Why you should try out for the World Cup Derby Team (even though I'm not)

Being foreign has its benefits. An accent that some people occasionally find attractive. Being able to wistfully talk about The Motherland over a glass of whisky, even though I left the place not once but twice and vowed never to live there again (doing HEAPS better the second time around, gotta love NZ as being a home away from home). Basking in glorious sunshine and constant facebook updates to everyone back home about the weather, safe in the knowledge that they are suffering minus double figures and snow that comes up to the kneecaps (in October).

The downsides I have mentioned on here once or twice. Immigration. The odd bout of homesickness and a desire to have a cup of tea and a chat with my mum when things are tough (Skype doesn't make tea like my mum does, or turn up the rugby in the same way as the old man). Immigration again. But the downside I'm focusing on here is that of not being able to try out for the NZ roller derby World Cup team.

Admittedly, a few years ago the idea that I would even consider trying out for the World Cup team of anything ever was so remote as to be laughable. Hell, trying out for a team was as likely as me wearing hotpants in public. Times change quickly, aye, and that goes double in a life that contains derby.

I've spoken to a few people who don't have my crippling passport-related disability who say that they have no interest in trying out for the national team. Some of them have pretty valid reasons, but for a few the feeling is that they would never be good enough, that there's no point in trying. Fie, I say! (in a Shakespearean manner). How many times in your life will you be offered the opportunity to represent your country in anything? I would give my right ovary (the pretty one no less) for the opportunity to try out for my country in anything, just to say that I'd done it. We're at the forefront of bright, shiny new sport. Give it ten years, we might be in the pro era  (though I hope we aren't). The sport might cease to be for the fat girls, the tattooed girls, the punk girls who didn't enjoy sports before they saw derby. It might become another polished money-making machine, and those of us who got into it for the love might never have this chance again, and watch future Worlds from the safety of our couches on ESPN5.

OK, so I may be looking at a worst-case scenario here. Maybe we'll continue to tread the line of Awesome between sport and punk. Maybe there will always be a place for everyone with the drive to succeed, regardless of how they fit in with the "brand", "image" or whatever marketing crap we get shoved into us all the time. Maybe there will always be a place for girls like us in the World Championships of the sport we love and give all our time for, and there will always be the chance to try out in the future, so why do it this time?

If I were you, I wouldn't be risking it. If I had an NZ passport, I'd be trying out. I'd be saving now. I'd be talking to my boss about the possibility of REPRESENTING MY COUNTRY and, by extension, my job in an international competition. I'd be doing everything I could to get into the team.

Because for all we know, this could be the only shot we ever get.

North Island trials for the Roller Derby Team NZ are being held this Saturday (2nd April) at Melville Skating Rink, Hamilton. South Island trials are on the 23rd April in Christchurch, venue TBC. More details and application form found here. Go get 'em, ladies! I'll be there to support!