Day Tripher started the bout out strong with the first lead jam of the night and four quick points. Maine was only able to score one point. The next nine jams were nail biters as the Furies blockers worked together to stop the talented Maine jammers and the Furies jammers battled to score as many points as possible. It wasn’t until Maine had its first power jam of the night when they were able to score 30 points giving the Port Authorities a commanding lead.

But the Furies fought back with Pepper Stix scoring eight points in the next jam and BJ Harmstrong scoring 13 points several jams later. By half-time, even though the score was 87-55 in Maine’s favor, it was clear that the Furies had improved since playing them a year ago.

The second half saw more strategy, harder hits and, unfortunately, more penalties. The final score was 191-104 with Maine getting the win. After the game, Vajenna Warrior, assistant captain, was chosen as the MVP by Maine. Grim D. Mise, one of Maine’s star jammers, was the Furies choice for MVP.

Last year’s bout against Maine was the first WFTDA ranked bout for the Furies and ended with a score 189 to 54 in favor of Maine.

“The Furies are working towards their goal of being a serious force to be reckoned within WFTDA,” said Furies Captain Lipservice. “During this game, we presented the Port Authorities with a challenge and we were able to close up the point spread. We are confident in our coaching staff and each other that our goal for reaching Regionals is attainable this season.”

Now the team waits to see how this bout might affect their WFTDA rankings and their goal to reach the top 10 in the Eastern Division. According to WFTDA’s fourth quarter rankings for 2011 for the Eastern Division, Maine was ranked tenth and the Furies were ranked 15th.

Next up is Suburbia Roller Derby’s All-Star Team the Suburban Brawl on March 3, 2012 in another rematch. Suburbia was ranked 12th in the Eastern Region in the WFTDA fourth quarter rankings.

Happy fans enjoying tastings

Event organizer HerHeiny Granger had previously put together a great Chili Cook Off for QCRG’s Queen’s Court and was pleased to see this one turn out even better. “It was a great success. We had improved attendance and fundraising, more chefs, new award categories, and fun new trophies for our award winners,” Granger said. “I’m looking forward to more improvements to make next year’s competition even bigger and better.”

Eighteen amateur chefs took part in the competition portion of the Chili Cook Off and they all made the voting process very difficult for everyone in attendance. There were a total of five categories that were voted on by five judges, including special guest judge, Don Paul. Each person in attendance also got to cast a ballot for their own favorite. At the end of the night the five victors were crowned:

Shock-Her takes the trophy

The Lake Effect Furies, many of whom were present to meet and greet all the fans, expressed appreciation for each and every chef who brought their unique flavor of Chili to the event. The other participants included Nora Buchman, Abercrombie and Fists, Keith Mondschein, Vile Love It, Kate Elliot, 90 Degree Johnson, Stormie Weather, Mr. Mexi, Cu~T, Jessica Eastwood, Shawn O’Malley, Dave Rogue and Rufio.

The first period saw strong strategic and cohesive play from the Furies which seemed to unnerve the higher ranked Grand Raggidy team. “We worked together as a team and used the strategies that we had been practicing over the past several months and paid it off,” said Vajenna Warrior, assistant captain. In the 2nd period, the Furies had more frequent penalties and Grand Raggidy was able to maintain a lead throughout the rest of the game.

Though technically a loss, the Furies count this bout as a win since they lost by a smaller margin than was forecasted, and hope that this will help the team reach its goal to compete in the Eastern Regionals in September.

In the final quarter rankings for 2011 issued by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), Grand Raggidy came in 11th in the North Central Region. The Furies were ranked 15th in the East Region. The top ten teams of each region compete at the Regionals with the top three winners of each region going on to Nationals.

Now, the Furies look eastward where they will continue their quest by travelling to Portland, Maine to take on the 10th ranked Maine Roller Derby on February 11th.

On the home front, the Alley Kats and the Suicidal Saucies opened their season with a close bout. The Kats obtained the win by edging out the Saucies with the final score being 141-135.

The Saucies took an early lead but once the Kats gained momentum and surpassed the Saucies, they kept that lead for the entire game. By half time, the Kats had a 25 point lead, but the Saucies didn’t give up and with the help of their main jammer B’Kini Wacks, they chipped away to bring the deficit to one point with 2:26 minutes left on the clock.
The exciting final jam saw both jammers heading to the Mighty Taco Sin Bin but once Evil-Lyn Cognito, the Kats jammer, was released she was able to score enough points to secure the win for her team.

The bout was filled with incredibly strategic plays from both teams including knee starts, fast ladders, and tight pack work. There was a balance of physical play, strategy and intense audience participation.

