Recruitment Night: Sunday March 25

Seriously, how fun is this poster?
One of our newest skaters, Anya Tailgate had a great time at our recent photoshoot, and we thought it was the perfect image for what it means to be a Hellion.  We love fun. And we're looking for new members to help our fantastic league grow.

We are recruiting skaters, referees, and volunteers. All skaters are female (but if you're a dude, check out Capital District Mens Roller Derby who we love working with!)... but we welcome both men and women to referee and/or volunteer with us.

For more information, check out our website:
http://www.hellionsoftroyrollerderby.com/join-us/

Win tickets to our bout this weekend from AllOverAlbany.com

You can win a pair of tickets to our bout this weekend from our friends at AllOverAlbany.com

Head over to their website to check out their contest. Who will be the lucky winner?  St. Patrick's Day is coming up after all!

http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2012/03/12/win-tickets-to-the-hellions-of-troy-roller-derby

2012 Home Season Opener: March 17

Our next home game is this Saturday, March 17! We take on the ladies from Assault City (Syracuse, NY).  Please come cheer us on as we rock our 2012 Home Season opener!

Tickets are $12 at the door; $10 in advance, $3 for kids 12 and under.  And kids LOVE roller derby.
**Special: Deep Derby Discount: tickets are only $5 for people from other area roller derby teams. Skaters, newbies, and refs!

Going to the bout?  Say so on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/204486019659083/

Looking for advance tickets? Buy 'em here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/232875

How to sign up for East Coast Derby Extravaganza (I think)

Something about Yahoo! Groups makes me want to just close my internet browser and give up. I attended East Coast Derby Extravaganza in 2010, but not as a skater. I checked out the registration process in the past, but didn't really take a good look at it... because like I said.... Yahoo... So here's a step-by-step how to which I'm writing as I sign up myself!

What is ECDX?
East Coast Derby Extravaganza (ECDX) is a large-scale women's flat track roller derby event featuring a weekend full of competition with teams from across the US and Canada.  The event is hosted by the Philly Roller Girls.
Two rinks will feature full-length, sanctioned WFTDA bouts, while one additional rink will host half-hour challenge bouts between travel teams not participating in WFTDA action, as well as home teams and Extravaganza-special teams composed of players from across the derby world.


Challenge bouts!
If you're not on the roster of a WFTDA league that plans to participate in a sanctioned bout at ECDX, you can register as an individual skater and sign up for a special compilation team composed of other derby players.

Not every challenge team that is created earns a spot at ECDX.  Out of all the proposed teams, only a select few are chosen via a lottery.  That's why it's a good idea to sign up for a few different teams, so you have a better chance of playing.

That's where Yahoo Groups come in... so I'm here to walk you through that process.


But first - registering for the event...
Visit the ECDX registration webpage to read the details on this weekend.  ECDX is hosted by the Philly Roller Girls and takes place in Feasterville, PA.
http://www.phillyrollerderby.com/ecdx

On the right, click "Register To Skate".  It's $40 for Individual Registration.  I think the price might change as the event gets closer?  I am not sure.  I think $40 is a super awesome bargain for three days of bouts and skating!

Then you need to fill out your information, including your insurance number.

If you don't know your insurance number, you should contact your league's administrator [and if you're a Hellion, you can contact me or Flame Rollher!]

OK.  So you've filled all that out and submitted your PayPal payment.  SWEET!  Now you wanna check out the Challenge Teams!

Register for the ecextravaganza Yahoo Group. Joining this group does not mean that you are registered for ECDX!


When you are accepted to the group, make sure you check your preferred email settings.  Some people post A LOT to the group, and unless you sign up for a digest, you'll get tons of emails. But maybe you like getting tons of emails. I do.

More on Challenge Bouts and Teams
The easiest way to view existing teams is to check out the Database, which is on the left side of the website... then make sure you select "Challenge Teams 2012".

