Lean On Me

www.ozguru.mu.nu

I was a race car mechanic prior to moving out here. The entire time I was working on the car I was fully aware I had the driver's life in my hands. One bolt left unchecked could easily leave my guy sitting on a different pair of wheels... This outlook totally changed how I viewed teamwork.

And now? Roller derby is bringing a whole new perspective to what I thought I mastered. In derby you depend so much on your team. Constant communication is a must. It's not about yelling "She's comiiiiiiing!" but about sending a clear message "Jammer on the inside!"

And its about trusting your teammates. Trust when they tell you to slow down, speed up, go to the inside or the outside, etc. It's not like you have time to debate and second guess because by the time you come to say "Well, I thought we'd be better off if" and boom you got slammed by a she-truck or passed by a speedy jammer. Or worst, you let your jammer get slammed. And game over.

Imagine how bad you'd feel if that slam cost your jammer a major injury... Now you know how I felt as a race car mechanic!

This level of teamwork goes beyond Oprah's "You go girl" attitude. It's about knowing your team trusts you because you will not let them down. It's about knowing if your pivot tells you to move forward it's for a sound reason. And then it's tasting the glory of watching your jammer clear the pack because you know you did the right move.

Teamwork. It's much more than those silly black motivational posters. But you'll never really know what it is until somebody you barely know trusts you with their life...