It was Her Ass Her that put the Roller Derby Bug in Mama Chops’ ear (then Kari Lambright) over a drink and a tuna melt (that got stuck to Her Ass Her’s sleeve) at a local bar. Training camp was coming up, and Her Ass Her told Mama Chops that the Queen City Roller Girls were looking for recruits. Mama Chops knew that her daughter, who played competitive soccer, would love it.

Lamp Chops began training camp and fell in love. She told her brother Tristan, that QCRG was looking for referees. He strapped on some skates and joined. From there Jeff, their mother’s dude, and he also donned the black and white. And so, Senor Wiener and ShockHer were born.

The first year, Mama Chops was a super fan. She concocted the now famous foam chop to waive during Knockout bouts. She cheered for her man, son, and daughter. Then, Lamb Chop mentioned to her Mama that QCRG was looking for someone to put on a Halloween Party. Mama Chops took the project on with gusto. A little more time passed and Lamb Chops came back with another offer…QCRG was again on a quest to find someone special, but this time to head up the events committee. The door was cracked open and Mama Chops dashed right through it.

“I had no clue what I was doing,” Mama Chops said, but she had been itching to put her own stamp on the QCRG bout after parties, so she forged ahead.

Something that we have all come to love about Mama Chops is that the woman is an “idea factory”. She is always searching for that perfect twist to an event to make it special for the skaters, the volunteers, and the QCRG fans. You can’t please everyone, but Mama tries as hard as she can to do just that. “There has been a lot of trial and error”, Mama Chops remembers, “Some things worked, some didn’t.”

Other notable events wrangled by Mama Chops include the 5th Year Anniversary Party at the Riviera Theatre, the spooky Halloween Party at The Elks Lodge, the prom-themed awards banquets, and QCRG Day including an Art Show at Carnegie Art Gallery in North Tonawanda that leads up to the Championship Bout.

“I didn’t put these together by myself, I had a ton of help from people.”

A fan of roller derby from the start, she is now an integral part of the league. And although she has never skated a moment of roller derby, she is every bit as important to QCRG as the biggest super star skater.

Roller Derby is a physically demanding, contact sport, but it is also one of the few sports that is truly accessible to all body types and skill sets. One glance around the rink and it is clear that there is no ideal body type for roller derby, rather the sport encourages knowing how to best utilize your individual strengths. Fast skaters, heavy hitters and immovable objects, all are necessary components of a team regardless of body type. The importance of ‘looking your best’ is taught to girls from a young age and is continually stressed as necessary for success. Unfortunately, this lesson in proper self-care too often forgets about what may be your best and instead teaches us that we should aim to achieve whatever is considered to be the best, an ideal. The western ideal of an unrealistically thin, feminine and toned physique prevents many women from feeling satisfied with their own bodies, but it’s never too late to break the cycle.

Because roller derby defies the notion of an ‘ideal body type’ skaters often enjoy a more positive body image and an increased confidence in what they and their bodies are capable of, a confidence which often carries over from the track to other aspects of living. When asked how roller derby has affected her self-image one skater responded, “I was so excited to be part of a sport where you could be any body type, personality or background and still be accepted. This alone helps me to view myself as worthy and not needing to change anything.” In a society which teaches us to be dissatisfied with our bodies, the Queen City Roller Girls and the sport of roller derby are a refreshing challenge to the notion of an ideal physique and teach the valuable lesson of self-acceptance.

Research has shown that when you feel good about yourself you are more capable of helping others. The Queen City Roller Girls have done their part to spread goodwill throughout the Western New York community, having participated in such volunteer events as Brush up Buffalo, Dining Out for Life, Habitat for Humanity, and a program for women facilitated by the National MS Society Upstate New York Chapter. The league also supports the work of local charity organizations through selecting a different beneficiary for each home bout. Past beneficiaries have included the National Cancer Society, Big Brother Big Sister of WNY, Planned Parenthood of WNY, Crisis Services, Girls Sports Foundation and Girls, Inc. among others.  The Queen City Roller Girls are just getting started on their sixth season of competition and community service.

Addy initially joined our league in 2007 as a ref and spent the season learning the rules while improving her skating skills at every practice. After a brief leave of absence, she returned in 2009 – and when she did, she was even better than before and QCRG was able to welcome back a friend and a great competitor!

