Underage

I happen to skate for a league that accepts women who are over 18 years of age and out of high school.  I guess it's somewhat of a rarity in derby land with 21 and over as the standard.  I read this article by Betty Ford Galaxy some months ago and she seems to posit the theory that many leagues don't accept women between the ages of 18 and 21 due to reasons that have more to do with social events than their skills as athletes.  I thought I'd weigh in with some anticdotes of my own. 
I have a 19 year old teammate.  I call her Speedy McSpeedersons.  It's not her derby name, it's just what I call her.  I'm very fond of her.  The kid graciously accepts all kinds of crap from me. 
"Hey Kid!"
"McSpeedersons is our child."
"We're going to have beer, but Speedy can have a smoothie."
"Stand there, I'm gonna hit you."
"Come on kid.  Why haven't you passed me yet?"
The thing is she works so hard and she's so god damned cheerful and I can't see why anyone in their right mind would have turned her away.  She drives over an hour one way to come to practice (five times this week) because we are the nearest league that would have accepted her at the time she started skating.  She works hard, she's fast as hell and she's always up for working on her skating or her blocking with me.  It's great because there are a lot of things you need a buddy for to practice and our skill level is about the same. 
Does it suck that she can't come out drinking with us?  Yeah, but mostly for her I think.  If she's decided that the benefits of playing the game and participating in the sport outweigh any social alienation she may feel as a result of being unable to join in every event than she is, in fact, an adult who can make that determination for herself.  Does that give me an incentive to provide her with alcohol in spite of her age?  Absolutely not.  I think the point of being 8 years older is the restraint not to provide her with the opportunity to make the same idiotic decisions I made during that time in my life. 
I have to admit, most of the time I think to myself that I'm the one who's helping her.  I'm helping her to work on blocking.  I'm helping her by pushing for speed.  But this week we were racing to catch a very fast pack of the Camero Harem and when I looked up to see if we were gaining and how far ahead of me she was what I saw was a hand out to give me a whip. 
"That's alright kid, I got it."  She smiled, stayed with me a little and the hand came out again.
"Don't worry about me." 
I should have taken it because the truth is we help each other - just like any other member of my team.
<posted on 3.8.12>