The Icies formed in November, and meet once a week to practice. Until that Saturday, they have only played two intra-league bouts when they split into two teams and played each other.  Those bouts were 20 minutes long and the jams were timed at one minute.

This was the first time they took the track to face an opponent they didn’t know and it was the first full length game (two 30 minute periods) with two minute jams. It didn’t seem to affect these young athletes.  Their excitement about their first real bout , combined with their deep bench, kept them alert and ready to skate.

On the other bench, Toronto just celebrated its second year of junior roller derby. Their experience showed in their solid walls, cycling and well time pushes and bumps to help their jammers through the pack.

The Icies brought 26 girls to the bout; Toronto’s roster was 22.  The Icies seemed to have more diversity in size and age.   But as Toronto soon learned, small doesn’t mean easy to get around. Some of the smaller Icies, including Derby Doll, Animal Jam, and Ashzilla made effective blockers. In one memorable jam, Derby Doll held the much taller Toronto jammer in a one on one.

They weren’t the only blockers doing a good job of holding the Toronto jammer or whipping their jammer around the pack.

One of the many Icie jammers, Lil Blade, had a lot of success up against the formidable Toronto blockers.  She kept her speed despite the slippery floor and was able to thread her way through. Veggy Cowgirl, as always, was strategic when jamming, keeping her eye on the pack and calling off the jam at the right moment.

There were several full two minute jams — with a lead jammer.  It wasn’t because they jammers didn’t hear their coaches telling them to call it off, either. The girls just wanted to keep skating. And so they did. Sometimes the point differential was very slight; maybe 2 points, maybe 4. The blockers kept blocking, the jammers kept making their way through the pack.

One indication of experience winning out over determination was a four man wall held by Toronto when Lil Blade was jamming.  Toronto’s wall was loose but each player had their hands stretched out to their teammates.  Lil Blade didn’t know or remember that she could go through those hands and that if Toronto held her back they would get sent to the penalty box for a multi-player block penalty.  All she saw was an impenetrable wall. That doesn’t say anything about her abilities, just her experience.

Just like the adults, the Icies got into some penalty trouble and Toronto had several power jams helping them increase their point spread. But Toronto was no stranger to the penalty box, either.  And both teams were, at times, confused about how to serve the penalties.

The Icies struggled at times, to maintain their walls for and weren’t as practiced at maintaining them under pressure.  They worked hard and communicated well during the jams and the errors they made could be chalked up to inexperience.

In the end, experience made the difference and Toronto won the bout with a final score of 194-136.

The Icies play again, in an intra-league bout, before the June 2nd Championship game.

The Icies who played in the Toronto game:

Ashzilla #7
Animal Jam #1
Lily Wonka #9
Little Bit #1/2
Rekkless #7
Tootsie Roller #49
Monkey Madness #15
Dora Destro’Ya #12
Jiffy Pop # 5Minutes
Crush # ##
Hanna-Q-Leez #1999
Hammer Da-Booty #22
Victoria’s Secret Weapon #28
Punky Bruise-Her #444
Veggy Cowgirl #27
Lil Blade #17
Slash ‘N Bash #36
Ally Catraz #1023
Derby Diva #123
Devil’s Daughter #469
Honey Badger #2
Jr Train Wreck #3
Lizzy Borg #39 Co-Captain
Silly String #4 Co-Captain
Whoop Ash #007
L’il Time-Bomb #21

Festivities Begin at 2:00 PM and last until the parade
Carnegie Art Center | 240 Goundry Street, North Tonawanda

The annual QCRG Day will be held on the grounds of the Carnegie Art Center. Festivities will include a Chicken BBQ (presale tickets $8, day of the event $9). Entertainment will include jugglers, zombies and music by Lower Town Trio. There will be crafters and other fun items to buy, too.

The Collide-O-Scope Art show will be on view inside the Carnegie.

Val brings her calm thoughtfulness and hard-working ethic to the track as a skater and to the table as a team member and committee chair.  She has become a valuable member of QCRG in the three years she has been a part of the league.