From here, you'll see a whole bunch of teams that you can sign up for. One of the columns is "Team Yahoo Group", which you'll want to visit and join the group of the team you are interested in participating in.  That's right - you have to join the general ECDX Yahoo Group, and the Yahoo Group of all the teams you want to sign up for -- cRaZy!  But not really.  It's actually pretty decently organized.

Getting on the team roster
So you joined the Yahoo Group for ... for example, Angry Birds vs Angry Pigs. As you saw in the ECDX team database, the Pigs team is still looking for players.  Again, look for Database on the right menu and you'll be able to Add a Record of your information, usually including your derby name and number.

It looks like some teams have different ways of picking their rosters.  Some are first come, first serve.  Some have a wait list (I mean, we can't ALL be on team Honey Badger!) Some give preference to skaters who have been on that roster in past years. Some might be done via lottery.

Here are the Challenge Teams I am hoping to earn a spot on and which I hope get picked in the lottery!

• Pancakes vs. Waffles as a Waffle
• Ref Dates vs. Ref Haters as a Dater <3
• Good Witch vs. Bad Witch as Good
• Honey Badgers vs. Wolverines as a NAHB obvi!
• Horde vs. Alliance for the Horde!
• Team Cthulhu vs. Team Kraken in honor of the Great Old One
• and Ponies vs Care Bears as a Pony obvi!

Take all these instructions with a grain of salt, after all, I am writing this "how to" but it's actually just my first year signing up as a skater!

Explore the general ECDX Yahoo Group.  You'll learn a lot of information, but you'll probably also have to sift through a bunch of random posts - boo. Remember, the Team Database is your friend!

Recap: Hellions vs. Suburbia Roller Derby

Shockratease wrote an awesome recap of this bout over on the Times Union derby blog so make sure you check it out: http://blog.timesunion.com/rollerderby/hellions-of-troy-take-on-suburban-brawl/5793/

Also check out Suburbia's bout recap: http://suburbiarollerderby.com/news

Long story short, we played Suburbia on February 25 and lost 250-75, but we gained a lot of insight on what we need to work on as we head into our 2012 season. Suburbia Roller Derby is ranked #12 in the WFTDA East Region.

Despite losing, overall we had a really great time down in Yonkers on Saturday.  First of all, check out this awesome welcome basket!

They wrote us a nice welcome note in that tiger card. I put one of the cupcake stickers on my helmet.

We got to the bout a little early, so we hung out in the locker room area and changed our wheels.  Val temp-sewed Trixie's number to a jersey.

Short Temper, Lehman Smothers, and Valerie Valkyrie doing some pre-bout maintenance.

Another awesome thing about the event was that Yonkers is pretty close to a few other leagues, so we had friends come out and cheer for awesome derby that night.  It seemed like half of the Long Island Roller Rebels were sitting behind our bench the first period. I also saw people from Gotham, the Shock Exchange, Hudson Valley, and New Jersey. It was a great crowd - I think the event even sold out.

Thanks for the cheers!
LIRR and Bane-ana watching the derby action.
Photo by Manish Gosalia

Thank you Suburbia for the awesome time this past weekend!

Photo by Manish Gosalia

My new rollerskates!

September 2009.
With my first pair of skates

Once upon a time... back on Black Friday 2011...I took the bus to NYC for an important purchase: new roller skates!

I got my first pair of derby roller skates in September 2009. Riedell 122 boots, dynapro plates, and Atom Queen B wheels.  This was one of the basic new skater packages recommended by the Hellions.  Moderately priced, decent gear, but not fancy.  Queen Bs are now discontinued, which is a shame because I actually really liked them. I've already had them re-grooved once by the local rink.  But I have since upgraded.  Actually, I am probably one of the only Hellions that does not own a set of Atom Omegas. You might even call it the Official Wheel of the Hellions of Troy?

Hellions of Troy Atom Omegas commercial! (kinda not really but kinda).
Pork Slap (orange wheels) has since upgraded to Omegas.