Her athletic background and sports orientation provided her new team, the Nickel City Knockouts, with a competitive advantage that the other teams took notice of. And she soon became a member of the Lake Effect Furies. Her drive, determination and thirst to learn all she could about every aspect of the sport of derby inspired others to work harder and strive for the same results. Her inspiration on and off the track is contagious – she is an amazing athlete and is always positive, energetic and encouraging to everyone. Those attributes not only served her well personally, but also all who have skated with her – both teammates and league-mates – because she makes everyone want to be the best they could be.

Farewell to Addy

Addy does all this while remaining incredibly humble, yet she just doesn’t seem to understand what all the fuss is about her. She doesn’t the let the awe and amazement that appears on others faces as they watch her skate affect or change her. Yet when you do watch her skate, it’s like watching water flow through a stream – fluid, maneuvering, sometimes aggressive but always controlled. It is an amazing site to see.

But there is another skill she’s known by to her teammates – one that she hones off the hardwoods … eating! It seems no one takes carb-loading as seriously as Addy! Those are skills she has definitely taken to an entirely new level!

And of course we have to mention how proud we are of her tryouts, commitment and achievement as part of Team USA!

Addy was named as an alternate to the first ever team representing our country at the first ever world cup held in 2011 in Toronto, Ontario. She truly is an inspiration to QCRG with her work ethic and will be severely missed. Both the KO and Furies bouts may be a little quieter without that familiar chant of “Addy Rawl! Addy Rawl!” from the always present Addy Fan Club – but we are all thankful for all the wonderful memories we have from watching 525 skate at Rainbow Rink and all the other rinks we’ve traveled to. But most of all we will miss that wonderful smile and our friend who has moved on to new adventures on new hardwoods but will forever remain in our hearts as a friend. Best of luck to you, Addy Rawl! We can’t wait to see what your next achievement will be!

We'll miss you Addy!

]]> http://www.qcrg.net/featured-skater/featured-skater-525-addy-rawl/feed/ 0 http://www.qcrg.net/qcrg-news/some-tough-little-ladies-get-to-skating/ http://www.qcrg.net/qcrg-news/some-tough-little-ladies-get-to-skating/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:26:12 +0000 sheertara http://www.qcrg.net/?p=4931 Ice Ice Babies
Jr. Roller Derby Expo Bout

 
Sunday, Jan. 15 is a day that 27 WNY girls will recall their entire lives as the night of their first real bout. QCRG’s Jr. Derby league, the Ice Ice Babies skated an expo bout last Sunday night. We’ll let the video speak for itself – you can view it on the bottom of this article!

Both teams- comprised of girls aged 8-17, were laying out real flat track roller derby moves just like their adult coaches do. Top scoring jammers were both skating for white that night. Jiffy Pop got the league’s first official grand slam and the crowd was going wild for Little Bit.

In addition to having such a great first bout, the Ice Ice Babies managed to raise $1,165 in donations for Women’s & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo!  Way to go ladies!

Be sure to catch the Ice Ice Babies in their next expo bout on Saturday, February 18 at 7PM, just before the Nickel City Knockouts and Suicidal Saucies go head to head for the first time this season! Ticket available here.

Final Score:
88 White Team / 60 Black Team

Find the Ice Ice Babies and Junior Roller Derby on Facebook

Sure to be a grudge match, the Nickel City Knockouts ruled the roost with Team USA alternate Addy Rawl (#525) and precision defense led by Lamb Chop (#71).  Their quest for the cup came up short against the Devil Dollies who ran them off the track with the “Double D Train”, blockers Busty Pipes (#90) and Lip Service (#360).

As the Ancient Mayans predicted, 2012 will bring big changes for both teams as the Dollies recruit 5 new players and the Knockouts lose Addy Rawl from their roster.  But don’t worry, it’s not the end of world, as this rematch from last year’s championship game will debut a couple of skaters with a lot of promise:  Low-Hits Griffin of the Devil Dollies and the new Knockout, Abacombie & Fists!  Word on the rink is they really know how to skate and have been practicing with the QCRG A-team, the Lake Effect Furies.

Back by popular demand this year, Bout Themes!  Get your leathers and ripped jeans out for the first game because its time to rock it like an angry hippie.  See you January 7^th and watch the Queen City Roller Girls Kick Out the Jams!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2xDyJODK2Y&feature=related

Get your tickets at participating outlets or order online today!

Doors Open at 6:30 PM | Bout Starts at 7:30 PM
Rainbow Roller Rink | 101 Oliver Street, North Tonawanda

Map and Directions

Come watch the 2012 QCRG season opener, as the Nickel City Knockouts, the 2011 Queen City Cup contenders, take on the Devil Dollies – the 2011 Queen City Cup champs!

Bout Photos

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