I remember the first time I got hit. Until that point, we'd only done drills and mock scrimmages, but as we lined up for the next jam, our coach shouted, "This one will be full contact! Hitting 100%." The whistle blew before I even had time to get nervous. I took off, getting about five strides in before I saw a flash of color swooping in from the outside of the track. The impact took me clean of my skates, going down in a tangle of arms, legs, and wheels.

It took a split second to realize I hadn't, in fact, been killed. Then I shook myself off, jumped up on my skates, and took off to catch the rest of the pack. I was in love.

Roller derby was a totally new experience for me. I had never been an athlete in high school, and once I graduated from college I figured the chance for the experience had passed me by. But after seeing my first Bleedingheartland Rollergirls bout and recognizing the women on skates as women just like me, I had to give it a shot. Two years and two leagues later, I'm now known as Mona Mour, #2/14. After a season with Bleeding Heartland, I relocated to Boston to where I was able to join The Boston Derby Dames. I got lucky enough to be drafted to The Wicked Pissahs (one of the BDD home teams ... Pissah fo Life!), and haven't fallen out of love with the sport yet.

That first hit was certainly not the last. I've had more bumps, bruises, fishnet burns, pulled muscles, and general pain in the last two years than I've experienced in all the rest of my life (and yes, there is crying in roller derby). But despite all that, derby has also handed me some of my highest highs, greatest triumps, and strongest female friendships. I've pushed myself to places I never thought I could go, and as a result I feel stronger and more confident (not to mention I'm in the best shape of my life).

If you pay attention to tradition media, you'd think derby girls are just about fishnets, skirts, and knocking each other over. You might have heard about our day jobs (librarian! teacher! social worker! executive!), and you definitely heard the line, "it's not your mother's roller derby." Turns out, traditional media got that one right. As a blogger for Skirt!, I want to share with you all richness that the roller derby community has to offer. I want you to meet some of the toughest, strongest, and kindest women I've ever known. I want you to understand their drive, their ambition, their entrepreneurial spirit, and their "never say die" attitude. And finally, I want you to see that roller derby is a legitimate sport with athletes participating in every corner of this country, not to mention the UK, Canada, Australia, Finland, Germany, Sweden, and even the United Arab Emirates (support your local Abu Dhabi Roller Derby!).

And yes, I might even talk about that pesky roller derby movie that's coming out.

Drew Barrymore, director and star of Whip It! and Mona Mour