Esther La Vista – you are our skater of the month!!!

Now you are a celebrity skater, you have to give us an interview as it’s the law!

Congratulations on being our skater of the month – how do you feel about this amazing accolade?
Surprised, happy and a bit embarrassed (blushing).

What are you doing right now?
I’m just about to make myself a summer skirt out of a turquoise sari that I bought while shopping with Ann Thwacks. The children are finally in bed. Phew!

Photo by Chris Bell

As one of DRR’s agile jammers and hard hitting blockers, what advice would you give to anyone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Skating outdoors will improve your agility very quickly because you have to pick up your feet. Falling over is not failing; I fall over all the time because I am trying hard to learn a new thingy. Don’t be scared to (legally) skate directly into someone that’s showing you a legal target zone, in fact, why even slow down?

Who are you most terrified of meeting on the track – anyone?
I’m not scared of anyone.  What’s there to be scared of? If they knock me down I’ll just get right back up again like Ze Terminatooor. Mwahahahaaaa. It’s funny when people try and psych you out on the line like they expect you to care. Lol. Saying that, I am slightly wary of Kosh who skates with Lincolnshire Rolling Thunder because he is such an awesomely agile skater and hits like a ten tonne truck.

I have heard in real life you are working Mum of 4. Is this true and how do you manage it all? Are you wonder woman?
I send them to bed in their school uniforms and feed them chocolate for breakfast. Only kidding. I’ve been interrupted 4 times just writing these few words and they’re meant to be asleep. It’s hard.

Had you ever done sports before you took up roller derby?
Hell yes. At school I played hockey 4 times a week and skated all day every Sunday at Granby Halls for years. Later I took up archery and swimming. I always wanted to join a dancing class but they said I had the wrong attitude so I joined the Kyokushinkai (karate) instead and I think it suited me more anyway.

If you can tell someone new to derby just 3 things – what would they be?
1) Respect the refs and NSOs and do as much NSOing as you can – it really helps you to learn the rules and figure out what on earth is going on!
2) If you’re just learning to skate then buy outdoor wheels and wear them around the house & go to the shops on your skates. You’ll quickly learn to walk on toe stops and derby stop.
3) Anyone can learn to skate but rolley derby is an attitude that you can nurture.

If you could pick any song you wanted just for you for your skate out what would it be?
Dollys already have the BEST song: Tricky by Run DMC and I also kinda like Seven Nation Army by White Stripes

What is your most favourite roller derby moment so far?
A few years ago when skating with the Dolly B-team in a scrim –  our pack kept back Rogue Runner and I managed to score 2 points and call it off. I think about that if I ever feel low about something derby-related and it cheers me up every time.

What Derby plans do you have for the future?
To skate lower, faster, learn ALL the rules and learn how to do line-up tracking. Man, line-up tracking looks more scary than any blocker.

Thank you for your time and for this interview, we hope it will inspire mini-Esthers all over the country to become as awesome as YOU!