Highlights of 2011 (in no particular order)

I drank heaps of tasty not cheap beer

Just maybe some JägerBombs with Rocky Mountain

Crime City got a painted outdoor track

I coached at EROC

Loony and I moved to Malmö

Crime City starred in Looptroops music video

I coached at MayDay in Hell

Loony and I at Anarchy in UK working for DNN

I played some banked track with Legit

I had a butch birthday party

Made it into the News

Played the first bout in Sweden with CCR

Travelled and skated with Loony

Announced with Loony

Coached at Rally in the Valley

Went to Paris with Crime City

Celebrated Midsummer

Coached with Loony and Fisty in Rotterdam

Founded SwedeVix with Vix

Coached at SkateHeaven

Went to Windsor with Stockholm

Put on Nordic Light with SwedeVix

Coached Gothenburg Rollerderby

Me and Loony moved to Stockholm

Me and Loony coached and played with wonderful Team Sweden 

I got MVP for Team Sweden

Went to Jamaica and ate noodles on room at Ritz-Carlton

Titty Twista - a derby person I heart

I met Titty the first time really briefly at the German Championships and I got to see her skate, Loony had seen her skate before and talked very warmly about how great she was, and she for sure was.
I did not get to know to her until I went to Stuttgart to coach at Ralley in the Valley this summer. We coached together and I really got to know her. Oh, and for you who have never met her before - she skates for Stuttgat Valley Roller Girlz and is the Headcoach of Team Germany.

Titty is quite a personality - and I must admit that her German accent and very matter-of-fact personality might have scared me a little at first... but when you get past that she is really sweet and funny. (I am still scared of pissing her off). So when I started this project of writing about derby people I heart, I decided that I can do it however I want to, and for Titty I prepared a few questions that I really wanted to know, and also that I thought be to interest in general and sent off to her, and here are her answers:

Swede: Why is your name Titty Twista?
TT: Basically I love the Tarantino movie "From Dusk Till Dawn" and there is this club called Titty Twister. So this was the first thought like that this could be my name... Seeing it from the club perspective, I am well known for hitting clubs and loving the girls. Seeing it from the meaning of the words - well, I am a girl of many sides and you never know what will hit you on or off track. I am fast and I move quickly through the pack and hit and attack fast and effective and I can be a pain in the ass for the jammers - that is what people say. Also I love to touch boobs I am attracted to boobs and if you don't behave, I will twist your nipples. So I think that Titty-Twista seems to fit perfect!

Swede: How did you start derby?
TT: I heard rumor about derby even when I was in Uni still but just rumor and I didn't know any facts. I lived in Stuttgart before so I kinda knew what was going on there. Moving back I ended up rooming with some crazy people in this huge apartment and in 2007, my room mate basically told me more and more about derby and skating because she was friends with one of the founders of SVRG. As I was looking for something new anyways I was like "Yeah, lets get some skates and then skate in the park." But the I found out I had to get to know the one girl of SVRG which owened an online skate shop at that time and the only source for me to buy skates. After a while my rommate said that there is something called a "bout" taking place and so I grabbed the girl I wanted to go out on a date with and my roommate and went to this so called "bout". It was taking place at a club - kind of like this illegal fight club style. It was the first european bout ever - London Rockin Rollers vs. SVRG. And derby girls were smoking and drinking beer during the halftime... I was like OKAY, this is NOT the sport I am looking for.. way to brutal! BUT I needed the skates cause I loved skating ever since I can remember ... but it took another year to make the first move torwards one of the SVRG practices - and by August 2008 my roommate and me went to one of the practices all eager to order skates.. . but hey, why not learn how to REALLY skate on quads? Just ONE practice I thought - So I ended up practicing with them and never stopped... November 2008 first bout... and ever since I never left SVRG and the roller derby world!


Swede: How did you like being HeadCoach of Germany?

TT: Like? Love would be the word! I feel honored that I got voted on this important position. I totally knew that this is a huge responsibility and a long way to go. Many people put their trust in me, things went wrong and things went right and at the end I think I did a good job and we all had a blast in Canada. It was energy-sucking and thrilling at the same time. BUT this is something I won't never forget - the first time ever derby head coach for Team GErmany! Isn't THAT amazing? I can say yes, yes, yes! Regrets? Nope. And for this year I'll keep on doing it until we will have a board and a federation built up. There is more to come 2012 and mistakes to learn from and my mission is to grow closer together as team and as a training and managing board. We will have some more fun and even better derby! :-)

Swede: Who are the skaters you look up to?

