Disclaimer: These are my opinions. If you're offended, I don't care.
I am one the youngest skaters in my league. And I have been for a while. I joined shortly after turning 19 (the required age at the time). I was the youngest for some time until a high school classmate of mine joined recently.
So I get a lot of those, "Are you even old enough to drink?" kind of jokes. (For the record, I am.) And they get under my skin a little bit. It undermines my achievements when people belittle me because of my age. Not only am I one of the youngest skaters in the league, I am also the youngest member of the Board of Directors, the youngest member of the Training Committee, and the youngest member of the All-Stars Charter.. My youth has never been something that stopped me from succeeding.
Without getting too philosophical, young skaters are the future. A lot of leagues spend time and energy training Juniors to feed into the adult team and help take over when the trainers start retiring. There's plenty of youth in this sport and young skaters will keep coming as long as roller derby keeps being awesome.
I'm young, sure, but I'm making a difference. I have no power over when I was born. And I'm pretty tired of the jibes. I will respect you if you respect me. Thanks.
I agree, we are the future. When I first spoke with you about joining I was skeptical about really doing it because I was the youngest. But when I saw you out there, you inspired me to keep going. Fuck those people who say we are too young. We are the future and we will succeed in the most amazing way possible. Raise your shot glass!! :)
ReplyDeleteWell, step aside, future! The present is here and IT'S MY TIME. Now, for the win!
ReplyDelete