Our first foray out into the world of cheap thrills finds us at the Arizona Roller Derby opener on Saturday, September 10th. The tickets were $10 if purchased online at Arizona Derby Girls
The Arizona Roller Derby is a founding member of WFTDA ( Women's Flat Track Derby Association) Their home track is located in Castle Sports Club at 11420 N. 19th Ave.
First impressions? Well, the parking lot was jam packed and people were sitting out with coolers and camping chairs. I thought, "holy cow, this is an EVENT!" It turns out that there was a volleyball tournament going on which added to the semi chaos.
The crowd was filled with people of all shapes, sizes and ages with many interesting tattoos and piercings. There were even a few pirates! Let's just say that you could tell which people were headed to the Roller Derby and which were headed to the volleyball tournament.
The venue itself was loud and kind of stuffy. The benches in the glassed off area around the rink were filled and they had chairs on the floor around the "rink" where Beth and Michael had saved me a seat. We were behind a group that was there in support of their Derby Girl, Silent Ninja from the Brawlerinas team.
The bout began with a run down of the rules. I won't bore you with them here ( you can click on the link if you are interested) but it was helpful to kind of know what was going on. The rules were also posted in the program for the event. The next item on the agenda was to introduce the teams.
The colorful names of the teams and their players definitely follows Derby tradition. Here's a sampling of the player names; Bo Peep Show, Fairy Vicious, Destructo Kitty, Gratuitous Violet, Sammi Automatic, Milly Watt and Blok and DekHer. Not to be out done the refs get in to the game with Buster Chops and Maya Pinion.
The colorful names of the teams and their players definitely follows Derby tradition. Here's a sampling of the player names; Bo Peep Show, Fairy Vicious, Destructo Kitty, Gratuitous Violet, Sammi Automatic, Milly Watt and Blok and DekHer. Not to be out done the refs get in to the game with Buster Chops and Maya Pinion.
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| My action shots aren't nearly as good as Beth's. |
You will also be happy to know that they continue tradition with interesting outfits complete with fishnet stockings, tutus, hot pants and crazy makeup.
The bout itself was pretty cool. Nothing like you would imagine from what you may have seen in the movies or on t.v. but still fun in it's own right. The girls all had great attitudes and they were having a good time. For such a rough event it was inspiring to see the pack rolling around and tactically blocking the other team to keep the jammers from scoring. There wasn't a hint of nastiness or animosity when they slammed in to each other or crashed to the floor in a major pile up. They just got up and kept going. It was awesome! I think this would be a great event to take your teen and pre-teen girls to. Here's the link to the schedule. Arizona Derby Girls
So... Beth, what did you think? Got some cool pictures and videos to add?
Beth Says:
The bout itself was pretty cool. Nothing like you would imagine from what you may have seen in the movies or on t.v. but still fun in it's own right. The girls all had great attitudes and they were having a good time. For such a rough event it was inspiring to see the pack rolling around and tactically blocking the other team to keep the jammers from scoring. There wasn't a hint of nastiness or animosity when they slammed in to each other or crashed to the floor in a major pile up. They just got up and kept going. It was awesome! I think this would be a great event to take your teen and pre-teen girls to. Here's the link to the schedule. Arizona Derby Girls
So... Beth, what did you think? Got some cool pictures and videos to add?
Beth Says:
We had our choice of sitting safely behind the glass or on the playing field. I chose the dangerous route in hopes that I would photograph the perfect derby brawl. Being totally new to the Roller Derby I decided I better try to read the rules of the game so I know what I’m looking for and have a hope of understanding the scoring. I read about Pivots, Jammers and Blockers and none of it made a lick of sense. The pregame was chocked full of people watching while the derby girls warmed up. The MC worked hard to pump up the crowd, there were raffle tickets to buy…the prize.. $25 off a tattoo (very fitting for this event). One of the referee’s was worth a second look because her mannerisms reminded me of the star of GLEE. She took her job way too seriously, positioning herself in all sorts of weird stretches that normal athletes do not do while warming up, it was comical. I even spotted a derby perv taking action shots of the skaters from the floor, the only thing missing were the mirrors on his shoes!
With names like “Block and DekHer”, “Nicole Bitchy”, “Racey Rizzo” and “Hacker Too Pieces”, I hoped for some exciting brawls. I had images of girls smacking against the hockey glass and blood streaked glass, but in reality this particular event was nothing of the sort. We were clued in that the men’s roller derby leagues may have a little more of the action I was looking for. Being a skater myself, if I was 10 years younger I may have just signed up to be a derby girl. The girls did a great job and it was definitely worth seeing at least once. Advanced ticket prices are $10/ea for adults or $12 at the door. Don’t procrastinate because online ticket purchase can’t be made after 12pm on the day of the bout and it will cost you more at the door. Overall it was a perfect opportunity to stay within my budget of $10 and it was a great opportunity to try something new. I would totally take the family to see this event.
Picture Highlights
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