Rocktown Rollers's Fan Box

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

New Board of Directors!

Rocktown recently elected a new board, which met for the first time last night with its predecessors. Here, let me introduce us to you.

Madam President: Knasty Knitter, knasty.knitter@rocktownrollers.com















Vice President: Rosie the Retalliator, rosie@rocktownrollers.com


















Secretary: Mama Meat, mama.meat@rocktownrollers.com


















Treasurer: (Yours truly) Mia Feral, mia.feral@rocktownrollers.com


















Executive Officer: Vitamin V, vitamin.v@rocktownrollers.com












WFTDA Rep: Tarnished Silva, tarnished.silva@rocktownrollers.com

















Head Coach: BamBam Brawler, bambam.brawler@rocktownrollers.com
















Hey, look! It's other leaders and key decision-makers on the team!

Co-Captain: Betty Crasher, betty.crasher@rocktownrollers.com

















Co-Captain: Ramsey McDirtbag, ramsey.mcdirtbag@rocktownrollers.com
















Officer of Administration: Rocktimus Prime, rocktimus.prime@rocktownrollers.com

















Officer of Games: Nitrous Knockside, nitrous.knockside@rocktownrollers.com













Officer of Marketing: Revenga d'Nerd, revenga.dnerd@rocktownrollers.com


Sunday, December 5, 2010

Season's Beatings 2010

Holy smokes, was Season's Beatings fun this weekend! The River City Collergirls hosted dozens of skaters from the region at the Richmond Convention Center Saturday.

There were eight scrimmages, matching up skaters from numerous teams with improvised play and fantastic fanfare. Eff In Aye creates a mean five-minute zombie. (Please see her chewing off Afro Die T's Team Zombie accoutrements.)











MAD PROPS to the RCR skaters, who not only lead early morning clinics (thanks especially to Raci Lords, Raven Darkhold and Paris Kills) and played two bouts with the Charlotte Roller Girls, but also competed with the eight inter-team scrimmages well into the night. They even managed to hand the Zebras' own butts to them in a midnight match-up with more than 100 points to spare!

Rocktown Rollers represented. Not only did we have players in almost every match-up, but about a dozen of our friends and teammates showed up just to cheer us on. That made skating on a slippery polished cement convention hall floor all the more worthwhile.






And, in a shameless dose of hubris, I want to congratulate Rosie the Retaliator, Revenga d'Nerd and myself for surviving and thriving in our first big-event, inter-team match-ups. We have some rink rash and bruises to show for it, but we played good games, scored points, supported our packs and are happy to report that our teammates are proud of us.












We're also looking forward to the 2011 season!

(Photos courtesy of Jared Boxley and Tarnished Silva.)

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Angels in the Off Season

So, now that the season's over, everybody's sticking to a liquid diet — flax /raw/acai berry egg protein shakes — and getting plenty of exercise, right?

More like leftover turkey, pumpkin pie and candied yams. It's a rough time to have so many delicious leftovers in the house because Rocktown hasn't been practicing together much lately. It's cold outside, making this a popular time for families to rent out our home rink for parties, inconveniently, during practice time.

Still, RTR is a team of dedicated athletes who are working their bods in the interim. Some of the Rocktown Rollers share their routines:
  • Knasty Knitter: Random sit ups, squats and calf raises in the shower and an upper body workout courtesy of the youngest of the wee ones. ;)P (She's the proud mother of two.)
  • BamBam Brawler: Pushups ARE happening. ::grumble grumble:: and open skate whenever possible. I entertained the thought of going biking (it's the thought that counts, right?) and then realized its 38 degrees outside.
  • Rosie the Retaliator: I will be doing step aerobics tomorrow. I might be crying during and after, but I will be doing it.
  • Eff In Aye: I went to the gym yesterday and ran two miles and a bunch of weights too. I found out that i can leg press 300lbs for 4 sets of 10. :)
  • Revenga d'Nerd: During off season, I: 1) Search for the weight I lost during derby season and find it at the Thanksgiving table. 2) Skate my guilt and gravy away at open skate. 3) Practice side stepping & juking in the back yard with my dogs, desirable ... dog toy in hand.
  • Afro Die T: 2 minute sprints - at least a 7 or 8 on treadmill (to simulate a jammer jamming) then walk for 1. Repeat for 30 min. Change elevation a few times. If I get bored I'll go backwards or do sidesteps for a bit (NOT AT A 7) Get too tired do 2 on 2 off, but no more than 3 times (ie once every 10 min)
Keep up the good work! There are only five days left until Season's Beatings! Zombies vs. Robots! Pirates vs. Ninjas! Zebras vs. Skaters! Exhibition bouts between Richmond and Charlotte! The River City Rollergirls are hosting the all-day event Saturday at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Info here.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! See you Saturday!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Calling all derby girls!

