Roller derby on the reccession

Womens flat track roller derby is completely run and funded by the team players themselves, with a little help from a few local sponsors.  The team players do the marketing, advertising, business operations, human resources, game commission, public relations, training, bout production, volunteer coordinator, inter-league relations, events, merchandising, ticket and recruitment.  

They play the bouts, pay for their own equipment, travel expenses and health insurance coverage, boutfits/uniforms and pay team dues each month.

The team players do not get paid or kick backs or government funds. Roller derby is not considered a professional sport. The roller derby news network sites and television broadcasts online and local do not receive paid revisions either. Yet they still find a means and the way to keep up the sport they love so well.

While professional sports worry about filling the seats to their huge bowls and stadiums, roller derby has been fortunate to see the increase in ticket sales and sell-out crowds. Gone are the days of $10 ticket prices for professional sports seats, but a roller derby ticket ranges $8-$12, and kids get in free. What a great deal because it still makes family outings to a sporting event a possibility for the public.

The fate of professional sports is in the hands large corporations with deep pockets. Stadiums and ball parks now have "sport suites" to cater to high-end customers, that drive up the prices for all of the fans. The new sports facility boom could take a big hit with some stadiums still sitting on the drawing board. Not to mention sky rocketing concession stand prices. The stadiums have plenty of empty seats which in turn workers are seeing a reduction in their working hours.

Roller Derby plays in arenas and smaller already built sports facilities, warehouses and fairgrounds most of these places allowing fans to bring in their own chairs or blankets. The smaller forums that have opened themselves up to roller derby, have low concession stand prices and allow you to BYOB (bring your own alcoholic beverages in) provided they are not glass. Not to mention this also contributes to the environment by not adding to the extra cans and cups that land fills are already on over load with. Reduce, reuse and recycle. The use of the smaller arenas has brought more working hours for the workers of the smaller venues.

Womens professional sports has been hit, golf in particular the LPGA, had to cancel seven tournaments because of the cancellation of sponsors. The WTA, Tennis world tour has only lost one sponsor and has not canceled any tournaments. Womens Bass Pro Tournaments have been cancelled altogether. Womens professional sports has definetly felt it, reminding us of the days of old and the All American Girls Baseball League in the forties.

Roller derby has the sisters doing it for themselves literally. While professional sports is suffering a loss of income, roller derby does not receive any income. Do they love their sport or what?

With the decline of tournament payouts and the steady costs of all athletes being able to provide their own equipment, we may see the decline of athletes in general that would normally be participating. In return some sports disappearing on the grander scale or a change of the "sports model" as we know it.

Will roller derby be the new demonstration of this? Only time will tell.

The next time your the roller derby teams come out on to the flat track, give them a standing ovation and cheer. Are you already doing that? The next thing you can do is write them letters, drop them an email, if you own a company become a team sponsor and still give the women an extremely long and loud and real proud standing ovation.

Hang in there, we are pulling for you.

By Tina Ranieri
From: www.examiner.com

High Country Hellcats 59 - Atomic Assault 162

Thank you to everyone who made it out to our first home bout with the Central California Roller Derby Atomic Assault team!! We really appreciate your support!

Congratulations to Twisted Trixie, MVP Jammer and Sheeda Bomb MVP Pivot!

Check out the listing of our first score on Derby News Network

Remember ladies, if you want to join the league stop by our practices at
High Country Sports Arena on Sundays @4pm or Tuesdays @7pm.

Pictures from the Newspaper Article

Roller derby photos by Amy of the Union Democrat

Date: 2/16/2010

Buy this Photo

Caption: Album ID: 944954 Photo ID: 28004289

Bout Press: Newsmaker of the Day, KVML

From: www.mymotherlode.com

February 17, 2010 06:00 am

Mark Truppner, MML Reporter

A new sports team in Tuolumne County will host their first bout this Saturday night.

Sweet Alyce was Thursday's KVML "Newsmaker of the Day".

Sweet Alyce is one of nearly thirty females who are a part of the Mountain Derby Girls - High Country Hellcats ladies roller derby team.

The debut bout this Saturday night, will be against the Central California Derby - Atomic Assault Team.

The evening kicks-off at 6:30 and the night will include bar-b-que tri tip sandwiches, a beer garden and music by local band, Wreckless. The official bout begins at 8pm.

The Halftime show will feature belly dancing by the Raks Arabica belly dancers.

High Country Sports Arena, just off Tuolumne Road in Sonora, is the home for the team. The inaugural season runs through August.

$10 adult tickets are available in advance or $12 at the door. For more information call (209) 588-0776.

More information can also be found at http://www.mountainderbygirls.org

The "Newsmaker of the Day" is heard each weekday morning at 6;47, 7:47 and 8:47am on AM 1450 KVML.

