Long Beach RaceHers

How it started?

Jenn and Natalie started off as roller derby acquaintances which eventually blossomed into a friendship. They played on the same team for years locally and to some travel games. Jenn, or Squirrel, her derby alter ego, was a blocker. Natalie, Busturr Chassis, was the jammer. The blocker in roller derby will often make a path through the derby pack for the jammer. Funny enough, they fall into these roles as Navigator and Driver for the Rebelle Rally. Squirrel is still making the path while Busturr is pushing forward to score points.

During the throws of Covid and what its restrictions brought for roller derby, both were forced to put derby on the back burner for a bit. While Squirrel still actively plays today, Busturr just drops in for a practice here and there to say hi.

With the downtime from derby, Squirrel and Busturr both turned to their other passion; being outdoors camping and off-roading. When they each realized their other hobbies aligned too, they had a moment like in that movie “Step Brothers” where Will Farrell and John C. Riley looked at each other and said “Did we just become best friends?!?….Yep!!”

And so the outdoor adventures began. They’ve camped in the desert and mountains together. They’ve explored some off-road trails with our own co-pilots (their husbands). They have done an off-road “taco tour” through Baja, Mexico. They have gone on a desert-bar tour with some more friends in Arizona. And they’ve bombed across the Mohave Desert in their rigs set up for camping, trying to keep up with friends that have trucks a little more capable of the trip. And they have even boated together down the Colorado River.

All of this fun adventure-ing eventually led to Busturr asking Squirrel if she wanted to do the Rebelle Rally with her. Neither of them had any idea what they were getting into, except that it was a navigation based competition over 8 days from Mammoth to Glamis. It is SO much more.

So they went to a Rebelle U training in Ocotillo with other like minded women. Some who had previously competed in Rebelle Rally and some checking it out like like Squirrel and Busturr.

Busturr was immediately hooked. But Squirrel needed to consider what she would be taking on. And she also needed to figure out if she would be able to commit to the time and money it would take to compete. It’s not a decision to make lightly. The entry fee is hefty and they would need to spend money beyond that on supplies, training, gear, and to outfit Hank the 4Runner further. But if you’re reading this I bet you can guess the outcome. OF COURSE Squirrel said she wanted to do it!

To this day they pull their derby background into their Rebelle training. An example of this is the term “new jam”. In derby, a jam is one round of the game, similar to a down in football. A whistle is blown, the jam starts and chaos ensues. It’s actually a beautiful skilled dance of blockers and jammers, offense and defense. This is when points are scored as jammers break free of the pack of blockers, and souls are stolen as the blockers work together to keep the jammer stuck in the pack, unable to score for their team. The declaration of “new jam” is something we say to each other in derby as a reminder to let the previous jam go. To start fresh, and make this jam count. To not dwell on mistakes or even the glory of points. Because it is a new jam and you need to focus on whatever the game has to throw at you. In the truck, while training, Squirrel and Busturr will often call “new jam” to move through difficulty. They pull that part of derby into the cockpit of Hank the 4Runner regularly. It is a good reminder of the focus you need when considering your next course of action and how much time you have to accomplish that.

Another thing Squirrel and Busturr have in common is, unfortunately, auto immune illnesses. Auto Immune issues often are vague and hard to diagnose. Often times being auto-immune illnesses are mistaken for other issues and are mistreated.

Busturr has known something was wrong for years, but only recently was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritus. She is often in pain but puts on a brave face and pushes forward. She is currently trying her 4th medication seeking respite from this pain.

Squirrel was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2013 when symptoms reared their ugly head causing temporary blindness and paralysis in the right side of her body (luckily that has since subsided, but comes and goes). Like Busturr, she also puts on a brave face and pushes forward. Sometimes our autoimmune illnesses tell us to slow down; sometimes we listen, sometimes we don’t, but we both know that we have to keep pushing forward and we can’t let it slow down our passion for life and pursuit of our hobbies.

Having both roller derby and auto-immune issues that align their past and present, if they do take a podium in the Rebelle Rally, per the rules, the prize money goes to a charity of their choosing. That being said, they would be thrilled to split their donations (if allowed) between Badfish Roller Derby, where their friendship sprouted and also where they learned the true meaning of the word team, AND also to an auto-immune charity that is TBD.

And so Squirrel and Busturr committed to training. They tuned in to watch Rebelle Rally online in 2023. Once the competition was over and the dust settled they very impatiently waited for the link to appear on the Rebelle Rally website. As soon as it did, they clicked, paid the fee, and continued training their butts off.