St. Louis GateKeepers
# L7
Q. What is your biggest accomplishment?
A. My Biggest Accomplishment is being captain/Coach of the #1 team in the Men's Roller Derby Association's first official rankings.
Q. What is your biggest challenge?
A. My biggest challenge is keeping everything balanced.... Derby, work, personal life, relationship. Coaching two travel teams (gatekeepers and Arch Rival) and playing takes a lot of time and effort. Keeping a balanced life is definitely a challenge.
Q. Do you have a motto you go by?
A. The bar is set high enough if you have to be on your toes to reach it.
Q. What keeps you motivated.
A. My motivation is to fulfill potential. I don't want to look back and think things would have been different if i only would have done more. I give everything i have at practice and to my players. If my best isn't good enough, so be it... But I wont fail due to lack of preparation or effort.
Q. Have you had any injuries?
A. Not really. I have had some minor nagging injuries but nothing that has forced me to miss an bout. Knee strains, shoulder tightness and my chest clicks sometimes from a hit Percy Controll laid on me at practice.
Q. what is your wheel of choice and why?
A. Juke Alloys have been my wheel of choice for the last 6 months. I like them so much because they offer the perfect mix of grip, agility and roll. I don't have to worry about my wheels when I am on my Juke 2.0 Alloys.
Q. How did you get started in Roller Derby?
A. I joined the Arch Rival Roller Girls as a referee in early 2006 when the league started. I have been with them from the beginning. I was head referee for three seasons and started bench coaching them in 2008, I took a break from both in 2010 to get the GateKeepers started. I am back to bench coaching ARRG for the 2011 season.
Q. Derby is a full contact sport and it's very taxing on your body. Will you be playing Roller derby until your body says it has had enough, or do you have a retirement plan?
A. I have no plans of retiring any time soon. Derby is so fun and challenging, I can't imagine my life without it.
Q. What are your plans after you retire?
A. No plans... Maybe family based.
Q. What do you do for a living?
A. I am a industrial packaging salesman. Pretty much I sell boxes, tape, adhesive, bubble wrap and anything else a company needs to send its product out the door. It's the family business.
Q. How do you juggle life and derby?
A. Being in sales offers me a lot of flexibility with my time. Derby is pretty dominate in my life but totally worth the time and effort it receives. I have a patient Fiance, Dallis. Since she plays for ARRG, we fully support each other in regards to the commitment that is needed to play this sport.
Q. What is it about roller derby that you love so much?
A. Derby is fast, physical and requires a lot of strategy. Every element of a great sport. There is nothing better than owning a jammer as a blocker or flying by blockers as a jammer.
Q. Do you partake in any other sports?
A. I played lacrosse from high school until last year. The summer league I played in switched nights to when I was running the GateKeepeers practice so I had to stop.
Q. How often do you practice?
A. I typically practice with the guys twice a week and run 1-2 practices a week for ARRG.
Q. Do you do any outside training besides roller derby practice?
A. Totally! I am a firm believer that practice alone will not get you in the proper shape to play at your best. I typically hit the gym about 5 days a week. When training really amps up, interval hill training is added to the mix once a week.
Q. Who is your biggest Inspiration?
A. Dallis' love for the sport is definitely an inspiration. She goes to every practice she can. She is so motivated to improve her game that it helps keep me inspired to get better.
Q. Have you always been a athlete or is roller derby your first sport?
Q. After party drink of choice?
A. Derby has turned me into a PBR drinker. Growing up in St.Louis, Bud Light was always my go to beer but PBR tall boys cant be beat.
Q. Do you have any rituals that you do before a game?
A. I bake brownies usually three times on game days... Stretch a lot... Eat well and take half a five hour energy before introductions and the rest at half time.
Q. Do you have a song that pumps you up before a game?
A. Deftones and Chevelle are my favorite pump up bands. Lately I have been listening to a lot of Chiodos, Memphis May Fire, Decoder and of Mice & Men.
Q. What is your favorite derby position?
A. I block for our travel team and jam for our local play. I am fortunate to play both but love how dynamic blocking is. I guess I like imposing my will on other skaters instead of figuring how to get around them.
Q. Who is your favorite roller derby players of all time?
A. Varla Vendetta..... She sees the game so well. It looks effortless when she is on the track. She is small and smart. the decisions she makes are just as important as her athleticism. Quadzilla and Streak are my two favorite players to watch on the guys side. You never know what they are going to pull next.
So my thought is that he IS pretty PIMP after this interview.
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