Rocktown canceled the August 29th bout with Star City so players could attend the funeral for Kitten Vicious in Lynchburg. It was a beautiful service, and we appreciate the support and understanding of the derby community and our fans.

It was important for us to be with Kitten's family last Sunday, but what we really need now is to play some derby.

SO, we're hosting an impromptu public scrimmage on Sunday, and we need players. Girls from RVA, Cville and other teams have signed up to play. RTR will split up and mingle with the players from other teams. We also need referees, NSO and spectators.

The bout will start at 4 p.m. Sunday at Funky's Skate Center, 100 Miller Circle, Harrisonburg. The event will be free and open to the public. (If you'd like a refund for last week's bout, bring your ticket. Funds from un-redeemed tickets will go toward a memorial for Kitten Vicious. More on that later.)

Tell your teammates, neighbors, babysitters, mothers-in-law. Get pumped, and we'll see you Sunday!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Kitten Vicious (1984 - 2010)


Jennifer "Kitten Vicious" Moreland gave the Rocktown Rollers everything she had in the month since she joined the team. Her speed, her sweat and her energy.

She was an enthusiastic, knowlegeable and diligent jammer. She was always full of good ideas (i.e. The Kitten Pounce) and encouraging words for her teammates and earnest Fresh Meat. She did the same for the Blackwater Rollers and the Richmond Derby Demons.

It was a devastating blow to learn that kitten was killed in a car accident on Wednesday morning.

The RTR team and Blackwater ref Starecrow spent much of the day tearfully remembering her cheerful personality and love of team and sport. It helped that we were there together.

It also helped that Kitten's last few days were happy ones, filled with hopeful conversations with good friends and lots of skating. Tuesday's scrimmage practice was amazing; the team says they've never had it so together. That night, Kitten played the Zombies board games at the Artful Dodger.

Another thing that made the day more bearable was the support we received from the wider derby community around the country. Kind words flooded in from Harrisburg, Richmond, Jersey, California, Colorado and beyond.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, everyone. You've proven that derby builds strong families, even without blood relations.

The latest news is that Kitten's wake will be in Lynchburg, VA 6-8:30 p.m. on Saturday, and the funeral will be at 3 p.m. Sunday. (Stay tuned for locations.)

In solidarity with Kitten's family, RTR and the Star City Roller Girls have agreed to postpone this Sunday's bout, perhaps to the following week.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

RockTown Rollers Get WFTDA Apprenticeship!


We are one of sixteen leagues that qualified for the WFTDA apprentice program for July 2010. We now join 52 other leagues who are working on full WFTDA membership by apprenticing with an established league and learning what it takes to go to the next level. So, what is a WFTDA apprenticeship and why are we so freaking excited about it?

Let's start at the beginning...what the heck is WFTDA? The Women's Flat Track Derby Association is the group that oversees the sport of women's flat track roller derby. Duh! But that is a really big job when your sport is one of the fastest growing women's sport in the country. They basically set all of the rules for nationally competitive roller derby...from what we can and can't do on the track, to how leagues are ranked, to the boring stuff like insurance and paperwork. So, you can play roller derby, but unless you play WFTDA-sanctioned roller derby you cannot legally call yourself the best of the best. And that is what we want to do!

It took a lot of time and paperwork to get accepted into the apprentice program including hours of work from our current board of directors creating policies, writing a mission statement, and describing our league history. It also included an essay about why being a WFTDA league is so important to us that was written by our own Grim Nemesis.