I'm not usually one for Black Friday shopping, but since I had the day off from work, and I like adventures, especially as related to roller derby, I headed on an early bus to NYC which dropped me off in midtown Manhatten.  I was easily able to navigate myself to the Subway (I'm a big girl now!) and   soon found myself in Brooklyn a few blocks away from Five Stride Skate Shop.

Five Stride is owned and operated by Bonnie Thunders and OMG WTF of NYC's Gotham Girls Roller Derby. The Hellions traveled to NYC/LI at one point last year in March and we made a pit stop at Five Stride. Here's a picture of Kitty getting fitted for her new skates by Bonnie.

The rest of the Hellions, including myself, may or may not have been star struck, but we really really tried hard to play it cool.  Except me and Knockout Kid more or less failed.

Anyway, back to my new skates!!!

The set up:
Riedell 495 boots in red, using the Riedell Color Lab
PowerDyne Revenge Aluminum plates
Atom Juke wheels (93A)
Moonwalker toe stops

Here is one new skate next to one old skate:

I will say - breaking in new skates sucks! I have a blister on the inside of my right foot.  You can't really tell from the picture, but my new boots are slightly higher cut then my old ones, so it's rubbing a part of my foot that's not used to making contact with the boot.

Moonwalker toe stops are also a new-ish product. Everyone's really into Gumball toe stops, but I haven't tried them yet.  I do enjoy the Moonwalkers so far.

This past weekend while skating on a difference surface than our practice space (less grippy), I also had some pain on the outside of my right foot.  But that's all part of breaking in new skates.  Tonight I skated at the Armory with the Capital District Trauma Authority I didn't have much trouble though.

Overall my new skates are comfortable - and they fit perfectly!  When I got my feet measured, it turned out that one foot is slightly different sized than the other. My left is a 3.5 and my right is a 4. I decided to special order two different sizes and I'm glad I did.

So that's it!  These are my skates - there are many like them but this pair is mine.

Scrimmage with Suburbia against Hudson Valley

Reading Rambo on the line for the Hellions
once again! (ok, just temporarily)

On Tuesday night, some Hellions traveled down to Kingston for a scrimmage against the Hudson Valley Horrors. We had about 8 people that were able to make it, so some girls from Suburbia Roller Derby came up to fill in our ranks...including former Hellion, Reading Rambo! Rambo moved downstate about a year ago.

This was the first scrimmage for one of our new girls, "Fugu", who just passed her WFTDA minimum skills test, so she doesn't even have her official roller derby name (Fugu is her meat name). Her background is in hockey and she has been tearing up the track!

The scrimmage was fun, we always enjoy getting together with the Hudson Valley girls. This was the first time I think I've had the pleasure of meeting skaters from Suburbia (although, I might've met a couple Suburbia peeps in 2010 at Eastern Regionals). They were fun!

Two Suburbia girls I met were Fifi Fleshwound and ... ok, so this is silly, but Fifi jokingly told me her name was "BeBe Aggressive".. get it, "Fifi and BeBe!"? ... and I knew at that point I would never be able to commit her actually derby name to memory. Friend!  Tell me your name!  .... Fizzy Lola!  Thank you, Vixen.  Haha, great name! I might still call you BeBe - I like both names! <3

Fifi and "Be Be"(?!)

I am looking forward to seeing these two and the rest of the Suburbia girls again soon - we're playing Suburbia in a couple weeks at their venue in Yonkers.

Here's a couple more pictures from the scrimmage.

Val on the jammer line, behind one of those new fangled rugby scrum starts.

Lehman Smothers and Puffy Bangs on the jammer line as Hudson Valley figures our their
plan of attack.  Which probably involved Rxy Ramalotte laying on the pain.

First derby road trip of 2012

Last weekend I embarked on my first roller derby road trip of 2012.  We had a bout against the Green Mountain Derby Dames on Sunday (as part of the Derby Social), but Eloda, Luci. D. Dream, and my sister Carol started our New England adventure a day early.