Written by mark@mlode.com

Bout Press: Roller derby on display Saturday

From: www.uniondemocrat.com

Written by Allan Mandell, The Union Democrat
February 17, 2010 03:00 am

The High Country Hellcats, a roller derby team made up of women who live in Tuolumne County, will host Atomic Assault on Saturday at the High Country Sports Arena in Sonora.

The bout begins at 8 p.m.

Hellcats head coach, Maria Hines, 45, of Sonora said, “You’ll see a lot of fast-paced skating action, tough girls hitting tough girls, and girls smashing into each other.”

Team performance?

“I wish I could say you’ll see a fine-tuned team from us,” said Hines. “But right now, we’re just a group of women that are putting ourselves out there for our first bout.”

Roller Derby has been around for more than a century and, thanks to television, rose in popularity during the 1970s.

The Derby takes place on an oval track. While the Hellcats have 24 women on their roster (from ages 20-through early-50s), only five per team are on the track at any given time.

Each team has one designated “jammer.” The eight non-jammers (some referred to as “Blockers”) must skate within 20 feet of each other, which causes what they call in derby vernacular a “pack.”

“You score a point on your own jammer’s second pass through the pack,” explains Hellcats’ team organizer Shelly McFarland. “You score one point for each opposing player you pass.”

So each team, by way of its jammer, is always on the offensive.

Of course, neither side wants to give up a point — so both perpetually pay attention to defense, too.

Which leads to ....

“Injuries,” says McFarland. “We’ve had a lot of injuries already.”

Each player must wear a helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, wrist pads, and use a mouth guard.

The Hellcats practice three times a week and will compete in an organized league this year called “Mountain Derby Girls.” The Atomic Assault, made up of players from Fresno, compete in the Central California Roller Derby League.

“I know nothing about the Atomic Assault except they are a brand new team like us,” said Hines.

The strengths of the Hellcats, said Hines, “are that we have some really good jammers that are fast and we have some blockers that are tough as walls.”

Hines has been a figure skater for over 30 years.

So is she ready to compete?

“Am I playing? Are you kidding me? No! I’ll just stand behind them, watch them, coach them, yell at them and be thinking, ‘You girls are crazy...’ ” 

Sexy vs Tough: The Battle for Roller Derby's Self Image

From: http://derbyhelper.blogspot.com

Do you remember what it was like when you were a kid and some mean kid at school was teasing you about your unpierced ears, your lame hair or your unimpressive makeup skills?

This girl sure doesn't.

Whenever that happened, your mom was there to tell you that you were special, all that matters is what is inside of you and you just have to believe in yourself and be happy with who you are.  And then your dad came in right behind her explaining how the temple, the jaw and the neck are knockout points, followed by an demonstration of how to throw a punch straight from the shoulder for maximum face-damage potential.

Those dueling approaches to the same problem are very much still at war today within the hearts and minds of the rollergirls of today.  On bout day, you're going into a hostile situation and you know a large group of people will be watching you.  Your mom's contribution to your brain wants to project confidence and self-esteem to the crowd, which manifests itself by dressing to look sexy.  Your dad's contribution to your brain wants to project the image of a warrior to the enemy combatants you are about to face, which manifests it self by dressing to look tough.  The result of this internal struggle?  Well, see for yourself...

Sexy

In this corner, we have hotpants, false eyelashes, short skirts, cleavage, visible panties, half-shirts and the omnipresent fishnet stockings.  We have team names that contain Dolls, Dames, Wenches, Hotties, Bombshells, Vixens, Angels, Belles, Tarts, Hookers, Beauty Queens, Damsels, Harem, and various other deliciously provocative words.  There are team photos that look like burlesque companies and individual player photos shot with such fantastic Playboy-esque values that sometimes I feel like *content deleted* inside *content really deleted* a gallon of WD-40 *content super-mega-deleted* with a waffle iron.

Tough

On the flip side, we have black leather, studded belts, camouflage, bandannas, warpaint, chains, skull tattoos, shaved heads, facial piercings and snarling expressions.  Team names here contain words like Bombers, Warriors, Assassins, Battalion, Regiment, Brawlers, Razors, Bruisers, Ninjas, Hellcats, Pistols, Killers, Renegades and many other words that describe the average Chuck Norris movie.  There are team photos that look like a group you would hire to launch a military coup on a medium-sized South American country and individual player photos that look like they should be a mug shot.

 

And some that actually ARE a mug shot!

So what does all this mean?  Well, there's no real conclusion here, just a general observation that female derby teams and players tend to choose an image that portrays sexiness, toughness or some sort of synergetic hybrid of the two like fishnet-and-camouflage clad Hooker Commandos.  If you happen to know any women who are attractive enough to draw a crowd of interested suitors and also tough enough to beat up the crowd of suitors and steal their wallets, we may have just the sport for them!

First Bout Flyer, by Pinkie Lee