081 Chew-Whacker

Chew-Whacker-081What’s the inspiration behind your derby name?
Well, as you can probably tell, I’m a bit of a Star Wars fan and after a few brainstorming sessions, my husband suggested “Chew-Whacker” and the name just stuck!

What’s the inspiration behind your number?
Again, another Star Wars reference! As we can’t have letters in our numbers a fellow Fresh Meater suggested replacing the “B” with an “8”…

What was your proudest roller derby moment?
Definitely getting my 27 laps in 5 minutes. Wow! What a feeling when I realised on the 26th lap that I was going to make it and my fellow Fresh Meat graduates were shouting and cheering so loud! It was totally unexpected and I was so relieved to break that barrier.

How did you first discover roller derby / what convinced you to join?
It’s all Kemi’s fault! She does marketing work for my social enterprise and we met to talk about design ideas for a new project we were launching and I mentioned that I was interested in going along to the 2015 Fresh Meat taster session. She said she played for them and that I should give it a go, so I did!!

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get involved with their local team?
Just do it! You won’t regret it! I was involved in a serious car accident back in 2007 and ever since then, I’ve always had a bit of a “life’s too short” attitude. It’s always better to give something a go and make an informed decision that you don’t like or want to do something rather than not doing it and always wondering “what if?”

What other sports / training do you do when you’re not on eight wheels?
I started running which I NEVER thought I would get into. I ran the Great North Run for the first time ever for Tiny Lives in September 2016. The roller derby definitely helped me get going with the running and vice versa!

Teams:
The Canny Belters
The Whippin’ Hinnies
Toon Raiders