Baby Got Back
Atlanta's derby season is almost behind us, butt with four equally matched home teams and one talented all-star team, the derby action in Atlanta has never been hotter. Don’t miss the best bouts of the season as your home teams fight for playoff seeding and the All-Stars push for a win. The Stix and the Demons have one more chance in July to showcase their assets before the final seats for the playoffs are determined. Will egos rear their ugly heads as the girls vie for top position? Come see for yourself!
 On July 16th, be sure to catch Atlanta’s Dirty South Derby Girls as they school the Brewcity Bruisers (Milwaukee, WI). DSDG hasn’t had a game on home turf in a hot minute and these ladies are hard up for a clash on the home track with loyal fans cheering them on. Don’t miss out on this rumble, as your favorite Atlanta ladies use their best assets to keep the Bruisers away from the win. Then at 7:30 pm, the Apocalypstix roll out against the Denim Demons. These teams are last year's top two home teams, and both are sure to make it a throwdown to remember. It’s time to put on your game face and come out to support your favorite athletes as they take one more step towards the championship! Who will take home the win? These games are sure to sell out - get your tickets now!
July 16, 2011
5 pm DSDG vs. Brewcity Bruisers
7:30 pm Denim Demons vs. Apocalpystix
Yaarab Shrine Center
400 Ponce De Leon Ave NE
Interested in Season Tickets, VIP seating, or Group Tickets?
Contact tickets [at] atlantarollergirls [dot] com
Sake Tuyas vs. Gainesville Roller Rebels AWAY
The Sake Tuyas, undefeated so far in 2011, are traveling down to Gainesville (FL) to battle the Gainesville Roller Rebels with hopes of adding yet another win to their record. However, with the Gainesville girls coming off their own six-bout winning streak, this collision of giants is likely to be an epic showdown. Pack up the car, grab the 80s mix, and join the Sakes as they show Florida just how much hotter Atlanta is!
July 9, 2011, 9 pm
Skate Station Funworks
Gainesville, FL 32606
1311 NW 76th Blvd.
Apocalypstix vs. Soul City Sirens AWAY
On July 24th, one of Atlanta's home teams, the Apocalypstix, travel to engage their neighbors to the East, the Soul City Sirens (Augusta, GA). With a home game only a week behind them, they'll be energized and aggressive, seeking their next derby fix. The Stix have an intimidating lineup so let's hope, or not, that they show Augusta some mercy. They love company on the road, so go get your derby fix before the season's over!
July 24, 2011, 6:30 pm
3065 Washington Rd
Augusta, GA 30907
Sake Tuyas vs. Toxic Shocks
 If you missed June's bout, the Toxic Shocks skated out against the undefeated Sake Tuyas. Determined to be the first team to take a win over the Sakes, the Shocks brought the thunder and quickly took the lead in the first few jams of the night. The Sakes pulled out all the stops, sending in veteran jammers to even up the score. But three power jams from Shocktastic rookie jammer Evil Olive helped keep the Sakes at bay with a half-time score of 65 - 58.
In the second half, the Sakes stepped up offense for their jammers and were able to gain the lead after a few powerful jams. The Shocks put all they had on the track, but were losing their momentum as Sake jammers Brutal Strudel and Hollicidal grabbed much needed points in the last few jams of the game, leaving the Sakes to continue their winning streak with a final score of 139 - 108. Players of the Game were Regreta Garbo for the Sakes and Evil Olive for the Shocks.
Photo Credit: Ed Selby
Video by Kevin Borke
Rumble Bs vs. Fort Myers Derby Girls
 During the second bout of the evening, the Atlanta Rumble Bs hit the track against the Fort Myers (FL) Derby Girls. The Bs were buzzing for action, ready to take Fort Myers down for the count. The Bs pulled ahead in the first few jams, only to be rivaled by a Fort Myers power jam. Hard defensive jammer hits held the Bs at bay as Fort Myers was able to squeeze out a few more points. The Bs, determined to win on the home track, pulled back into the lead with a 21-point power jam by Trouble MakeHer and a 15-point power jam by Cherry Blox’em. This left the Bs in the lead, 76-63, at halftime.
In the second half, as the score crept higher and higher for both teams, another power jam for Fort Myers resulted in a tied game. Fans were on their feet as Fort Myers slipped into the lead and held onto it for dear life. With six minutes left, the Bs seemed defeated, lagging by 24 points. Desi Scarnaz's jamming brought the win back into reach, and an amazing power jam in the last minute by Agent Maulder gave the Bs the final push they needed resulting in an epic one point win of 160 - 159. Players of the Game were Desi Scarnaz for the Bs, and Serenity Storm for Fort Myers.
Photo credit: Ed Selby
DSDG vs. Rat City at Jet City (AWAY)
 Last month, the Dirty South Derby Girls traveled far to face the best of the best out West. On June 24th they battled the Rat City Rollergirls (Seattle, WA), ranked 8th in the country by DNN, and while they didn't win, they came awfully close. With star blocker JuJu returning to the team and the addition of The Ruffian, DSDG played well even without Alassin Sane, putting up a respectable 81 points to Rat City's 139. DSDG couldn't recover from Rat City's power jams in the first half, though they were only outscored by 11 points in the second half!