Photo by Andy Foremiak

 How did you get involved in derby?
My mother’s dental hygienist is Bette Churass. Bette was just wrapping up her first season and my mom noticed that she had a little different way about her. Bette told her about the Queen City Roller Girls .  My mom wanted to go watch a bout to see her play and wanted me to come with her. I thought it sounded like fun and started hunting around qcrg.net.  I knew almost immediately that I wanted to play.  And I knew that it was one of those things in life that I had to at least try to do or I’d regret it forever.

What kind of sports experience did you have before derby?
None.  Absolutely none.  Even after I first decided I wanted to play, I thought I was probably too short, too small and too old. I didn’t know what I had in me.  At that point I didn’t realize that great derby players come in all shapes, sizes and ages.  I wasn’t too old or too small at all.  I often wonder now what it would be like to play at a younger age and there are times that I wish I would have known about it five or ten years ago… but I also know it would have been really difficult to do in the middle of my “baby days.”

What have you learned about yourself through playing roller derby?
I’m a lot tougher than I thought I was. I think most women realize that after they have been playing for a while. When I first started playing I was intimidated. But I learned that I had a lot more strength, and I don’t just mean physical strength. I am talking about the kind of strength you need to push yourself further than what you are comfortable with. My team captain my first season, Bea Aggressive, had a great saying too: “You can do anything for two minutes!” And it’s true. When I’ve felt like giving up or like I was just too exhausted to go on, I often think of her saying that and find the determination to finish. It might not always be pretty or perfect but I try not to give up.  I also learned that I really like being physical. That sounds weird, but understand that when I was a kid Title IX was still relatively new. There weren’t girl’s soccer leagues all over the place. There weren’t girl’s hockey teams. I was more of an arty kid anyhow so I didn’t play sports outside of gym class. I’ve discovered that I like to sweat and move and push myself (and others, too, haha).

Photo by Andy Foremiak

How did you pick your name?
Of course one of the big difficulties when you first start playing derby is picking your name. My husband thought it was ridiculous that I was struggling to pick a name and hadn’t even been drafted to a team yet. I was thrilled to show him the email that indicated that it was a top priority in the journey to becoming a derby girl! I had a lot of different options and thoughts that I put on post-it notes around my computer.  My daughter, who was 7 at the time, added her own suggestions along with pictures of roller skates among the post-its.  My sister in law was thinking about playing for Hudson Valley Horrors and she had come up with the name Val du Morte which  means Valley of Death. I thought it was a pretty cool derby name. My son, who was 10 at the time, liked the name because of the Harry Potter reference.

What do your kids think about you playing roller derby?
Well, my son is a bit embarrassed by it.  He doesn’t like to talk about it around his friends. He will come and watch my games and occasionally he will say something or ask a question which means he has been paying attention to the game.  My daughter likes roller derby and likes that I play.  But she isn’t interested in playing (yet).

How do you balance derby and motherhood?
It’s not easy and I’m one of the lucky ones.  My husband is very supportive of derby. He enjoys the sport and enjoys the bouts as well as other events. He takes care of the kids when I’m at practice.  I think the kids actually prefer it when I’m at practice and dad is in charge. I think he’s a little easier on them than I am.  But it’s hard, too, because they are 9 and 13 now and do all sorts of activities. Sometimes I need to skip practice to go to a band concert, choir performance, girl scouts etc.

What do you hope your kids will learn from you playing derby?
I want them to try things they wouldn’t normally try. Even if it’s scary or hard. I want them to take chances and push themselves physically.  My kids have an attitude sometimes that if they’re not 100% successful at something new they try, they’re failures. I try to tell them and show them that anything new takes a lot of practice and hard work, and roller derby is always a good go-to example. I hope, too, that they will become interested in playing a sport at some point.

