In the short days leading up to the WCR All-Stars trip to Philly for the Declaration of Derby, the 2009 WFTDA National Championships, I talked with some of the skaters to learn more about their experience on the team and how they're preparing for the big event.

Loco Chanel: You've been on the All-Star team for 2 years now, and your role has changed from a blocker to a heavy-rotation jammer. You made your first big jamming debut at last year's Nationals in the opening game against Rat City. How would you compare the two seasons and your experience on the team.

Beth Amphetamine: Probably the biggest difference for me between the two positions is realizing how important it is for the team's performance that each person on the track is awesome, regardless of what position they play. Before I started jamming more, I sort of assumed good jammers were just magic skaters who did magic things. Now I know that scoring points has an equal amount to do with each player on the track -- all three blockers, the pivot and the jammer. None of us can do well unless we all do. That's one of the things that makes the WCR such a strong team, in my opinion. We are a really deep team. Everyone is good.

In addition to being an All-Star this year, you had your first captaining experience in WCR the 2009 Ivy King Cup Champion Manic Attackers. How does just being a player, as you are on the All-Stars, contrast to captaining a team?

Ahhhhhhh.......so nice to not have to captain for a couple months. Sorry Malice and Varla! I'm relaxin'... Tell me what to do! Take care of me! Wah!

Just kidding. The All-Stars all get to have a lot of input into practices and all make suggestions on how the team can be better, so we all have to be little mini captains, in a way. Being on a team means you take on a responsibility to one another, regardless of if you are the captain or not.

In addition to All-Star & league practices, you also regularly speed skate (and are like, INSANELY fast) and have been doing circus training in your copious free time. Do you think this cross training has helped you develop into a stronger derby skater? Can you describe these additional extracurriculars a little more?

The circus training has made me freakishly strong in the shoulders, back, and abs. (Ask me to flex! [Do it. Seriously] ) It has definitely improved my playing, if nothing else because having enormo shoulder muscles have stopped me from seperating my sad little wimp shoulder bones every five minutes.

The speed skating helped me a lot in terms of speed, strength and endurance. However, I was lucky enough to have awesome coaches (the Countymans at Fleetwood in Summit, IL) who totally understand derby and what we need to know. I think speed skating is great if you can find the right coach. Just learning how to skate in a certain style in a circle won't necessarily help you, though.

Unlike previous years, it seems like WCR is widely regarded as a top contender at this year's Nationals, contrasted to previous years when the team was more under the radar. Of course, there's other huge names on both sides of the bracket, teams like Philly and Texas in the other half, and Gotham and upstart Oly with Windy City. How are you approaching the final weeks of training before the big tournament?

Everyone is training hard. I can't freakin wait for this tournament. Its going to be epic. EPIC.