Hopefully around this time next year we will be celebrating our full WFTDA membership, but in the meantime we have a lot more work to do and we are geared up and ready to do it!

Don't forget about our next home bout: Yankee Brutal Dandy on July 18th!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Yankee Brutal Dandy

That's the theme of our upcoming bout, "Yankee Brutal Dandy." Cute, right? Shut up. Just kidding. Happy Fourth of July!

We'll be playing H.A.R.D. Fallout Femmes from 4-7 p.m. on Sunday, July 18 at Funky's Skate Center (100 Miller Circle, H-Burg). They're a solid team from Harrisburg, PA, and last year's bout on their home turf was intense, so you won't want to miss this.

Another show that would have been a shame to miss was the bout against the C-ville Derby Dames at Expoland on June 5. But you were there, weren't you? You caught all the heavy hitting, neck-and-neck score climbing, fire dancers, and swelling cheers form a crowd standing on its seats as Killnitzki rounded the track in a glorious last-ditch jam that won the game by three points, right? (We'll recount the bout in detail in an upcoming blog post.) Seriously, we were all screaming. I think Bam Bam may have had a heart attack on the sidelines, but she's too tough to admit it. Killz was named Rockville's MVP for the bout. Great job, everybody!


So that's why you don't want to miss the H.A.R.D. bout. You want to be there early to get a spot in the suicide seats, maybe hazard the occasional derby girl in your lap. Pre-sale tickets are $5 (E-mail marketing@rocktownrollers.com to work that out.), or pay $8 at the door. It's good fun for good causes; 15% of all ticket sales will be donated to the Shenandoah Valley Gay and Lesbian Association and 5% will be donated to the Reading Road Show — The Gus Bus.

In other news, thanks to everybody who came out to our car was at the Exxon at the corners of Reservoir St. and University Blvd. on June 19th. We scrubbed dozens of cars, some of them gorgeous — thanks for letting us near them! 105.1 Bob Rocks came out to keep us company as well. They say they have pictures. I guess you'll have to hassle them at their Facebook page if you want to see them. Your donations will really help keep the team going. A portion of the proceeds also went to the Friendly City Food Coop, so thanks for helping them get going, too!


Like I said, Happy Fourth of July! The Rocktown Rollers marched/skated in Harrisonburg's Independence Day Parade on the 3rd with a sweet rock bank playing patriotic songs from the bed of Danja Russ's pick-up. Thanks for waving back at us. I believe our "float" won the prize for "Best Twirlers." Obviously. Like I said, undefeated. (Check back for updates.)

Thank you for your ongoing support. It's great to see that while roller derby continues to grow in America, we're seeing the sports acceptance and fan base growing with it. In Russ's words, "Freedom, Eagle, Flag." Thanks.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Rocktown Rollers vs. Mason Dixon Roller Vixens Bout Recap


Yes, we realize that this happened a couple months ago, but did we mention that we are busy? So here it is...the recap of the Rocktown Rollers bout with Mason Dixon Roller Vixens on April 11th at Funky's Skating Center here in Harrisonburg. Everyone was ready for this, Rocktown's first bout of the season in front of a home town crowd and the two teams delivered the hard hitting derby action that everyone came to see.

The bout started with Xena Whompher and Bite-Size Bruiser on the jammer line and our esteemed mayor, Kai Degner, blowing the first whistle. Xena came out of the gate ready for action with a 11-2 first jam putting Rocktown in the lead. A lead that Rocktown would not give up for the entire bout. Xena Whompher and KILLnitzki traded off jamming in the first half, with a little help from Betty Crasher and Grim Nemisis. Mason Dixon mixed up their ja
mming pool a little giving Bite-Size Brusier, Liz Dexic, ThrashQuatch, Fanny Harmher, and Poison Princess all turns on the line. Janna-cide controlled the pack for Rocktown taking the majority of the pivot action, while Liz Dexic and Fanny Harmher wore the stripe the most for Mason Dixon. Afro-Die-T and Vitamin V also rocked the pivot position for Rocktown. While Bite-Size Bruiser and Poison Princess took a break from jamming to lead the pack as pivots. The score going into the half was Rocktown 87 and Mason Dixon 47.

