Meet Team USA: Smarty Pants

Name
Smarty Pants aka Nadia Kean #5

League Affiliation
Currently Texas Rollergirls- since Jan 2011, Formally TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls

Years Skating
I've been skating most of my life. I started spending summers in skates around 5. I joined TXRD in May of 2003 and skated bank track until I transferred to TXRG in January to tryout flat track.

DL: What was your previous athletic background, if any?

SP: I did a bunch of traditional sports until high school when I started rowing at age 15. I was recruited to row for UT and rowed off and on throughout college. My current day job is coaching rowing, roller derby and skating. I have a nonprofit called Row AustinTX that works to get people out on the water and hope to continue to work with getting people involved in sports, especially girls ages 6-18.

DL: Why did you want to be on Team USA?

SP: I did not intend to play derby, it sort of happened by accident. But it is one of the best random decisions I have made in my adult life. I've watched this sport develop from back in the day when there were fewer than 100 of us. I still have passion for the sport. I still find it as intriguing if not more interesting than the first practice I attended.

So many ladies I came in with have retired, I feel like there needs to be some old school representation as the sport keeps changing and developing and becoming a new variation of what it was with every season. I feel I can represent the vets of modern roller derby and I can also represent bank track derby which I love and respect immensely.

I have and am currently skating with amazing athletes, yet look forward to the opportunity to skate with many more. I'm very interested in what they body and brain are capable of, especially in regard to derby. By taking part in this tournament I know I will learn tons and come out of it a better athlete, coach and person.

DL: How did you feel when you found out you had made it?

SP: Elated! Surprised! I had a grin stretched across my face. I got a message from someone on Facebook and I had to look it up online to see if it were true. I am extremely happy. I've been very encouraged to train on my skates for Regionals and Championships, but this motivates me to go even harder during the next few months.

DL: Which skater inspires you most, and why?

SP: Shit! There are a few. You can choose your favorite... My friend Barrelhouse Bessy- she started the Adelaide Roller Derby League in South Australia after she saw a game in Austin. She just went out there and did it, helped build a community of hard working, motivated skaters on the other side of the world. She's not only a great skater but a very smart business woman. I have so much respect for her and her league. They stand out in how hard they work while having a blast playing the sport. Her league is one of the reasons the sport has grown to be so big in Australia.

My friend Curvette from the Texas Rollergirls. She's who convinced me to try out flat track and be the first vet of TXRD to go over to TXRG. She's had to put off playing while recovering from knee injuries, but she stays motivated. She has a hunger to keep learning more and more about the sport, strategy and theory. She's a vet of the sport, but she's not burnt out, she's inspired, motivated and ready to take the Texicutioners as far as they can go. She's doing it for the right reasons and as the sport continues to grow I hope more skaters develop into the woman that she is.

Finally, I'm coaching two women in Austin right now. They both started skating for different reasons, but are taking the same approach- working their ass off. One of them told me that a year ago she weighed about 150 lbs. more than she does today. With the motivation of her partner she went from not being able to stand on skates at all to having just made one of the leagues new girls class in Austin. I bet she would not have been able to complete a warm-up a year ago. She would have been that lady who sits down 1/2 way though the warmup to stretch or get water. The one whose teammates are secretly thinking is lazy or not there for the sport.

But now, through hard work and dedication she has tuned around her life. Her motivation to learn how to skate and play derby has helped her with this important life change. I am inspired by her to work harder ever day because I have proof that anything is possible.

DL: Do you have any advice for skaters just starting out?

SP: Embrace your first few years. Don't try to rush them or make them into something they are not. Know that you will get out of derby exactly what you put into it. It's skater owned and run, so remember you are not only developing your body and brain in correlation to a new sport, but you are also helping to develop a business, and more specifically a predominately woman owned and run sports business. This is challenging and there will be many hurdles along the way. If you can keep your eyes off the ground and focus on where you want to go, you will get there.

Some say that failure is an important means to success. I've lost track of how many times I've failed miserably at derby- while playing, with teammates, while coaching, but I'm on my way to being a success story. I get closer and closer every day. Finally, as a new skater you have jumped on the derby train. Have a blast! Treat the time like the precious experience that it is. Play nice with others and know when it's your stop- when it's your turn to get off the train.

To support Team USA, you can make a contribution to their travel fund at Traveler's Joy.