TT: This is a hard one.... in particular, there are so so many excellent derby players all over the place. And World Cup showed how impressive it is to watch the Stars and Stripes and all this amazing players on these teams. In particular I loved to watch Bonnie Thunders, Psycho Babble and Joy Collision skate. Impressive! These are just a few names. Honestly, looking up to somebody is hard for me because if I look up to somebody I could be a bit frightened if I would meet them on track one day... and this shouldn't be the fact if I should give the best for my team, right? :-) And with this fast development of derby these days, tomorrow anybody could be better  than the stars of today. So I prefer not to name somebody but to give my admiration to every derby skater who works hard, is focused, wants to spread the word of derby, is a real teamplayer and likes to understand the game - no matter if they are brilliant skaters or just about to start derby.

Swede:Where do you see derby in 5 years?

TT: Hopefully on a more improved level - but STILL from athletes for athletes. I can see that derby is getting more and more professional and I like it - but in my perfect derby future there should still be the derby I knew from the very start. A derby that has room for every girl who wants to do it. I hope in 5 years we have WFTDA become the main federation for derby and that all over the world each country got its own. That there are nationals in each country and region, championships and I wish that derby is an all accepetd sport and no longer searching for venues is the limiting factor. Instead of that, venues should be built for derby and other skating sports. Also I hope that the most important fact - the fun times and the afterparties - won't vanish. That we all remember where we came from and that we still see derby as the most fun team sport ever - no matter if the money factor and the professionalism grows. I want derby to be spread all over the world and maybe we have a chance to become olympic! YAY! :-D

Swede: Beer or Weinschorle?

TT: I would say BOTH... but with my sweet Swede, weinschorle... or Wine, Charlotte! :-D

Swede: What is your athletic background?

TT: Track and field is my athletic background. Started when I was 3 years old. First competition when I was at the age of 5. Never stopped doing it until early 20s. I used to be a track and field pro until a bad back injury made me quit during the first qualification round for the Junior European Championships in heptathlon. I was working out twice a day - everything was built around my athletic life (school, friends and relationships) - and I never regret it! It was a great and awesome experience and I met some of my dearest friends though that sport. There was a huge hole after quitting and I was searching for something new for years - a couple of years later, derby filled the hole just perfectly! :-D

Swede:What is the most important for you with derby? 
TT: We play together, we win together, we lose together - we ARE team! It is one of the most intense team sports I know - physically and mentally! Here you can feel the real power of team - there can be outstanding players on the track, but if they don't work together - they will lose! And also getting to know ppl I actually would never get to know in real life. And this in combination with the fun and pleasure I feel - that IS the best I can get. I burn for derby -  and sometimes I GET burnt.

Colt 45 - a derby person I heart

Colt nowdays (photo shamelessly stolen from Facebook)

First of all I want to let you all know, that Colt has not always been Colt - she started her derby career under the name Debbie Derringer... but since her name was to close to some other derbygirl Debbie had to retire and she became her evil twinsister Colt 45 - for good and bad...

Colt is my derbywife, we met when we both were in the freshmeat training camp (called Bootycamp) of Jet City, we both made it on the leauge - she became a Pink Pistol and I became a Camaro Harem.
But already during bootycamp we realized we had the same sort of humor, we used to carpool all the way from Seattle up to Everett and bitch/gosship about everything from derby to who we thought be the next derbygirl to come out of the closet. We just connected on lots of different levels -and we always seemed to have fun together and we always seemed to find a reason to giggle - sometimes to others annoyance.
There is one photo of me and her in Jules photo-book - and it is of me flashing her and another Pink Pistol Skater... yepp... good times back in the day... Oh, and of course we took some pin-up photos in rollerskates... yepp... I am wearing fishnets...

We went to our first RollerCon together - and had a blast in matching outfits and got married on the parking lot with a whole bunch of other derbygirls...  I left Jet City for Rat City and I really missed her and then we became neighbours for a hot moment...  but Colt then moved to Austin and joined the Texas Rollergirls.
I visited her in Austin and skated, but we also drank tequila, sang karoke and looked lost while trying to fix her car that wouldn't start.  Later on that year she broke her arm - and that was sad... breaking things is never good when you tend bars and play derby...

