All kinds of dreams can come true when you go looking for them. Taste the adventure that Sisi Puede found just by sitting and watching one day at the roller skating rink.
Sisi Navarro is a single mother to a beautiful 14 month old named Emmy Saphira Fernandez-Navarro. She has her Master’s in Education and is a Site Director for a Middle School in Southern California. She loves her family, education and roller derby.
1. So Sisi tell us how does a cute Mexi-Rican decide to get into the Derby scene? Give us a day in the life of a Derby Queen? Princess? Diva? What is the proper term that you like to be called? Please enlighten us mere non-Derby mortals.
Well I first found derby when I turned on the T.V. and saw a reality show called Roller Girls, in 2006 which featured the Texas Roller Derby (TXRD) girls. As soon as I saw it, I was glued and just remember thinking… “I could totally do this!” After I moved back to the Chino area, I found Roller Derby in the area, and went to go check it out. Great Dame, our league owner and my Derby Mama, saw me on the side lines, made me put on a pair of skates, and four years later I am still skating. And as far as the “terms” go… I am a Queen and a Diva… no princesses in derby though! Hahah
2. Derby has been around for quite a few years. I’m sure you have fans that have been around since the dawning of the day? What do they tell you is different? Do they find the sport to be the same? Better? Worse? More Aggressive? Less? More Regulated? Less?
Yes. Derby has been around since the early 70s, and has gone through many changes. Even today, derby is changing by the month and the year.
As more leagues are popping up around the world, the game is evolving. Today you have renegade, bank track, flat track, and old school derby. I think back in the day, derby was more about the speed, and how many laps could be skated. Now there are a lot of rules, goals and most importantly, Roller Derby is trying to make it to the Olympics; so I think that speaks a lot to how serious the sport has gotten.
It is more about it becoming a recognized sport that is taken seriously. You have teams that are part of the Women’s Flat Track Association (WFTA), which is the more athletic, serious teams that play by certain rules, have WFTA certified referees, and go to nationals and so on. Then you have the teams that are just trying to have fun, and play derby for a good time.
Renegade is crazy because there are no rules… well there are rules, but you can pull people down, close line and so on, where with regular flat track teams, this is not allowed.
In flat track, regular derby, you cannot back block, you cannot elbow, and there are certain blocking zones on the body, Bank track has their own set of rules, which is more of a combination of different derby. They are all different. But definitely, derby has gotten more aggressive for sure!
3. What do you do to mentally, physically, and even emotionally prepare yourself, well let’s face it, to get hurt?
Well you definitely have to be ready for anything. I would say that I relax, focus and get ready to be alert and always ready for anything. Training is really the best thing for preventing getting hurt. You should never do in a game what you don’t practice. And you should always practice like you are in …
Finish reading Latina Roller Derby Girl skates towards her goals
