Name: Angela
What’s your usual role or position? Penalty box timer!
Year you started officiating: 2015? That sounds right.
Where are you from originally? Born in Oregon, road tripped as a baby through Canada to come back to the UP, raised in Calumet (which is my mom’s hometown and the reason we returned).
How did you get in involved with roller derby? Through my sorority: Alpha Delta Alpha. We are always looking for volunteer opportunities and one summer I heard about KRG needing volunteers and I signed up. The rest is history!
Name a fun little known fact about you: I saved a hospital when I was born. My mom went into labor at 2am-ish and when my dad went to park the car he noticed a white cloud coming from some sort of tank in the back of the building. He parked the car, went in, saw me be born and all that hooplah, and then he mentioned the cloud to the nurses. The cloud turned out to be liquid oxygen and would have blown up half the hospital had it hit the asphalt! No one else was around at that time of day besides my family so it’s likely if I hadn’t been born the hospital would have blown up. Crazy.
How did you pick your name? It’s a nickname for an alter ego…a drunk alter ego I’ll admit…who is quite the firecracker.
What’s your favorite part of officiating? The hardest part? My favorite part is being so close to the action and the ‘official’ looking T-shirt I get to wear. The hardest part is having to stay impartial; I just want to cheer on my team!
What are some of your greatest roller derby accomplishments on the track? As penalty box timer I really feel quite proud when a skater is in the penalty box for the exact right amount of time (usually 30 seconds), no more no less. So, some of my greatest track accomplishments would be those times where my stopwatch stops on or within a few milliseconds of the correct penalty time :)
Have you held any leadership positions in leagues? How have these positively impacted your roller derby career? I was on eboard for my sorority for three years so I have lots of experience navigating a group of strong, independent, fabulous personalities. That experience gave me valuable communication skills, organizational tools, and responsibility.
What is your job outside of roller derby? And how, if at all, has it contributed to your experience of roller derby? I work with kids. I can’t think of any way it has contributed. [editorial note: I bet this helps more than you realize …. you’re always a calm, positive presence on crazy bout days!]
What advice do you have for people who want to get involved with roller derby? Don’t be afraid. Don’t be intimidated. The team is comprised of some of the kindest people I’ve met and they welcome everyone in with open arms. Young or old, big or small, skilled athlete or two left feet(cough*me*cough)…you get the idea :)
And lastly, favorite places in the Keweenaw? Isle Royale. Not ‘technically’ the Keweenaw but I would lump it in as one of the reasons to travel to this area (if you’re not from here). My dad works there and I grew up spending my summers there. Some of my best childhood memories were made there. And spending so much time there has truly made me appreciate nature (no internet or cable tv hookups, I was forced to be outside!).