April Featured Skater: Endorphin Annie

Name: Endorphin Annie

Number: 987

Travel Teams: All Stars & Brawlers

Home Team: Bombshell Bettys

Years skating: 6

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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!

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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?

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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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March Featured Skater: Psych Wazowski

Name: Psych Wazowski

Number: 2319

Travel Teams: All Stars, Brawlers, & Marble City Mayhem

Home Team: Bombshell Bettys

Years skating: 2

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She’d been a part of Hard Knox long before joining as a skater, and she made a big impression last year in her rookie season! Get to know March’s Skater of the Month: Psych Wazowski!

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You were nominated by Pistol Whips, who wants to know what made you decide to do roller derby, and how do you feel like your first official season went?

I wanted to do derby because Sunday School Slammer brought a group of skaters to our church to do a presentation. We saw it, and my mother wanted to go see some of the games, and we never left. I just had to wait to turn eighteen to join the team.

And as far as my first official season went—not as scary as I thought it was going to be? I was just glad to finally have the experience.

Was there anything in particular that you were scared or nervous about?

Falling on my face in front of a group of people. Checked that off the list, done it.

And survived!

And survived.

Had you skated as a kid or done any other sort of sports?

I mean, the occasional field trips to Skatetown, but we didn’t do anything else after that. But no I guess “technical” sports. I did color guard, so that was about it.

Get you out of PE class, at least.

Nope! Still had to take PE credits.

Oh I thought that’s why people would do that! That and band.

Well yeah, I thought so too, but I still had three other gym classes throughout my high school career, which was very annoying.

Well in roller derby, what is your favorite position to play?

Blocker on the outside. I just feel very stable there, and I can do different things like, obviously being a blocker, but I feel like I can go up and catch skaters and be O [offense] if I need to.

How would you describe your derby playing style?

[laughs] Chaotic! I don’t know, I just try to be there for everybody. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

What are some of your favorite moments on the track?

I have a video recording that Nate got of me at the first game that I’d ever played. The jammer came up, and was trying to jump the apex, and I literally just stuck my ass out and knocked them out, so that was fun. I don’t know, just (this is going to sound super aggressive) but just effectively hitting somebody and feeling good about it. Taking ‘em down. That’s fun, but also winning MVP Blocker, that was also fun.

How do you like to spend your time off the track? What do you do in your free time?

I’m gonna sound like I’m 65 years old, but I like bowling, shuffleboard, and putting together puzzles. I like to go hiking. I also wanna make it to a BINGO night. I’ve never been, I wanna go to a BINGO night!

My church always does BINGO for Thanksgiving, and I tell you what, the old people? They win. It’s a game of chance, and yet, they do well!

I’ve seen so many videos where they’re like, oh they don’t play about their BINGO, and I’m like, it’s scary to see when elder people are very intense about something. But I’m like, I still want to go. I think it’d be fun!

How did you decide on your skater name and number?

I’m a Disney adult (not in the obsessive way, but I am a Disney adult). So it was between Psych Wazowski and obviously with that one, the number [2319] is just, you know, it’s a given. But it was either that or Violent Neauregarde.

It was a winner either way! How much crossover is there between Jade and Psych? Are they two separate people, are they the same person?

I’d say that they were the same person. Aggressive, but also super apologetic. So yeah, no I’d say they’re the same person.

What’s a piece of advice that someone has given you that has stuck with you?

You can do more than you think you can. I get in my head so much, and I don’t think I deserve to be where I’m at, but there’s a lot of people on the team who remind me that I do work hard, and I am deserving of what I’m able to do.

Do you have any goals for yourself for this season?

Less penalties? And to be more conscious of what I’m doing instead of just throwing myself around. To go out with a plan and it doesn’t always have to be, you know, necessarily hitting somebody out, but knowing what I need to do and being able to do it.

That goes along perfectly with my next question—what is your most common penalty, and what do you think that says about you as a player?

I don’t feel like I’ve gotten one specific penalty, but I guess it would probably be a combination of forearms and multiplayers. I’m just a very flaily person, so my arms are just always there. It’s kind of hard, when you’re trying to hit somebody, to not have your arms fly out.

Physics takes over.

Yeah…so I guess those two. I’ve gotten a couple directionals, but I think those are the two that I get the majority of.

What is something that roller derby has taught you about yourself?

You can do a lot more than you think you can! Pushing yourself somewhere that you never thought you’d be able to push yourself—you can push yourself. That and your feet are always gonna hurt. Doesn’t matter what insoles you put in your shoes!

Who would you like to nominate for next month, and what do you want to ask?

I think I want to go with [Endorphin] Anie. How do you feel you’ve grown as a skater, especially coming back from an injury mid-season?

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Thanks for a great conversation Psych! Readers, you will be able to see her in a whole lotta derby this month with our Honky Tonk Stomp, happening March 23 & 24! See teams from all over Tennessee compete in this revived tournament that is guaranteed fun for all. Until next time, be like Psych, and believe that you can do more than you think you can.

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February Featured Skater: Pistol Whips

Name: Pistol Whips

Number: 365

Travel Team: Brawlers

Home Team: Lolitas

Years skating: 1

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You might know her for her blocking on the track, but she’s also behind the merchandise you know and love. Get to know February’s skater of the month: Pistol Whips!

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You were nominated by Miss I’ll Strike, who wants to know what your favorite thing about your first season was, whether it was a specific moment from a game or a practice, or just anything in general since you’ve now had a full season under your belt.

