Flat Mat Radio Episode 27: Luludemon

Episode 27: Luludemon
Air date: February 1, 2017

Welcome to Season 3 of Flat Mat Radio! In Episode 27, Kickit chats with Luludemon about roller derby past, present, and future.

Luludemon has been involved in roller derby for 10 years, as a skater, coach, captain, and league president with Terminal City Rollergirls. She also skated for Team Canada in 2011 and 2014. Lulu worked at Rollergirl.ca selling skates, and started Pivotstar in 2010 with the goal of creating durable athletic wear for real women.

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What Happened When

  • 2:30 The backstory: The accent, the picturesque surroundings, the rollerblades. Don’t throw a ball at Lulu, because she’ll do one of those “Aah! Aah!”
  • 6:45 No one really knew what roller derby was, honestly! In 2006, we’re all like, ‘I guess we put skates on and go in a circle?’
  • 7:15 Old school adventures in artistic skates for derby. I still have those skates, and they have blood marks in them.
  • 10:00 How derby, and Lulu, have changed in the past eleven years. Fishnets! Tutus! Nobody knew how to skate!
  • 13:45 Lulu’s views on inclusion. It’s not an exclusive club, it’s a sport! It should be absolutely accessible to everyone!
  • 16:00 Stepping back from competition? Rec leagues? How do things scale from big cities to small towns?
  • 19:45 From the past to the future: I don’t think that roller derby is going anywhere…  but I think we need to have a good hard look at the sport.
  • 22:20 Where/why did this decline start? We went from, hey everyone welcome! Come, we’ll teach you how to skate! … to ‘We’re gonna have tryouts once a year…’
  • 25:00 Honest talk on how/why Lulu was able to get involved without an athletic background. If my league had been set up like that when I started, I probably wouldn’t be playing roller derby today.  
  • 27:25 The idea that the only goal is to skate on a top-10 WFTDA team I personally think limits us as a sport. At the end of the day we are a recreational sport, that’s it.
  • 28:45 Lulu believes that derby is the future (of derby). I believe that we are a strong, positive, driven, smart community of people.
  • 30:10 What can we do to contribute to the growth of the sport? Something we can all believe in is creating access to this sport… How can we get as many people involved in this sport as we can?
  • 37:20 What derby all comes down to for Lulu. The thing that I love about roller derby people is, we’re all on a bit of a journey.
  • 38:45 Girls on Track! We wanted to set up something that would help young girls be able to play roller derby, and to stay playing roller derby during their young teenage years, when a lot of young girls and women drop out of sports.

More About… Luludemon

Luludemon is Lucy Croysdill is a derby powerhouse. Between skating with Terminal City, coaching, establishing Girls on Track, and running Pivotstar — We’re on your team. We’re different. We’re a community. — we’re not sure how she has time to breathe. She was WFTDA Featured Skater in March of 2012, so there’s plenty to learn there about what she was up to five years ago. Check out more current stuff at her Facebook, the Pivotstar Facebook or Pivotstar Instagram.

During the podcast we talked a little about the State of the Roller Derby survey Lulu wanted to do, and it’s up! If you want to chip in your two cents (and have a chance at winning some Pivotstar gear) check it out at this link right here.

More About… Lemony Kickit

Kickit is Kat Selvocki, an ex-Gotham skater and the owner and sole yoga teacher at Flat Mat Yoga. She likes butts, anatomy, and helping people get out of pain. (Well, in yoga classes, anyway.) In addition to teaching and practicing yoga, you’ll often find her skating, running, and snuggling with her pitbull.

Much Derby Love to: