by Sheer Tara
Earl and Doug must very may well have been watching Field of Dreams when RiverWorks was conceived. As the legend goes, if you build it, they will come. I imagine it may have gone something like this…
“How can we get the roller derby in Buffalo?”
“Let’s build a facility too nice for them to turn down!”
”Will they want beer? Should we put in taps?”
“Gotta. Let’s make it a brewery!”
“OK, well what kind of flooring do derby girls like?”
“I dunno, let’s ask them!”
What an exciting time to be a rollergirl in WNY! We will have to make some adjustments. Many of these are changes we can anticipate, mostly because QCRG partnered with RiverWorks to conceptualize the ideal derby dome. Skaters are already discussing how skating on the new coated concrete surface will feel different than skating on lacquered hardwood. More rink time will be beneficial to our four home teams, all star squad as well as our official and rec league skaters. Bouting on Fridays now means that our carb loading dinners will have to be Thursdays. The northtowns were good to us, and we’ll take many memories along. We’re going to miss our favorite servers who have brought us post-practice breakfasts at Lou’s on Webster so many Sundays.
We wave a wistful goodbye to the arcade machines in our locker rooms at Rainbow Rink and shout a big Hello! to the Riverworks patrons watching us practice from the food court. The transition won’t be overnight so watch our website for more updates. And we still have big plans for Roller Derby in North Tonawanda including boot camps and a recreational league. We look forward to making new traditions to go along with the old.