Rocktown Rollers's Fan Box

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.