ll be on the road this month, so follow our social media pages to stay up to date on our progress! Until next time, be like Annie and make a major life choice centered around roller derby.
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