What has surprised you most about derby?
I am constantly surprised by the complexity of the game and how it keeps evolving. I know a lot of people’s impression of the game is that it’s just kind of a demolition derby for girls to go out and smash each other around but it’s so much more. There is such tremendous skill involved, and strategy that ‘s constantly shifting. The game really starts in your head. I’ve put three years into it and I’m just at the very tip of the iceberg in terms of really understanding the game enough to be able to (sometimes) employ strategies effectively. It is never boring—there is always something new to learn, to try, to perfect— and I think that’s part of what makes it so great!

Kids? Family? Derby? Touch choices…
I really try to keep things balanced between derby and home. If it comes down to picking one over the other, though, the family always wins out. Sometimes it’s hard but generally it’s a no brainer. The kids are getting older so their “little kid” days are fleeting. There have been meetings I’ve missed in favor of a band performance. There have been many, many parties and impromptu get-togethers I have missed in order to have a family night. I have missed practice to spend time with extended family. Am I sad about that? Yes, sometimes, but I also really value my family time. I hope to never have to choose between the family and skating a bout but we’ll cross that bridge if and when we get to it.

Doors Open at 6:00 PM | Bouts Start at 7:00PM
Rainbow Roller Rink | 101 Oliver Street, North Tonawanda

Map and Directions

The Alley Kats, Devil Dollies, Nickel City Knockouts and Suicidal Saucies will all be battling it out to compete for positions in the 2012 Queen City Cup Championship bout!

Note: Front row attendees must be 18 years of age or over.

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR!

It was the sixth rematch of the teams in the sixth game of the sixth season of QCRG.

Get it? 666.

There were some other significant similarities for the teams as well. Maybe not quite in the realm of Kennedy’s secretary named Lincoln and Lincoln’s named Kennedy, but, well, you decide if there was some divine (or other) intervention.

Both teams lost vets from the 2011 season. The Saucies saw Dr. Dementer and Lollypopz leave the team. The Dollies lost Pepper Stix, Busty Pipes, Bea Aggressive and Argo.

Both teams are down a vet due to pregnancy: Izzy Hung on the Dollies and Mexicali Bruise on the Saucies (who delivered a healthy, adorable baby boy later that night).

Photos by Andy Foremiak

Both teams picked up six new skaters in the 2012 draft. And both teams saw a change in their coaching staff. Fetishly Devine took over as coach of the Dollies. Señor Weiner took charge of the Saucies.

Hell on Wheels is always the last regular season bout and sets the final piece of the play off puzzle and after so many years has become a little bit of a grudge match between the two teams. In season 2 the Saucies won by one point; in season 3 by two points. Needless to say, you never know what might happen at Hell on Wheels. So, it is an understatement to say that both teams were looking forward to meeting on the track.

The teams did not disappoint their fans. In a high scoring game with tons of action, the teams battled for points and position from the first jam all the way to the final seconds of the last jam. It was obvious to all that if the teams got points for grit, determination and heart, the score would have been much closer.

The Dollies lined up their clutch jammers: DayTripHer (711), Vanilla Creamz (234) and rookie Lo-Hits Griffin (143) for the same jammer rotation that served them well against the Kats.

The Saucies played a wider jammer bench with Homicidal Barbie (187), Alli Snatcher (972), Head Huntress (54), Bella Stiletto (111), and Wrecks Kitten (73) all taking to the jammer line, though it was securely anchored by B’Kini Whacks (21). All of their jammers rotated in as blockers, as well.

The Dollies struck hard right from the first, grabbing lead jam in the first four jams and collecting a total of 29 points compared to the Saucies’ 14 points. The Dollies controlled the lead jam status for most of the first period, and also had some big scoring jams. But the Saucies worked the pack with their hard-hitting blockers including Sheer Tara, Stormie Weather, Bully Holiday and Yankher Bomb.
By the end of the first period the score was 155 – 62 in the Dollies’ favor.

The Saucies made use of the half-time to change up their strategies and reach for their inner fire. Lead jam was divided between the teams rather than dominated by the Dollies, and the second half score was a much closer 106(DD) to 85(SS). But between the large lead built up in the first half, tight packwork and strategic lines, the Dollies prevailed.  The final score was Dollies 261 – Saucies 147.