Wives to be

I moved onto Gotham and then to Sweden and Colt moved on to Sacred City and we haven't seen each other in waaaay to long, and that is kind of sad. She is a great skater and friend and wife, and I got to see her skate at Western Regionals via DNN, and it made me really proud thinking of how far both of us have come since that time we met at the Skate Deck in Everett.... and by the way - she is quite straight...

I really hope that she will come and visit me in Sweden one day, because I don't talk often enough with her, but I miss her!

Happy Christmas and Merry Holidays

Last year snow covered the entire country of Sweden - this year there has been a serious lack of snow! I do NOT approve - and then we had a storm (that was named Dagmar) that did not bring snow but crazy winds that cut off electricity...

Except from that, Christmas was amazing - I celebrated with family - at lots of great food and got about zero Christmas gifts... well, very few since the adults in the family do not give each other presents (and for some crazy reason they classify me as an adult) and I have no children to give me presents.

Me and Mother went to Church Christmas Day morning, we always do it, it is a tradition me and Mother have had for years and year, and I really enjoy it.



And then I got sick, Loony been sick for about a week, so I guess it was my turn... yepp... gotten sick - and still a lack of snow. Not sure if I like this! But it just means it can only get better...

Alotta Riot - a derby person I heart

I cannot swear I remember meeting Alotta first time, she is a Crime City skater, and when I cam to Crime City she had only been skating for a few months. My first real memory of her was when she took her minimum skills test in January 2011.
It was the first Minimum Skills test I ever administred, and me and Loony came up with a test where I combined how my previous leauges had done it and made it feel like it was a regular practice, with a sort of flow to it.
Alotta did not do spectacular, and we told her that she needed to work on her hitting and some other things (can't remember exactly what - there were many girls there) but what was so amazing was the development of her and Barfight the following weeks. Alotta and Barfight just bacame like they were glued to each other, and both me and Loony were - WOW...
Oh, and if you wonder why we sometimes call her Aloha Riot - it is because when we put her first boutshirt in to get printed - the printer got it all wrong - and her shirt spelled out 'ALOHA RIOT'.

But not Alotta being a very consistant and hardworking player, she later became Crime Citys headcoach after I left, and from what I heard and seen, do an amazing job.

Alotta is an amazing blocker, (and sometimes she should jam) I trust her on the track and so does her team-mates. But it is not only her skating that makes me admire her, it is how she always comes to practice, despite the fact that she has a small kid and a husband that works out of the contry week at the time.

She is one of the most positve people I have ever met, and she always have patience to listen to people, and she is smart and often understand what people need. She is a very good friend, and very warm, smart and loving despite her edgy looks. She is not possitive in that 'smileyIlovetheworldandyouallshouldloveitto' kind of way, she is positive in the way that makes you wanna keep going, because she motivates you!

I think one of my favorite things were before one of our bouts, I was getting interviewed, and the reporter looked around, and was all ''I wanna talk to her'' and pointed towards Alotta. And in the interview Alotta happily announced that she started derby becuase she wanted to get rid of the babybump she got after being pregnant and the first thing you had to learn in derby was to fall. The reporter almost told her... ''c'mon say something tought'' - but that is Alotta - she is just cool without having to talk her game up! I'll go on track with her anyday - and I am sad that I am not in the same leauge as her anymore, and they are very lucky to have her.

And I must say she has done very well for her first year in derby....

Mad Maloony, a derby person I heart

Well, we all know Mad Maloony is my long-time girlfriend and she also plays derby, that is how we met, because of derby. I know, we are cute, we here that a lot, except from when we fight, then we might be a little scary. But this is not a post about my girlfriend, it is about the derbyplayer that I love to have on my team. It just would not be good for our relationship to be on opposite teams.

Loony started to skate when she was just a wee little kiddie, she tells you all about it that in her profile on the Team Sweden webpage.  She has also been the Danish Champion in artistic rollerskating, so yeah, she is a VERY accomplished skater, and may I say that I feel very clumpsy skating with her at times. I think she goes faster backwards than forward and damn, the girl is fast.

