Brawlers to Play Beaumont Team at April Bout

HOUSTON –- Houston Roller Derby is preparing an exciting follow up to its sold-out season opener with another home bout this Saturday (April 17) featuring the Spindletop Rollergirls from Beaumont, Texas.
HRD took Spindletop under its wing as an apprentice league while they work towards gaining full membership in the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. They’ve come a long way since forming in late 2008; their 2010 season-opener bout against the Acadiana Good Times Rollers was a blow-out in Spindletop’s favor at 229 to 55.
The Beaumont league will play Houston’s Brawlers team at Saturday’s bout taking place at 7 p.m. Saturday at Kick’s Indoor Soccer and Gym, located at 611 N. Shepherd. Doors will open at 6 p.m.
Brawlers captain Miss Lead is confident that her team will win against Spindletop.
“I feel the Brawlers have been training hard enough to win this bout,” she said. “We’ll have our rookies out a lot more at this game. It’s their time to shine.”
Lead said fans won’t want to miss this game, as she plans to change the jam lineups to allow skaters to move from their usual positions into new ones.
“Fans will see skaters usually known as blockers jamming this bout,” she said.
The Brawlers are 1-0 so far this season following their nail-biting win against Houston’s Bayou City Bosses team at the season-opener bout. The scoreboard rarely showed more than a five-point spread throughout the game, keeping fans on the edges of their seats until the bout clock ran out with four points in the Brawlers’ favor.
After the Brawlers vs. Spindletop game ends on Saturday, HRD teams The Bayou City Bosses and The Psych Ward Sirens will play. The Bosses won against the Sirens in the 2009 season championship bout, but after the recruiting and training that occurred over the offseason, it’s anyone’s guess which team will come out on top this weekend. The Sirens are feeling positive after they won a blow-out 205 to 51 game against Red Stick Roller Derby at HRD’s season opener.
As a relatively new sport following its resurgence in the late 1990s, roller derby has evolved from season to season, becoming more competitive and athletic as its skaters further hone their skills and develop new strategies.
Since organizing in 2005, Houston Roller Derby has grown into a league of 50 skaters that sells more than 1,000 tickets for each bout. HRD is one of 78 member leagues that make up the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. HRD is ranked third in the WFTDA South Central Region and was one of the top 12 teams in the nation to compete at the WFTDA national championships in November 2009.
Tickets cost $12 in advance or $15 at the door. For more information, visit www.houstonrollerderby.com, or www.wftda.com.

Notice Anything Different?

If you happened to be in the sold-out crowd for Houston Roller Derby's opening bout, you may have noticed some changes this season. The first is the structure of the bouts. Bout nights have always been double-headers, featuring two full games. In the past, we had the first half of one game, then a short break, then the first half of the second game. An intermission would follow and then the second half of the first game, a short break and then the second half of the second game. This allowed the skaters to have a longer break between halves, but was often confusing to fans and made for a very long night.

This season, we are playing two full games consecutively--the first game plays to completion, followed by a longer intermission, and then the second game. The advantages are that this allows the fans to see two full games back to back and eliminates any confusion for new fans. This will also be a great conditioning challenge to our skaters!

The second big change relates to one of our three home teams. If you showed up sporting purple, you may have been confused to see the Brawlers skating in a lovely royal blue. For several seasons, the Brawlers have been struggling with a smaller roster and injured skaters. Under the new captain and co-captains Miss Lead and Speed-O, the Brawlers are coming on stronger than ever and have made some changes.

So why the color change? And why drop the "Burlesque" from the team's name? In no way to dishonor the team's heritage, these changes reflect the renewed seriousness of the team and reflect a new vitality. Miss Lead says that this is a team of fighters, and they want the focus to be on that aspect of the team. With some great vets like The Prosecutor and Sinister Sista and a host of new rookies, the Brawlers definitely came out swinging to defeat the 2010 champion Bayou City Bosse$!

On April 17th, you can watch the Brawlers take on Beaumont's Spindletop while the old rivalry between the Psych Ward Sirens and the Bayou City Bosse$ will heat up the track. Get your tickets at Houston Roller Derby's website and be prepared for another sellout crowd!

by Kiki Mojo