Roller derby skaters always look for more opportunities to play – just for the love of derby. From February 16 through the 19th, Lake Effect Furies team members Librawlian, Insinerator, Bricks Hit-House and GO! will travel to Hatfield, PA as members of the NYS Derby All Stars for the Battle of the All-Stars Tournament.
“The NYS All Stars have been on my radar, but the timing never quite worked out for me,” said Librawlian. “This year, things just finally worked out. It also helped to have a contingent of players from QCRG try out.”
Librawlian, Bricks and Sin trekked down to Yonkers several months ago for the NYS tryouts with skaters from Ithaca League of Skaters, Gotham Girls Roller Derby, Long Island Roller Rebels, and Suburbia Roller Derby, among others. When the roster was announced on November 25, Brawl, Bricks, Sin and Go were on it.
“There were only 14 people at Yonkers and we played a full 60 min 7 versus 7 game. So it was pretty tiring but I loved it,” said Sin. “It was also great to meet some of the downstate skaters.”
The team will participate in two tournaments. The first is the Battle of the All-Stars Tournament in PA where they will match up against West Virginia in their first game on Thursday. If the stars hold out, they could be playing QCRG alum and current Team Texas skater Alley Oops on Saturday.
“I’m really looking forward to playing and cheering on a bigger roster on Team NY!” said GO!. “I’m pumped to watch some of my derby heroes play live on their state’s mash up teams like Smarty Pants and Jilleane Rookard. And I’m excited to see some Team NY friends from last year and have three amazing Furies join us this year!”
States represented this year include: Maryland, New Jersey, Hawaii, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Virginia, Massachusetts (including QCRG alum Day TripHer), Rhode Island, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas.
“I’m looking forward to a weekend of great derby,” said Brawl. “There are going to be some amazing athletes competing this weekend and I can’t wait to play against and learn from those people.”
Although there were two sets of tryouts, NY All Stars invited skaters who couldn’t make tryouts to send in footage. That’s how GO!, who was skating with Roc City Roller Derby at the time, made the cut. “I played in this last year and it was both a lot of fun and a great opportunity to play with more experienced skaters with different techniques and strategies than I was used to,” said GO!.
After the Battle of the All-Stars the team heads to Florida later in 2017 to compete in the State Wars Tournament (date TBA).
Coaching the NY Derby All Stars this year are Rollin Polanski of Ithaca and Kenbo Slice of the men’s team, NY Shock Exchange. Assisting them are captains Miss Tea Maven, Brazilian Nut (both of Gotham Girls), Deb Crush and HaHa Hatchet (both from Ithaca).
The entire roster of skaters for the NYS Derby Allstars is:
From Gotham:
Brazilian Nut
Chopstick Murphy
D.A.R.Y.L.
Davy Blockit
Kate Sera Sera
Miss Tea Maven
Pinky Swears
Vicious Van GoGo
From Ithaca:
AKT47
Nora Morse
Chrysteria
HaHa Hatchet
Deb Crush
From Long Island:
Anne Frankenstein
Veloce Villain
Angry Penguin from Suburbia
And, of course, our Lake Effect Furies skaters: Brawl, Bricks, Sin and GO!.
~Written by Vile LoveIt
~Edited by Sigourney Cleaver