Don't feed the animals!

Why so much drama?!  I really don't understand how or why someone would want to have so much chaos and drama in their life! When my friends and I started this league we said right off the bat "NO DRAMA!" More then anything else, that is what breaks up leagues and destroys friendships.  As we soon found out, there is really nothing you can do if there is a drama queen (or king) in your mix.  Well... thats not entirely true. We all know we can hit them a little harder during drills, kick their tails at endurance practice, maybe even "accidently" get our skates tangled up during packs. But what does that really solve? Sure it may make us feel better for the moment, but what happens when practice is over and the drama starts again? Because you know as well as I do that it will. Our league recently found out what you do. YOU DONT FEED THEM!
   You know when you go to the zoo and see those signs hanging everywhere that say "DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS!"? Well...that pretty much applies to derby. Don't feed the animals!!  Don't feed into the drama and bs. The more you feed them, the more they terrorize you. All you have to do is smile, nod your head and keep moving.
  Our league recently ran across this problem. There was drama, cattiness, and general bs going on and we (meaning the board of directors) really didnt know why or how to stop it. You know that feeling you get when you walk in a room and something just feels "off". You can't put your finger on it but you can almost cut the tension with a knife? Well thats what it came to. It was like trying to breathe through pudding. You might find an air pocket...but dont breathe to deep.  We honestly thought our entire league was unhappy and on the brink of collapse.  Until we had a league meeting to hash things out...and then it came to light.  It wasn't really the entire league that was unhappy. It was a slim few and they were making it hard for everyone else.
  So during this meeting the "drama doers" had their say...and honestly had some valid points. They just had a very poor way of voicing them. You can't go into a forum such as this, especially with children around, and spurt off obscenities and name call and expect to be respected. It just ain't gonna happen! And my teammates did me proud!! The didn't play into this drama, they let them have their say, and when the drama-doers walked out of the meeting, it was like the clouds had parted. The tension was gone and my teamates pulled together with great ideas to fix the "problems" that were brought up and discussed the concerns.
  So if I can give only one piece of advise to anyone...young, old, new skaters, or seasoned skaters it would be this:

           DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS!!