Mason Dixon started strong in the second half with a 4-0 jam by Bite-Size Bruiser. The hard hits continued into the second half, including some jammer on jammer action between
KILLnitzki and Bite-Size Bruiser. Both teams had amazing hits from blockers including Snakelegs, Bam Bam Brawler, SuperCharger, Blue Steele, Knasty Knitter, and Anayaphylactic Shock, skating in the first bout of her career, for Rocktown and Pink Medusa, India Tango, and Lezzie Lou for Mason Dixon. The bout ended with a spectacular 15-4 grand slam jam by Betty Crasher. The final score was Rocktown 167 and Mason Dixon 84.

Now for the awesomely geeky statistics. There were a total of 38 jams in the bout (19 in each half). Rocktown had the lead jammer 49% of the time and Mason Dixon had lead 38%. KIILnitzki was lead scorer with 73 points, Xena Whompher was second in points with 50, and Bite-Size Bruiser was third with 41 points.

Both team kept the refs and penalty trackers busy with a total of 85 penalties called during the course of the bout. Rocktown had 49 while Mason Dixon only had 36. Liz Dexic lead the Vixens with a total of 11 penalties (all minors). Xena Whompher and Vitamin V had the most penalties for Rocktown. Xena had 8 minor penalties and 1 major, while V sat in the box for 7 minors and 1 major. A special shout-out to the refs that helped keep the skaters safe and the coaches crazy. Representing Rocktown was Bishop, Gunshow, and Glider and from Mason Dixon was Serial Kilter, Hariball, and Hellvis Presley.

The Rocktown Rollers were happy to be able to donate $310 to the Collins Center, a local sexual assault advocacy group, and $105 to the Gus Bus, a local childhood literacy program, from the sale of tickets to this bout.

A huge thanks goes out to all of the fans, friends, and family that attended, as well as to the Mason Dixon Roller Vixens for a wonderful bout.

Don't forget about our next home bout at Funky's Skating Center on July 18th!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Bye-bye Derby Girl

Ever wonder why they call them "fond farewells"? I mean, I guess you could fondly remember parting with someone who was totally lame, but Rocktown just lost three of its Rollers (two for the summer and one for the forseen future), and it feels like wiping out after a J-block and breaking your tailbone. Or something.

Enough with the melodrama. This post is a chance to say good-bye to three of our teammates, and to hear their messages to us.

NIGERIAN NAPALM


RTR: How long were you skating with Rocktown?
NN: I was with Rocktown for about 8 months, from October 2009 to May 2010.
RTR: What position did you play?
NN: I was a freshie for a long time but when scrimmaging with the team I was a blocker. Most commonly B2 or B3.
RTR: When did you leave?
NN: May 2010
RTR: Where are did you go?
NN: I moved back home to Springfield, VA after graduating from JMU
RTR: Will you join another team or continue to skate?
NN: I will definitely continue to skate!!! There's no quitting ever, after starting derby, your life will never be the same. Ever. Especially starting with Rocktown, I was extremely blessed. I'm starting up with the DC Rollergirls and eventually I'm moving to Hawaii and will join Pacific Roller Derby.
RTR: Got a message for the team/fans?
NN: JOIN A TEAM. CHANGE YOUR LIFE. DO DERBY.


ANAYAPHILACTIC SHOCK


RTR: How long have you been skating with Rocktown?
AS: I began skating with Rocktown October of last year. Thus far I've skated in three bouts.
RTR: What position do you play?
AS: I don't think I've skated long enough to really know where I belong on the track, but I've flirted with all of the positions, and I have a lot of things to work on to be effective in any of them. I'm really looking forward to figuring it all out.
RTR: When did you leave? Where did you go?
AS: I left the 27th of May. I went to Santa Catalina Island, a small desert island off the coast of Southern California. Avalon, the main city, is one square mile, a real tourist destination. I grew up in this small town, and I'm returning to visit my parents, make a little money, and maybe, just maybe, relax.
RTR: Will you practice with another team or continue to skate?
AS: I will do my best to continue to skate while I'm here, because I'm on an island, and a small one to boot, there is no local derby team. I intend to skate on my own as often as possible, and when I'm on the mainland, attempt to join teams there for a night or two.
RTR: When will you be back?
AS: I will be back to see Rocktown's August 29th bout.
RTR: Got a message for the team/fans?
AS: I've really been floored by the amazing caliber of the people I've found in Derby, and that begins with Rocktown. They are a bunch of amazing women, and I hope they kick some serious butt this summer. I hope the fans keep enjoying this awesome sport and continue to show their support.




