Gary Powers Skates with PJSD

Posted by bunkertor on August 20, 2008 in Bio, Hooligans, Media, Men's Derby, SheDevils

A few weeks back, a bunch of skaters and their families from the OSDA came up to Brooklyn for a ‘road trip to the Hall of Fame’ and this
couple named Charlotte and Matt asked me why I never skated in Roller Derby? Well, I told them that as a kid, my dream was to skate on the
banked track and I would spend hours and hours and hours at the local roller rink perfectly my ‘five stride’ and keeping pace and even
practicing my hip blocks and leg blocks, but by the time I graduated from high school (1975), the game was gone and so was the dream.

Anyway, Charlotte and Matt (who are both in their late 30s) told me they had always wanted to skate in Derby, too, and now was their
chance and Matt, who’s a musician and cute-as-a-button, kept grabbing my leg and saying, ‘Come play with me! Come play with me!’ which
cracked up both me and Charlotte, but I said, ‘I’m fifty! I can’t skate out there with you!’ And they said, ‘Why not?’ Truth is… I
do sixty minutes of cardio at the gym and have the stamina, so last weekend at the ‘OSDA Lock Down’ in Chester, NY, I put on skate and
participated in a few scimmages with the guys and gals of the OSDA.

First of all, it was sooooo much fun and eventhough it’s much harder than it looks, I kinda’ just got out there and skated roller derby and
at one point, my jammer broke free from the pack and I instinctively reached back and gave the guy a whip, which floored me! Of course, I
did fall once and thought I had broken my a**… but that’s another story. I had soooooo much fun, so last night, without telling Judy
Sowinski I would be there, I drove down the New Jersey Turnpike, something like 80 miles, and went to practice.

Judy, who’s like a big sister, couldn’t believe I was there with my helmet and knee pads and elbow pads and wrist guards and she warned me
she wouldn’t treat me any different than anyone else (and she didn’t!), but I was able to pace with the kids for twenty-two minutes
before the coach told me to take a breather and even got to jam on the final scrimmage last night. All these men and women from the OSDA are
such sweet, wonderful people and besides, I got to see Sowinski and ‘Skip’ Schoen again, plus Joe Nardone and Ken Sikes, so it was like playing with family.

And yes, I got to play with Matt, too, who’s a great little skater (and Dad to three adorable children), but Charlotte’s on the injured
list! Ninety minutes there, ninety minutes back, but I was kinda’ flyin’ the whole way home… knowing I was able to practice with all
these great folks under the leadership of Judy & Skip! And even Judy Arnold called me this morning to ask how it felt?

WOW!!! See? Some dreams can still come true?
Gary P.
Roller Derby Hall of Fame

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