Since the Devil Dollies finished second overall for the season, and the Saucies finished fourth, they will not be playing each other in the playoffs May 12th. It is possible, however, if they both win their respective bouts, that they will meet again at the championships on June 2nd.

If not, there’s always Hell on Wheels VII to look forward to.

Photos by Andy Foremiak

Doors Open at 5:00 PM | Bout Starts at 7:00 PM
Ted Reeve Arena | 175 Main Street, Toronto, ON

Click here for more information

Take a road trip up to Toronto and watch the Lake Effect Furies B Team take on the Greater Toronto Rollergirls.

First off, on March 3, was a rematch against the Suburban Brawl of Yonkers, New York. The game was a nail biter down to the last jam of the bout. The Furies held a lead throughout most of the game and earned lead jammer more often. However, they also had a significant number of penalties which enabled the Suburbian Brawl to keep the game close. The Furies pulled it out in the end and won the game 142-136.

Next up was a trip to Baltimore, Maryland to play the number three (in the East) ranked Charm City Roller Girls. The bout was a closed bout early in the morning and was a learning experience for the Furies. Everyone played an intense game which saw Charm City use heavy force and strategy to keep the Furies separated and scrambling to score points. Charm won a commanding victory with the score of 440-62.

That evening, after a relatively short drive down Interstate 95, the Furies took on the 11th ranked (in the East) DC All Stars. It was another tough game for the Furies where DC earned lead jammer more often and took advantage of that to rack up the points. They had two 14 point jams and a 20 point jam in the first period. The Furies struggled to put out their own tight defense as well as help their jammers get through DC’s walls. B’Kini Whacks and R. Rose Selavy were awarded MVP by the DC All Stars at the end of the game. The final score was 175-77 in DC’s favor.

With three bouts under their belts in two weeks, the Furies then traveled to Woodbridge, Connecticut to bout against the All Star Stepford Sabatoge on March 31.

Photos by Jeffrey Kerekes

Next up, Toronto’s CN Power on April 14, 2012 in Toronto.

Photo by Glenn Murray

Second period started with The Kats switching Evil-Lyn Cognito (87) with Crimes Of Thrashin (38) from the jammer to blocker position. Crimes went on to rack up 24 total points, enough to become second highest scorer for the Kats, one point behind Celery Stalk-her, and Crimes scored 14 points in one jam. The Dollie high scorer for a single jam was Red Fox (41) with a 17 point jam, however, she spent most of the bout gleefully mixing it up as a blocker. Day Tripher (711) racked up the most points for the Dollies scoring 65 points. Alley Kats’ blockers tried to change this up but they could not overcome the momentum created by the Devil Dollies who maintained control over the pack in every jam. Coping with injuries, the Alley Kats cobbled together a defense that can still make an impact but they were unable to break the Dollies for long. Juanita Hurtya took a turn at jamming along with Wicca’d D’Meaner (25) as the Kats continued to fight for every point. The Alley Kats threw everything they could into their defense and used their penalties when needed to stop a score. The Kats took this bout as an opportunity to try out more jammers and deepen their bench for their next match up. Hopefully, some of their missing players will heal soon enough to participate in the rest of the season as the Kats have been known to rely heavily on their defense. The momentum from the first jam set by the Dollies never waned as they won a decisive victory over the Kats.

Final Score: Devil Dollies 209, Alley Kats 89.

We sat down with Sissy a little while ago to find out how it all began and where she thinks we’ll be heading next.

Sissy Fit in Action

How did QCRG get started?

I was home one day when my friend Flo called me. She said I needed to turn on my TV right then and to A&E because there was this show called Roller Girls. She knew I would love it.  And I did. It was amazing. I thought we need to do this in Buffalo.

Right afterwards I started researching roller derby on the internet and how to play roller derby and how to form a league.