I would say surviving the first season is one! And then, I guess about June, everything slowed down, and I knew what was happening instead of just being in a tornado and not knowing what to do, not knowing what I could do, couldn’t do. Towards the end of the season, I was able to catch a jammer (still didn’t know what to do with them once I got them). But, you know, a lot of improvement, just the improvement over the year.

What brought you to roller derby in the first place?

Oh I have wanted to join since Hard Knox first started! I had a business at the time and never could get the schedule worked out to where I could commit to the practices. But every year, I would go on the website and look. Then after COVID (I had sold my business during shutdown) sitting around last year I was like, “You know? I think I’m going to try this,” and so that’s what I did.

Had you ever skated before?

I’ve skated most of my life. When I was younger I did figure skating on roller skates, but I had not been on skates for probably ten years when I decided to do Hard Knox. But yeah, I skated a lot early.

Are there any skills that cross over for you from figure skating to this?

Crossovers and toe stop work. Of course, it’s all different now because I was young and little, so the backwards stuff is different. So there’s just things that I used to could do that now I’m like, terrified to try, if that makes sense. But yeah, it does cross over.

How did you decide on your skater name and number?

My husband and I like to shoot. I struggled trying to find a name. I had a lot of different ones, but I was trying to find something that no one else really had. So I went with “Pistol,” and I wanted it to be like a play on words, and “whips” is a word from derby, so it kind of had two meanings, so I went with that.

The number is 365, and that is the number of the pistol that I shoot with.

What is something on your bucket list that you would like to accomplish?

Oh gosh, left on my bucket list I’d like to go to Egypt, Rome, skydive. Most of those things are probably not going to happen [laughs]

But it’s fun to have things to dream about!

Yeah, my bucket list nowadays is just to enjoy life in the moment. Because when you’re younger, you tend to focus on things that are not important, and the older you get, the more focused you become.

What is your favorite roller derby position to play?

Blocker and brace. I like to be able to see behind me, so I like to brace, and it’s just kind of fun to try to keep up with the jammer. Blocking: it’s just a fun position, you know, you’re trying to work with everybody and try to keep that jammer from getting through, so it’s a good test for balance and learning new skills.

How would you describe your derby playing style?

I’m not sure I even have one yet! [laughs] Not really aggressive, trying to get better at that. That first whole season was just mostly trying to keep up with what was happening, but I don’t think I’ve developed a style yet. But hopefully that’ll happen.

So one of your off-the-track responsibilities is our merchandise. What has that experience been like for you?

Oh super fun! I’m in my element with that. And it’s always fun spending other people’s money! But just trying to really, you know, take it to the next level and do more for the league to have more funds, which I think can really help with that.

Is there anything that you want to tease that we’re going to have at the merch table this season? Anything that you can reveal?

We’re going to do some more stickers and probably some more different shirts and hoodies and options that’s not just our logo, here’s our logo, you know. Spread to a broader crowd. And maybe some different items that people can use out in their daily life that will advertise us.

On the track, what is your most common penalty, and do you think that says anything about your personality or your derby playing style?

It’s usually a forearm, and so I guess that’s just a natural reaction, trying to learn not to use your arms. I don’t know how that would make my style be, but it would be a forearm or a directional. Those are the two that I get all the time.

Do you have any goals for yourself for this new 2024 season?

I wanna improve my endurance, and try to play other positions, and just improve my skills. I haven’t been able to do a lot because I do have an injury now, so that may affect my season this year, but it gives me goals to work towards.

What is something that you’ve gained from your roller derby experience that you maybe didn’t expect?

The support and camaraderie of the team. It’s a good experience, for sure, because during COVID I was alone at home a lot, and I hadn’t played a team sport since high school, so it’s a good experience.

What sports did you play in high school?

I played field hockey, which I grew up in Maine so that’s a Northern thing, we don’t have that down here, and then I played tennis.

Does any of that help you out in derby?

The field hockey probably just being more assertive does help a little bit, but again, that’s been like thirty years ago since. [laughs]

It builds a foundation!

Yeah, exactly!

So if you’re originally from Maine, what brought you down here to Tennessee?

My parents had moved out down here. I’m originally from California. We lived in Maine for awhile, and then my step-father’s family was here, so they moved back down here, and I ended up eventually moving down here to be closer to my mom, and I’ve stayed.

What’s something you like about Tennessee?

Oh the mountains, lots of nature stuff, the weather is better.

When we’re not totally snowed in!

Yeah, less snow than what we’ve had this week.

How do you like to spend your free time?

I spend time with my dog. I live on a farm, and that’s what I do for work now, is grow vegetables, and just spend time with my animals. Trying to do more stuff outdoors, live in the moment.

What’s been something that’s been really satisfying about having a farm?

Just being outside and being in touch with nature. Not being stuck inside working all day long, just the freedom to kind of space my day out how I want.

What advice do you have for people who would want to play roller derby?

Just do it! [laughs] Have patience with yourself because it’s hard, it’s very hard. You have to do it, and you know, it does get—you get disappointed, but you will improve.

Who would you like to nominate for next month, and what do you want to ask?

Psych Wazowski. What made you decide to do roller derby, and how do you feel like your first official season went?

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Thanks for an awesome conversation Pistol Whips! It’s shaping up to be a big year with a lot of home bouts and other community events. You’ll be able to catch us earlier than usual with the Honky Tonk Stomp happening on March 23-34! So until then, be like Pistol Whips and live in the moment.

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January Featured Skater: Miss I'll Strike

Name: Miss I'll Strike

Number: 321

Travel Team: Brawlers

Home Team: Bombshell Bettys

Years skating: 1

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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!

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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.

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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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