Our first stop was to see Anne Persand (awesome friend and premier roller derby referee!) in Massachusetts.  Anne was working on a project to make Valentine's Day cards for charity, so we brought some crafts and made a bunch of cards.

After that we headed to White Water Junction, VT and spent the night. It was an obvious choice that we had to get breakfast at the Farmer's Diner because we saw a review on Yelp that they had maple milkshakes. When in Vermont.

Carol, me, and Luci at the Farmers Diner.

yum yum yum! Maple milkshake in the background.

antiques

After breakfast we went to an antique shop and found some amusing items. Next stop was Hanover, NH for some more New England-ing and lunch. From there it was a quick ride over to Enfield, NH, the location of the Great Derby Social 2012!

Disharmony, Knockout, and myself were alumnis of the event from last year.  But this year there was something new: two sanctioned bouts, and we were asked to play! Against our friends the Green Mountain Derby Dames!  Eeeeeeee. 

Busting out slick moves on the rink floor
before the bout. We didn't win the bout, but did
we win the pre-bout?
Photo by Alana O'Hair

This was our first bout of 2012, as well as for Green Mountain. I had a little bit of jitters, but once the bout started I felt fine.  Green Mountain took the lead in the first jam, but we actually got a substantial lead in the first part of the period. It was exciting!

Green Mountain kept fighting, and eventually evened out the score. Both sides had a little penalty trouble. In the second period, the score was neck and neck and there were a bunch of lead changes. In the end, Green Mountain won the bout with a score of 141 - 138.  So close!  Hey, we'll take it.  It was a fun and exciting game.  A great start to 2012 for both teams.

Hellions Night Out - 2012 Season Fundraiser this Friday

This Friday the Hellions are holding a fundraiser to kick off our 2012 season. We'll be having a silent auction with awesome prizes including gift certificates to some rad places in the capital region.  I saw the list .. a few tattoo places, jewelry, tickets to our 2012 bouts, and even a couple gift certificates from our sponsor, Wicked Skatewear!

We'll also have some baked goods for sale. Team Baker Ursula Udders just developed a Hellions flavored cupcake! Lets just say it's pink and green... and super tasty!

We're also having a little photobooth station.  I made some props tonight:

If you are curious about roller derby, this will be a great opportunity to meet the team and ask questions.  Maybe even think about attending an upcoming recruitment night?

Or, maybe you're a long time Hellions fan and wanna see your favorites ladies after a couple months without a bout.

Perhaps most excitingly: On Friday night we'll be announcing our preliminary 2012 season! You'll get the scoop there first!

Details!
Hellions Night Out
Hellions of Troy 2012 Season Fundraiser
Friday, February 3, 2012 @ 8pm
Bogies -- 297 Ontario Street Albany, NY 12208
Come out and party with us! no cover for 21+ but donations appreciated.  $5 donation for 18+.

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/261709507223324/

Short Temper comes out of blogger hibernation

Tuesday was a beautiful, sunny day, and just what I needed to start clearing out my winter blues. It also helps that the Hellions had a bout on Sunday, which sparked my derby brain.

It's been a long winter. A long off season -- although not really.  Our last bout of 2011 was November 5 against the Hudson Valley Horrors...which I neglected to write a recap on.  So here's a quick one:

I was the captain of the team.
We won.
I was chosen MVP.  Yeah!  First time ever!  Here's a couple pictures:

Short Temper, Sweet Madness, and Con-tagious.  This photo makes me so happy and proud.

Hellions of Troy love Hudson Valley Horrors

Santa Speedo Sprint

So, right... the off season. No bouts for the rest of November, December, and most of January. We continued practicing, I attended Championships and the Roller Derby World Cup. The holidays came and went. Some of the Hellions ran the Santa Speedo Sprint in December.

Which more or less brings us up to today. We're gearing up for our 2012 season, which will be announced this Friday. So look for that -- and more from me in general!