Assessments, or How I Sucked Well

My second time assessing. I was not near as well prepared this time. It has been a good 7 months since I last assessed. There weren't as many practices prepping for assessments. I just got back on skates, like 2 weeks ago. There was a minor hiccup involving the rules test. Fister asked if I'd taken it. I said I took it in November. She said she's changed it since November. I said they did not tell me that. She said, "That's because I changed it." But she said she'd look at my score and determine from that.

But I was encouraged by something I didn't mention in my last post and should have. It was my 25 in 5 time. I hadn't done it in 6 months or so. I've only been back on wheels for about a week and a half. So I was super blessed/elated/in awe of/confused by/psyched for 4:45. 4:45! A fellow newbie, who'd never come in under 5 minutes and was just returning from injury got 4:42, so we had a happy joy moment...whilst drinking a lot of water.

Of course, they give you no feedback, so you sit and wait for them to tell you that you failed too many items and to go home. Or at least I do.

That was my goal. Not to fail so badly I was sent home.

We did one-footed glides and one other skill before 25 in 5. It was the TC (Training Committee) making sure we were warmed up. So then we did the aforementioned endurance torture. No one called out time marks, so we had no idea where we were. K-Rye was my trainer, and she called out every lap. When I got done, she gave me a thumbs-up. I didn't know if it was because I had finished or I'd come in under 5. I later learned I got 4:46, so clearly I'm on a good track.

So we moved on to strides and other fun stuff.

I knew I passed crossovers. I knew I failed t-stops. However I did get plows. During the assessing, I figured I failed a bunch of stuff. I was certain I failed lateral movement/quick cuts and baseball slides. I thought I'd failed 6-points. I performed a 6-point (4-point) and my right knee refused to go down. It was a 5-point fall, haha. I thought I failed the squatting and stickyskating.

Knee falls hurt a ton thanks to my decorative knee bruise.

But I kept going.

I thought I did hopping pretty well, both one-footed and two. My stepping was decent. I actually did well at pacing, for the first time.

However I was crapping at weaving through cones. Of course. I always have been.

I got the focus drill down. As long as I can see the granny's hand. Rosie did mess around and do weird things with her fingers, but I still passed.

Eventually, I find out I only failed t-stops. Wow. What a relief. I redid them right there, but still failed. I was told I would receive an email concerning my fate. Whooo...so now I'm awaiting this email.

If I am able to retake t-stops, I can go to Monday night granny practice. Which will help me prepare for Day 2.

What I love about derby is that when I fail, I'm encouraged. I'm more inspired to work hard next practice. Yaaay!