Our next bout
o April 24th, 6pm-9pm, tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for students (with ID) and $6 for kids under 12. Available at the door (NO ONLINE SALES THIS TIME) or from a River City Rollergirl.
o AT THE Greater Richmond Convention Center
Digital Billboard generously donated by Lamar on 7912 Broad st
o Free street parking, or $6 all day deck access
o Double header
RCR’s Poe’s Punishers v DC Rollergirls All Stars
RCR’s Uncivil Warriors v Rocktown Rollers (Harrisonburg va)
o Handicapped accessible, broad street 6 bus, seating available.
• Our Mission
o River City Rollergirls (RCR) intends to foster an environment that will expand, enrich and complement the overall quality and experiences of Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby and amateur athletics for women as well as uphold a strong belief in and support of community outreach. RCR is committed to providing opportunities that encourage the pursuit of lifetime activities, a sense of commitment and teamwork, and the development of personal character while maintaining an environment that values cultural diversity and gender equality among its athletes, coaches and support staff.
History
• Founded in 2005 by Emily Hardnasty and Bonnie Blindside
• April 24th is our 4th year league anniversary, 5th season opener
• The league is completely volunteer run, no paid people, and sustains itself on donations from our sponsors and the community, bout ticket sales and member dues.
• We have a membership of about 40
o In order to become a member. New/interested people must pass through “Fresh meat” which is a 3 month training cycle that teaches you everything derby/skating
• Our first bout was “Seasons Beatings” in 2005, with the fun teams the Abominable Snow Women v the disco shockers to a sellout crowd of over a thousand at Skateland of Richmond (hull st)
• Later, the shockers and snow women were dissolved, and 2 new home teams were created
o The tiger beat downs and the flaming hips. Both teams that played at home only, and an all star team was formed of the best skaters.
• In 2009 we dissolved the home teams (beatdowns and hips) and formed a new, more competitive structure. (Both teams wanted to travel to play other teams to get better)
o The Poe’s Punshiers, (purple/black) created with the best skaters of the whole league, that travel across the country to play ranked teams
o The Uncivil Warriors (orange and black), created to train incoming skaters and used as a farm team/JV style team for the Poe’s Punishers to pull from when they see fit. The warriors play newer teams and second string teams from across the eastern seaboard.
o Generally- we have 6-8 home bouts per year. The season is year round at this time.
• WFTDA status
o In Februrary of 2009, the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association accepted our application , and sanctioned RCR as 68th member of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
o There are only 78 WFTDA sanctioned leagues out of 516 registered roller derby teams world wide.
The US/Canada/UK has approximately 440 leagues
• The US has 350 of those leagues leagues
o Virginia has 11 leagues state wide (12 if you count DC)
California has the most leagues with 50 leagues!
• Charity talking Points
o RCR is a 501c3 Federal Non profit.
o We support (financially and through volunteerism) many local and national charities such as The Virginia Cooalition for Woman, The YWCA, Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN), Ring Dog Rescue, Books on Wheels, the Richmond SPCA, Safe Harbor Women’s Shelter, The Children’s Museum of Richmond, The Make a Wish Foundation, Livestrong Day, The Susan G Komen Race for the Cure Richmond, The Virginia Bully Walk, Punks for Presents, the Harvey Foundation, Arts for Autism and the Faison School for Autism, and many more.
o Each year we are in operation we add new charities, and continue to promote and support.
o The average member of RCR donates 6 hours a month to promoting and volunteering with our league and our charities.
• About roller derby (from Wikipedia)
• Roller derby takes place on a circuit track. Offense and defense are played simultaneously.[57] The two teams playing send five players each onto the track — one jammer (scorer), three blockers (defense), one pivot (a blocker who may become the jammer later in that jam). Helmet covers are used to display the players' positions: a cover with two stars is used for jammers, a striped cover is used for pivots and no cover is used for blockers.
• Pivots and blockers from both teams start the game by forming a single pack. In a pack, all players face counterclockwise.
• Pivots line up on the pivot line and all blockers must line up behind them in any order they choose. The two jammers, who are not considered to be part of the pack, are positioned on the jammer line 30 feet behind the pivot line.
• The referee signals the start of jam formation by blowing a whistle. During jam formation, the entire pack moves counterclockwise, during which time players can change position. All pivots/blockers must remain in the pack (i.e., no more than 20 feet in front of or behind the largest group containing blockers from both teams ). When the last person in the pack has passed where the front of the pack was initially lined up, the referee blows the whistle twice, signaling the jammers to take off, and play begins in earnest with a jam.
o A jam is a 2-minute countdown period during which both teams attempt to score points. Points can only be scored by the jammers, who, moving counter-clockwise, attempt to pass the pack and lap around as many times as possible. After passing the pack the first time, jammers earn one point each time they legally pass an opposing blocker/pivot. During a jam, all pivots/blockers must remain in the pack. Pivot/blockers attempt to assist their jammer through and out of the pack while simultaneously stopping the opposing jammer from exiting the pack. If a pivot/blocker falls or otherwise becomes separated from the pack, she is out of play (i.e., cannot block or assist the jammers) until she rejoins to the pack.
• The first jammer to legally pass all pivots and blockers once the jam begins wins the status of lead jammer for the remainder of the jam. The lead jammer can decide to end the jam at any time before the 2 minutes are up. She does this by placing her hands on her hips repeatedly, which signals the referee to officially call off the jam.
• To impede the progress of the opposing team's jammer, players may block using body parts above the mid-thigh, excluding forearms, hands, and head. Elbows may not be used in blocking, and cannot be swung at other players or used to hook an opponent's or teammate's arm.
• Each game consists of two 30-minute periods. At the end of each jam, teams field another line up of players and the next jam starts exactly 30 seconds later.
• Penalties are given to skaters who block illegally, fight or behave in an unsporting manner, or otherwise break the rules.
o Possible penalties include sending players to a penalty box (during which time opposing jammers score for opposing skaters in the penalty box when they score their first point in each pass) and expulsion of players. A skater goes to the penalty box for 1 minute immediately upon incurring a major penalty, or after accumulating 4 minor penalties.
• Common misconceptions
o It is real. No staged outcomes or rivalries
o We are not allowed to punch/elbow/pull eachothers hair (if we do- the referees will throw us out!)
The game is still just as rough, but it has become more competitive sports wise in recent years.
o We do not skate on a banked track. All bouts are played on a flat track
If you have a question or comment, add a comment to this posting and i'll try to answer you!
-bb