That was it.  In April, 2006, we started going to open skate sessions and putting up flyers looking for women who were interested in joining a roller derby league.  At first we didn’t have a lot of interest, but after a while, we had 20 women and that was enough for the rink to give us private practice time.  By the time we had our first bout, called: Slugs & Kisses, we had 40 skaters.  That bout was on February 10, 2007.  We had divided into the three original teams: Suicidal Saucies, Nickel City Knockouts and Devil Dollies before Slugs & Kisses, but skated as two teams in that bout.

Do you have any previous athletic experience?

I was a gymnast for a while when I was younger. Eventually I was told I was too tall to succeed. I assisted in some classes and thought I might become a teacher, but once I was told I was too tall, I didn’t continue it. Roller derby was my first team sport experience.

Coach Sissy

How do you think being on a team has impacted your life?

It has made a tremendous impact on my life, right from the start.  Shortly after we started skating my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. She passed away a few months after our first bout and the girls on my team and in the league were very supportive to me during that time. Skating gave me something to focus my energy and time on and it helped me get through the worst of the grief.  Being on a team is an amazing experience.  But it’s not just about my team; it’s about all of the skaters, refs, NSOs and volunteers — the entire league — working together to make QCRG better and better every year.

How have things changed in roller derby from when you began skating?

The game has changed a great deal. There are so many more strategies that are used now which make the game much harder. Before, the focus was on hitting and when you are hitting all the time it’s hard to maintain walls or run the strategies that teams run now.  I found jamming much easier when we first started than I do now. These days I prefer to block.

What’s your pre-bout routine?

I sleep in as late as I can in the morning.  And then I take a nap.  I hydrate a lot, have some spaghetti at an early dinner, and just hang out at home and relax and get mentally ready for the game.

Sissy Fit

How did you get your name?

Like a lot of women, I struggled trying to find the right name.  Originally I wanted to be “Pretty Trashy” but my mother hated that name and told me I couldn’t use it.  My friend Flo and I were as close as sisters and she used to call me “Sissy.”  Combine that with my temper and penchant for throwing hissy fits and it seemed a natural fit.  Flo came up with Sissy Fit and it stuck.

Are you particular about your equipment?

Not really.  I used the same skates for four years. I’m partial to Riedell, only because I’ve had the most success with them.  I finally bought new ones last year.  My daughter Veggy Cowgirl skates on my old skates now so they have come full circle.

When did you decide that you wanted to start a junior derby league?

I wanted to start junior derby right away when we first started playing. I wanted my girls and other girls to be able to feel as empowered by roller derby as I did. But first we needed to get our league going and get some sort of structure to it.  That took a few years.  After we had the structure, we worked very hard to become a Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) league.  Once that was settled, I knew it was time for junior derby.

QCRG's Ice Ice Babies

Why do you feel junior derby is so important?

The reason junior derby is so important is because there aren’t many sports for girls that are full contact.  More girls need to realize how strong and powerful they really are and roller derby helps facilitate that.  Seeing that they can participate in a full contact sport relying only on the strength and agility of their bodies is truly empowering.  From that comes a love for yourself and more confidence in all aspects of life.

I think girls who are empowered and confident are less likely to get attacked in life, generally.  Men look for weakness and for girls that they know won’t scream and fight.  I think exposing girls to sports definitely protects them in life.  Who wants to mess with a confident and strong girl?

For my girls, it has definitely raised their confidence level.  They leave practice feeling so good about themselves and what they’ve accomplished.  It’s also great seeing them want to push themselves physically to improve their game.

So what’s the future for QCRG?

I think that hosting the North Central Regionals next fall is going to really put us on the map.  And it will hopefully open up more opportunities to host other tournaments in this area as well.  Imagine us hosting the next World Cup.  It could happen.

I’d love to see the Furies to continue to gain ranking and become one of the top contending teams in WFTDA and having Junior Derby will only help facilitate that goal.  We’re training the future QCRG All-Stars and our level of athleticism will only continue to improve and evolve as the sport will require.