The Hit List: Skater Spotlight for 4/10/2015: Joe Stever #96

What is your derby name?
I skate under my real name now but everyone knows me as Woo.

What is the story behind your name?
When I first started skating my name was Wizard of Odd, the girls at CNYRD practice started calling me Woo for short and it kinda stuck. I switched to my real name just before MVC 2.

What number do you wear?
96

Why did you choose it?
It was my older brother's number when we raced motocross. He retired and I started using it. Plus it is the year I graduated high school.

What is your role in the league?League President and I organize MVC.

What is your preferred position on the track?
Anything that doesn't involve a star.

What’s your pre-derby athletic background?
Wrestling, football, soccer, indoor soccer and motocross.

What would you say are your greatest strengths as a skater?
Awareness and I think I read the game fairly well, that doesn't have anything to do with skating though does it.

What is your proudest accomplishment in roller derby and why?
Seeing how far the Quadfathers have come since the beginning when it was just me, Grambo and Die-Lon and thinking someday we might have enough guys to field a full team.

Which one of your teammates do you look up to most, and why?
All my teammates bring something to the team but if I had to pick one I guess it would be Thuggy Bear, I mean Ruffo. He reads the game so well and always seems to be in a position to back you up when needed.

What is your best memory of the 2014 MRDA season?
It is hard to just pick one. My first time playing was on a compilation team consisting of Harm City and the Quadfatthers vs Ct, so getting to play Harm city for the first time in like 4-5 years was pretty cool. Making the semi-finals at the Cup is a big one. Though it wasn't part of the regular season, getting to play with Team New York at State Wars was a lot of fun as well.

What is your motivational quote?

"This I say to be the best, to be yourself, and not like the rest. Work real hard to be real tough. But, 100% is not good enough. Set the impossible as being your goal. Then reach deep inside from within your soul. All you've got is all you could ask. To help you achieve your impossible task!"
- Mean gene Mills

How did you get involved with roller derby?
Slay West introduced me to derby. I watched one of her games and went to a CNYRD practice with her soon after to maybe become a ref. I was watching and this really weird guy with dreadlocks comes up to me and starts talking about how he wanted to start a men's team. We had our first team meeting soon after at Uncle's Bar & Grill, picked team colors and tried to figure out how we were going to talk other guys into doing this crazy thing. Can anyone guess who the weird guy with dreadlocks was?

Finally, is there anything I didn’t ask you about that you want to talk about?
I wanna thank Slay West for getting me started in derby, supporting my derby habit and always pushing me to be a better player and teammate.