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!

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.

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 jamming 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!