Well, she started derby with Copenhagen Rollerderby, and then she met me and I forced her to come visit me in NYC and skate with me in Gotham for a month and when I moved back to Europe we moved in together and ended up leading CCR's A-team into an undefeted season. I love coaching with her, she is an amazing coach - and we do well together - and I love love love skating, bouting and coaching with Loony. She is an amazing blocker and her jamming is... ehm... fantastic!
I LOVE to watch her jam - she has the biggest smile EVER when she breaks out of the pack and gets lead-jammer. Very charismatic... my little showpony!

She got MVP for Nordic Light and she also got MVP for when we played Royal Windsor and she played on Team Sweden in Totonto. Loony loves to watch derby fototage and get really nerdy with it, I sort of wanna go to sleep after watching two-three bouts - she will watch all night long.  She is also a very good team-mate and she loves to dance and I think she always wins the afterparties....

Oh, I love this girl - she is AMAZING and she is a VERY talented derbyplayer, people tend to forget that she has not been playing derby for that long, when I met her a year and a half ago, she had only been playing for about nine months.

People I love and admire in derby

I have met MANY people in derby, people I love and admire, people that annoy the shit out of me and I still love and respect, and people that scare the shit out of me, and all of those people have meant something to me in different ways. It might have been a team, another skater, a coach a referee, yeah someone in derby that made me smile, giggle or just work harder.

Maloony, Chagin'Tina and Alotta Riot

I'm thinking about a few people I want to mention and first I thought I'd write about a person a day, and then I thought I should interview them. And then I just thought I'd do whatever I felt like when I decided to write about them... So I'm creating a new label, and it's gonna be called ''derby people I heart¨.

Since my girlfriend is crawling into bed right now - and I'm probably as insomniac as ever - the first entry might come later tonight... or maybe I will just forcefully cuddle her.
Well, the first three derby people I heart - are going to be Mad Maloony, Alotta Riot and Colt 45.....

STRD minimumskills - six girls passed

Yesterday we had WFTDA Minimum Skills Test - just the skating part - and six of our Fresh Meat passed!
I always get really excited about the minimum skills test - it always means that we will have new girls joining our ranks and see them grow into accomplished derby players. Passing minimum skills does not mean that you are boutready - but it means you have taken the first steps from just being a rollerskater towards becoming a safe and amazing rollerderby player!

This blog I started to write Tuesday - and now it's Friday... I think I must be real busy!

Bootcamp in Gothenburg

Me and Loony went to Gothenburg this weekend to coach a bootcamp.... and it was superduper fun... even if it felt a little exhausting going to an airport for the 3000ish time this year.

MadFish from Gothenburg let us stay in her apartment and picked us up from the airport. Her apartment is like a little old ladies apartment - but no complains - except from her bed might be a little on the very firm side. Only my bed in my Chineese student dorm bed has been firmer (and with firm I mean rockhard in the case of China)... but who cares, MadFish is AWESOME - and she has all seasons of the Little House on the Prairie on DVD!

Gothenburgs practice space is an inlinehall with sportscourt, it juuust fits a regulation track, but it's awfully tight on the straightways. The inside temperature reflects the outside temparature a little too much... brrrrr... we could for sure tell it is December...

Saturday
 Saturday was first four hours of training for girls that hadn't passed their minimum skills yet, we had a whole bunch of girls from Stockholm and Gothenburg, but also from Norway and other Swedish cities Becky Lawless from Stockholm also came to help us out with the coaching, and six eyes are always better than fou. Our first thought were to have som off-skate the first 30 min, but since the venue was so cold we decided to do the Black Widdow instead - one of my favorite drills that I have gotten from PiaMess. 14 laps in regular direction, 1 min exercise, 12 laps opposite direction, 1 min exercise, 10 laps regular direction and so on until there are 0 laps and everyone can have a drink of water. We decided that 14 laps was a good number for warm-up...
And then we tried to cover lot's of skills that are required to pass the WFTDA minimum skills, starts, stops, hits, balance, agility and CROSSOVERS - we also spent quite some time on skating in a big pack, being able to skate really close is superimportant to play derby. Everyone seemed really happy, maybe a little exahusted when the four hours were over...
Then we had an hour break before we had to coach the girls that had passed minimum skills, most of the girls came from Gothenburg and Luleå, and after the two hours practice Gothenburg Roller Derby scrimmaged Luleå with friends. I had the honor to benchcoach Gothenburg while Loony took care of Luleå. It was a really tight scrimmage, and it was refreshing to see people starting on the pivotline....
After scrimmage was settled and MVP was awarded (Villa got it for Gothenburg and Manic Medic for Luleå) we headed off to the Bootcamp afterparty at Sticky Fingers. I must say that I totally love the Stockholm Freshmeat, they are completly hillerious, so excited an motivated.

