April 2024
Upcoming Events
April 13 - Double Header at the GRCC
We have two home games at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. The Riots will be facing off against Beast Side and the Rats will be playing against Fredericksburg Roller Derby. Get tickets here!
Stay up to date with all our upcoming games on instagram @rivercityrollerderby
April 27 - RCRD Conquers the Capital Trail!
This year, on April 27th, RCRD is planning on conquering the Capital Trail again! Help us beat our fundraising goal for a second year in a row. If you’d like to sponsor a skater’s participation you can donate here.
May 9th - Home Team Scrimmage
Poe’s Punishers and The Hollywood Undertakes go head to head once again on May 9th at the Rollerdome!
Game Recap
March 7th: Home Team Battle at The Rollerdome!
This season, your favorite local Roller Derby team has introduced two new home teams. Separate from our travel teams and consisting of your favorite skaters, we introduce The Hollywood Undertakers and The Poe’s Punishers! These teams duked it out early in March in their inaugural home game.
Sporting purple, The Punishers took the track with a vengeance, getting their Jammer, Skrrrt, out of the pack and ready to score some points. The Undertakers responded with some tough defense, and didn’t make the job easy! A heavy hitting Jammer for the Undertakers, Lenni Scabitz, took the track to exact some revenge. An ace with their toe stop work, Lenni hopped and skipped their way through the pack, avoiding hits from strong blockers, like Madame Jade and Janamal Kracka.
In a hard fought game between both teams, The Poe’s Punishers took the win with a final score of 135-226. Join us May 9th at the Rollerdome to see if the Hollywood Undertakers can knock the Punishers off the top!
March 30th: River City Riots vs. Chattanooga
Our rockstar travel team, The River City Riots, made the long trek to Chattanooga, Tennessee to test their skills against the Scenic City. The sports complex housed a good crowd, and our Riots were ready to tear it up!
The Riots skated well together, keeping their walls tight and reforming around the opposing team’s defense. They’ve spent a lot of focused practice time together, preparing for their first game of the season and it showed. After a few penalty box visits by our Jammers in the first few Jams, we tightened together real quick to take lead, and points, again and again.
With Jammer and Offense duos like Eternal Glamnation and Blaxican Ninja, the opposing team had a little bit of a time forming an effective defense. The Riots ended up with the win and a final score of 103-194. Catch the Riots again April 13th against Beastside at the Greater Richmond Convention Center!
Plankathon 2024
Over the last 30 days, the league’s skaters have been competing in this year’s Plankathon! The challenge is simple; choose a planking persona, grab a sheet, and try to increase the duration of your plank as you move through the 30 days. At the end of the challenge, we had a final plank off, which Blondie (plank name Bionic Plank) won with a time of 3 minutes and 7 seconds. Some of the cleverest and most daredevilish plankers won awards; Swole (Birch Please) won the name competition and Betty Clocker (Sore-In Oakenshield) won best location by planking on top of a car! Congratulations to everyone who competed, and a big thank you to the events committee, especially Winnie, who put all of this together!
Unkindness Art
This month’s Sponsor in the Spotlight is RVA’s very own Unkindness Art. Located on North Ave, this tattoo studio houses a bunch of heavy hitters! From large full color illustrative work, Kawaii traditional, blackwork, and Art Nouveau; this gallery inspired shop gives a beautiful variety of styles and preferences to work with. Check out their online web-store to browse their vast array of custom merch and artists prints! Thank you, Unkindness Art, for supporting local roller derby!
Team Spotlights
Riot Spotlight - Sweets #16
Derby name and number: Sweets, #16
League role: Brand new transfer student :)
How long have you been playing? : 12 years!
How long have you been with RCRD? : Two whole minutes! Since January 2024
Favorite position: Pivot
How’d you pick your derby name? : It's a play on my number, which was given to me my first night of freshmeat so the coaches could give specific feedback before they learned our names and I just kept with it. I also like to believe I live up to the name.
What’s your roller derby origin story? : Oof. Uh, bad relationship found me needing a change and an outlet during grad school. Derby and the resulting community has been my constant since.
What’s something you really struggled with when you started out, but feel good about now? : Plow stops were my first big struggle. Today, and after many years of work, my plows are small, quick, and strong.
What’s your favorite thing to do after a hard practice? : Be centered in my body! Feel the exhaustion from a really good work out
Favorite derby memory: Oh. There are two tied for me.
1) During a scrimmage night, I went to play offense for my stuck jammer, managed to open up the outside two lanes with a 180 into a 360 to gain position in front of the opposing blockers and as I did, I grabbed my jammer by the back of their jersey, whipped them around with me and threw them to the front of the pack. They said they felt a hard tug on their jersey, decided to trust it was a friendly tug, and allowed it to happen. Everyone on our bench who saw it happen right in front of them erupted with cheers. Fun playful moment.
2) The NY All Stars gave me MVP Blocker at Battle of the All Stars in 2023. I had just started working on my blocking skills the year before after being primarily a jammer my entire career. Some high profile big name players complimented me on my 1:1 blocking skills and I just about melted. It was a cool moment.
How has derby positively impacted your life off the track? : I feel so strong because of derby, both within my body and within myself.
Rookie Spotlight - Little RatSkull #0110
Derby name and number: Little RatSkull, #0110 (for now)
League Role: I'll try anything, for real.
How long have you been playing?: Rookie starting this year
How long have you been with RCRD?: Brand new!
Favorite position: Fun
How’d you pick your derby name?: I had a dream and my derby friends were calling me this name in the dream so it seemed like a sign.
What’s your roller derby origin story?: I was looking for friends after I decided to transition gender and start going to rainbow roll skate nights at roller dome. A skater from Charlottesville named Mangle encouraged me to try out.
What’s something you really struggled with when you started out, but feel good about now?: Attempting to do things that I'm not already good at.
What’s your favorite thing to do after a hard practice?: Mountain bike
Favorite derby memory: Somebody told me they were glad I'm here.
How has derby positively impacted your life off the track?: My butt looks amazing for a 39 year old and I am a ton more confident talking to new people.
RCRD FANS!
We love engaging with our community, so we have rolled out (pun intended! 😉) a few ways for you to connect with us and get featured in our BRUISEletter! Here's how:
RCRD in the Wild: Spot someone wearing their RCRD merch out in the world? Get consent for a pic and send it in. We love seeing your team spirit!
Fan Art Submissions: Submit your RCRD paintings, digital art, stories and more! We love when y'all show your support and create with us!
RCRD Featured Fans: Show off your team spirit, get loud, proud, and a little rowdy for the team, and show your support at our games for a chance to be one of our Featured Fans and get a spotlight in our BRUISEletter!
🖤💚 Email your submissions to pr.rivercityrollerderby@gmail.com 💚🖤