NICKIE

RTR: How long have you been skating with Rocktown? What's your Freshie tier?
N: 3 weeks, 2 days, Tier 1
RTR: When are you leaving?
N: 2 days :( (That was on May 27.)
RTR: Will you practice with another team or continue to skate?
N: I will pretend Grim Nemesis is yelling directions at me as I exercise so I can beast out her crunches, push ups, and leg lifts.
RTR: When will you be back?
N: 4 weeks before August Trials... Tier 2 will be mine!
RTR: Got a message for the team?
N: Encourage each other, have a laugh, kick some ass!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

The Opposite of Dead

No, the Rocktown Rollers did not all die in a crash with a Miley Cyrus tour bus. Actually, it's been a pretty busy season so far; too busy to blog about. Sorry.











Our
first home bout at Funky's Skate Center on April 11 was a victory against Hagerstown's Mason Dixon Roller Vixens (171-84). We had a great turnout; thanks for coming! On April 24, we had another victory against the River City Roller Girls' Uncivil Warriors in Richmond. (153-35) Last Saturday, we won our bout against the Blackwater Roller Girls in Appomattox. (152-103)

(If you were there, you might have noticed a crew of lovely-yet-intimidating ladies decked out in green, black and orange helping out the refs and score keepers. In the past month, Rocktown has been inundated with Fresh Meat, about six total noobs who are realizing this is only the beginning of their derby addictions. Now Rocktown has about 14 Freshies working it at varying skill levels. They're training hard.)

Somewhere in there, we hosted a garage sale at Eff In Aye's, whose neighborhood turns out in bizarre numbers for yard sales. Seriously. There were, like, 10 yard sales per block, and every one swarming. No street to park on. Anyway, we appreciate everyone who came out to buy our old stuff and support the team. With the proceeds, we were able to re-finish the floor at Funky's Skate Center. (If you'll notice, Funky's has done some remodeling, with a new DJ booth and a fancy new bench upholstered with luxurious fluorescent carpet. We had nothing to do with that, but you should consider checking it out on Wednesdays or Fridays, which are open skate nights.)
















If you've missed us as much as we've missed you, take the rest of your Memorial Day weekend to make some signs for the Rocktown Rollers. Then bring them to Expoland in Fishersville on Saturday, June 5. The C-ville Derby Dames will host us at "Virginia is for Shovers". Bout starts at 7.

(Photos by Jenny Swab ... Happy Birthday, Jenny!)


Thursday, March 4, 2010

2 year Derbyversary


On February 26th we celebrated our two year derbyversary!

We start back in Feb '08 and we have been growing since!

We are currently 22 skaters strong and we have a full ref and NSO staff that helps us out with all of our derby logistics and rules. We are striving to have even more skaters bout ready, in hopes to have two teams by the end of the year or sooner.


During our Derbyversary we auctioned ourselves off! Some of us brought home-made gifts for the silent auction. We also offered our services for the auction as well!

We auctioned everything from, car washes, pet washes, a custom website, a home-made dinner to landscaping assistance!


Even some of our fans hopped in and offer to auction themselves off! Even the Mayor jumped onto the auction stage!





In the end we were able to raise $150 for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank!






Again we would like to thank all of our friends and fans for helping us and supporting us! We are glad to enjoy cake, champagne and another exciting year for roller derby with you all!


Saturday, February 27, 2010

Start of the New 2010 Roller Derby Season


Things have been a little quite, too quite...

Well it is time for some roller derby action again!

To start things off we are having an open house scrimmage with the ladies from Mason Dixon Roller Vixens this Sunday at Funky's skate center from 6pm-8pm.

We will be updating our blog now with more stories, activity and exciting roller derby action!

Here is our up coming schedule for 2010