#21

Real Name: Jessica Olson (although I consider my derby name to be my real name)

Date of birth: November 22, 1990

Favorite position on the track: I am usually a jammer but I have come to love playing in the pack, especially as a pivot.

In “real” life I… I am an Addictions Counsellor and am currently in my fourth year of a Justice Studies program.

Playing roller derby since…October 2009

What do you like most about playing roller derby? I have been involved in sports for my entire life, so I would have to say I love the fitness and competition components of derby. Since I have traveled to numerous cities for school I have also been very appreciative of the community that derby offers. Moving to a new place where I don’t know a soul was daunting, to say the least. Roller derby gave me to opportunity to meet new people and to automatically be accepted into a family in a place where I felt very alone. There is so much about roller derby that I find beneficial that it is hard to name only one thing I like!

What derby skill are you working on right now? What are your derby goals? I am forever working on my tomahawks… That is one skill I just cannot perfect. Other than that, I am currently working on skating and blocking while moving backwards in the pack.

Best moment of your derby career (so far): Oh there are so many! The most recent would be when the last whistles of the game blew and myself and an opposing player started hugging. After the other players started passing us we realized the game wasn’t actually over and that we had been hugging mid-jam!
One of my other favourites would be when I was the jammer put out for the last jam of the game and this jam would dictate whether my team would win or lose. We won! That was definitely a high point for me.

For my birthday I would like… Well if I hadn’t just bought myself a pair I would’ve said new skates… I don’t know what else, would someone like to buy me a house, maybe a vacation getaway, a car?? I’m pretty open 

Fun fact about you… A fun fact about me is that I was in beef and equestrian 4-H for many years and always placed in the public speaking portion.