WANT TO GO?
WHAT: Gem City Rollergirls Season Opener
WHEN: Feb. 20, 4:30 p.m. (Doors). 5:30 p.m. Purple Reign vs. Bleeding Heart Flatliners; 7 p.m. (est.) Violet Femmes vs. Bleeding Heartland B-Team
WHERE: Hara Arena, 1001 Shiloh Springs Rd., Dayton
COST: Kids 8-11: $5 presale, $7 door; Adults 12+: $10 presale, $12 door. Purchase via brownpapertickets.com. Kids 7 and under FREE. EMTs with proof of ID FREE. Groups of 10 or more can purchase group rate at $9 per ticket, contact gemcitybouts@gmail.com for group seating reservations.
INFO: Beer and concessions, free parking available. For more: gemcityrollergirls.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
2016 BOUT SCHEDULE
- Feb 20th- (HOME) Reign vs. Bleeding Heartland Flatliners, Femmes vs. Bleeding Heartland Code Blue Assassins
- March 12th- (HOME) Reign vs. Black N' Bluegrass, Femmes vs. Sandusky
- March 19th- (HOME) Reign vs. N.E.O, Femmes vs. Dire Skates
- April 2nd- (AWAY) Reign at Bleeding Heartland Flatliners, Femmes at Bleeding Heartland Code Blue Assassins
- April 16- (AWAY) Reign at Siege of NY Tournament (Rome, NY)
- April 30th- (HOME) Reign vs. OVRG, Femmes vs. Tiny Town Terrorz
- May 21- (AWAY) Femmes at Tiny Town Terrorz (Columbus, IN)
- June 12th- (AWAY – SUNDAY) Reign at CornFed (Muncie, IN)
- June 17th – (AWAY) Reign at ECDX (Philadelphia, PA)
- June 25th- (HOME) Reign vs. Derby City, Femmes vs. Athens Hell Betties
It's 'bout to get real for the Gem City Rollergirls' 10th season opener. Dayton's flat-track roller derby team is back in action, with their 2016 season opener on Feb. 20 at Hara Arena.
The powerful women are ready to take home some championships once again as Purple Reign (Team A) takes on the Bleeding Heart Flatliners and the Violet Femmes (Team B) look to beat the Bleeding Heart Blue Code Assassins.
You may think that watching "Whip It" multiple times makes you a derby expert, but GCRG members Rachel Dement-Wilson, a.k.a. Reckless Ratchet, and Dana Fleetham, a.k.a Eva Discordia, know it's way more than just racing around the rink and running into the opposite team.
"When people find out I do roller derby, they ask 'oh, so you elbow people in the face?' Well no, not on purpose, that's an illegal move," Dement-Wilson said.
So what are the rules?
- Two teams of five members each are out on the rink at a time for a bout.
- Each team has one jammer — the point scorer— and four blockers, who work as a team to get their own jammer through the opponents' team of blockers, then around the rink to score as many points as possible, while also preventing the other team's jammer from scoring herself within a two-minute "jam."
- In order to score, the jammer has to get through the first initial wall of opposing blockers, she has to skate all the way around, and then she has to pass them all again. You get one point per person passed, so if she scores again, she can go around again.
You may hear that roller derby is ultraviolent or ultrasexy — but that is a sad way to describe an athletic, competitive contact sport that relies just as much on strategy and ingenuity as it does on beating up on your opponent.
"It's one of the few sports that was created for women, and has been predominantly women since the beginning," Fleetham said.
A member of the Violet Femmes, she joined two years ago with no skating skills and is loving her first season on the roster.
"And I am proud of it, this is something my kids do," she said. "It's a kid-friendly event and something you can actually be proud to have your kids do."
It certainly feels like a sisterhood to witness: You see skaters from all backgrounds, from college students to married mothers, members in their early 20s to mid-50s, all with the infamous "derby names," nicknames with puns, semi-violent or slightly malapropos innuendos. If you ask for a specific player by their given name, it might take their teammates a minute to figure out who you're actually referring to.
"It's like having a superheroine persona," Fleetham described. "We have nicknames in all kinds of other fields — sports, writers have pen names, actors have stage names — we don't get to be superheroes very often, but we do here."
However, as roller derby becomes more and more prevalent and is being shown on major television networks (last year's Women's Flat Track Derby Association's championship aired on ESPN), derby names have been changed, shortened, or removed altogether to be more family-friendly. Currently, Gem City's rollergirls have kept the derby names, each appropriately (at least by FCC standards) chosen, though just as fierce as ever.
The captain for Purple Reign and vice president for the Gem City Rollergirls, Dement-Wilson had skated for years before joining the roller derby league three years ago.
But she and Fleetham emphasized that you don't have to be a champion skater to join: Though they're not currently recruiting for new players, any woman interested in roller derby need only be over the age of 18 and basically be able to skate around the rink without falling to be considered.
"The more skating skills you have, the easier it'll be, but if you can skate without falling down, we can teach you the rest," Dement-Wilson said.
Like most teams who formed after the resurgence of roller derby in 2006, the Gem City Roller Girls will be celebrating their 10th season this year with a special logo and a whole lot of pride.
"We're celebrating how strong our league has become," Fleetham said. "We have committees, we get together, we make things happen."
The team has made a concerted effort to improve their strategy over the past two years, which has paid off, as seen by successes like their November 2015 River Valley Riot Championship win.
"A couple of years ago, our strategy was to hit the jammer and lay her out; that was it, and we didn't win games that way," Dement-Wilson said. "We're now turned it into a more strategic game and we've climbed the ranks quite a bit by doing that."
Though Purple Reign has already technically kicked off the season — they took home the win at Derby City on Feb. 13 — the season opener at home is what really feels like the beginning of 2016. And though they're always looking to improve, the Gem City Rollergirls are confident looking at the year ahead.
"I've watched Purple Reign do amazing things, and it affects the whole league in a positive way," Fleetham said. "I'm excited for the season."
"As the captain, I always feel like my team needs to work on something, and I never personally feel ready," Dement-Wilson said. "But then we get out there and blow a team out of the water and it feels great."
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