Sunday
We were seriously longing for a day to sleep in on, but the Sunday was not it, so up we went to coach the girls that scrimmaged the previous day. So we did not be unfair and only make the girls that hadn't passed their minimum skills do the Black Widdow, so we got the blood pumping with some good ol' Black Widdow.  We had been asked to teach hockey-stops, so we did that using the simple and amazing way Urkin' teaches it. It is so simple and genious!  Then we did some situational scrimmage, talking about taking a taking a knee at the jammerline but also how to handle a powerjam... it was awesome because the reffs got to practice too and I think they got really happy and did not have to sit in their small cold room just chatting about calls - but got soem nice hands on practice too...
And all of a sudden the four hours were over and we could head out for pizza... (tuna, corn, curry and pineapple).

What really sucked was that our flight back to Stockholm was two hours late - but I guess that's life!

Bottomline is that everyone were working so hard and the bootcamp was really well-planned, I really enjoy coaching camps, especially when I get fed! MmmmMmmmmm I love food!
It is great to see how rollerderby grows and progress in Sweden...

The bangs are back...

Yes - I have new hair, well, I guess it's the same ol' hair - just in new style! I cut bangs (or fringe as the say in other English speaking places but America), I like it! I see how long I will be excited about the hair...
I do feel like I went a few steps more femme - yupp - I am totally loosing the butch-off. Lookwise at least...

Saved!

Fluke, Hyper Loony and me drinking Pina Coladas

Derby is fun and all that, but breaks are needed, and I haven¨t taken a break from anything in a looong time, the point where I was to burn out was almost reached. We got saved by a Jamaica trip... Sun and the sound of the ocean... Just mellow times!
This is what I needed - no stress at all! Jah mahn...

I love my girlfriend

We often get annoyed with each other, we have different opinions about things and we are both really stubborn. Sometimes I think we are totally wrong for each other - but I think that is what makes us stronger. I love to coach with her, I love to cook for her, I love to tease her and I just plainly have fun with her.

MVP for Sweden

I got World Cup MVP for Sweden, I must say that I think that now in retrospective I do belive that every girl at the World Cup deserved MVP. We all did an amazing job and wrote histrory! I am proud to be a part of Team Sweden - and it has been a looong way here!

We accomplished so much! It is amazing!

(And I love that Nanda, MVP of Team Brazil is wearing a Team Sweden shirt...)

I am only human...

I always try not to be so human, but sometimes it is very evident I am very human... this past year has been very turbulent and very crazy. I have loved every moment of it, but I am happy it is over. I have no wish to ever live in a 22 square meter apartment again, I spent every second weekend in a different city and I started a business, I moved to Sweden from US and headcoached Crime City and Team Sweden.

I have at most times put my feelings aside and I have tried to play fair for everyone, I honestly love my team and I love to plow work into things that I am passionate about. I compliment and I care, sometimes I probably care too much. I try to do what is best for everyone, but I am only human. Sometimes I do the wrong choices, sometimes I say the wrong things, and sometimes I just cry for a day.

I love coaching, I love building a team, I just hate organizing the things that has nothing to do with coaching, skating or rollerderby!

Yes I am still alive!

The World Cup was the most exhausting experiance I have ever had, mentally and physically! It was fun, hard and I cried at several occations. I did not get enough sleep nor food, but I got to play derby with the best of Swedish Roller Derby and against the best of the rest of the world.
When our last game was over I was so drained... yepp...

Oh, and I got the MVP of Sweden, and that was a great honor. Thanks to the hard work that all of the Team Sweden skaters have put in. It has been a venture and an adventure, from the first little steps that was taken a year ago. Me and Loony are now trying to rest at Jamaica - and I am so happy we are here. The first day here I just cried of exhaustion, I have never felt this empty and tired.

I had the greatest of times, now I just need to rest, recharge and continue to play derby! MORE derby!

I am proud over the Team Sweden we built, there were times we weren't at our best, but seven games in four days and still standing strong, and being sixth in the world, is AMAZING!