Photo credit: Jules Doyle type2bphoto.com
DSDG vs. Jet City at Jet City (AWAY)
 On June 25th, continuing their bout weekend out West, DSDG went up against Jet City (Everett, WA). Ranked 7th in the West by WFTDA, Jet City was evenly matched against DSDG, ranked 5th in the South Central region. Both teams fought like hell; Jet City had 4 players foul out after serving seven times in the penalty box while DSDG had one player ejected. Even with amazing jamming by the Merchant of Menace, Jet City's speed and hard hits made it difficult for DSDG to take the lead. Final score 137 - 95.
Photo credit: Jonathan P. Beck
DSDG vs. Oly Rollers at Olympia, WA (AWAY)
A dream came true for the Atlanta all-stars on June 26th as they played the infamous Oly Cosa Nostra Donnas (Olympia, WA) on their home turf. As the national derby champs in 2009, Oly reclaimed their number 1 status when they recently played the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls, 2010 champs, and won 117-75. Starstruck, the Dirty South Derby Girls gave it their best but even their top lineups were no match for Oly. While the point spread was large, 298 - 11, it was definitely a game to remember - for all the RIGHT reasons - for many of Atlanta's skaters.
2011 Peachtree Health & Fitness Expo
If you ran Peachtree Road Race on July 4th, you likely saw a few Atlanta Rollergirls along the way, either as volunteers or as runners. Maybe you were dragging and could have used some inspiration, so hopefully you took a chance to say hi! We always love meeting fans out in "the real world"!
Think You've Got What it Takes?
 The Atlanta Rollergirls are pleased to announce our 2nd training workshop for interested skaters! If you think you've got what it takes, we'd love to teach you all the ropes of becoming an Atlanta Rollergirl.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
9 am - 11 am
All American Skating Center
5400 Bermuda Road
Stone Mountain, GA 30087
Need a little inspiration to get yourself to the track on Saturday? Check out our new recruitment video created for us by the amazing Kevin Borke.
This month, we highlight the Players of the Game for the home team bout between the Toxic Shocks and the Sake Tuyas
 Regreta Garbo joined Atlanta Rollergirls in 2009. During her first bout, she fell in love with roller derby and never looked back. Currently, she plays for Atlanta's all-star Dirty South Derby Girls, and Atlanta home team, the Sake Tuyas. Anyone who's seen Regreta play will not be surprised to learn that she's played sports for years. She played softball and competed in track and field in high school; played basketball in college; and loves that derby gives her an opportunity to be on a team again. When she's not delivering devastating hits on the track, Regreta cross-trains by running regularly: "There is nothing better to me than putting on some headphones and going for a long run."
Regreta is an athletic and dynamic player who's known for her agility and brutal blocking skills and, at this stage, prefers blocking to jamming: "When I was a rookie I really loved jamming. Now I definitely prefer blocking. I would like to work towards jamming again at some point though." Regreta's derby hero is her recently un-retired Dirty South Derby Girls teammate, Juju. "Juju is, and will always be, my biggest hero--both in and out of derby. She has always taken time to help me improve as a player, and she is an amazing friend." Regreta's favorite thing about derby are her teams--she loves watching her teams grow and improve, and values the friendship and support of her teammates. In that vein, Regreta notes that she, "hates to lose" and that helping her teams achieve victory is one of her biggest motivators.
Photo credit: Tim Moxley
 Evil Olive started training to be a rollergirl in the fall of 2009 and then, in what she identifies as her favorite derby moment so far, was drafted to the Toxic Shocks in June of 2010. Olive says she can’t remember “how [she] got it in [her] head to do derby,” but remembers that it was love at first workshop. When it was time to choose her name, her decision was simple. “I like wordplay, and I've been a fan of palindromes since the 4th grade. I owe credit to Nora Gretz and DJ Jazzy Reff for coming up with the idea though. My number, 808, is also a palindrome and is pleasingly symmetrical.”
While starting off her derby career mainly in the pack, Olive has seen more action on the jammer line in 2011. She admits that she enjoys playing both in the pack and jamming right now and it is her goal to be “a solid utility player that can manage any position.” When asked what motivates her to achieve this goal, she says, “I'm competitive by nature, and I hate doing anything halfway. I'm always motivated to improve my own personal best, and to be an effective member of my team--I never want to be a weak link in the chain.” Other than her mom, Olive's biggest fans are her friends Joe and Rob, who have season VIP tickets and bring styrofoam olives and lightning bolts to every Shocks game: "The first time they came to derby, I think it was mostly to be supportive, but then they ended up getting really into the sport and are now pretty serious derby fans."
Photo credit: Tim Moxley
ARG for Creative Loafing Best of Atlanta 2011
Creative Loafing is currently taking votes for "Best Local Sports Team" and ARG is asking for your vote. If you've ever after-partied at Smith's, are a regular tailgater, or often find your ARG shirt in the dirty clothes hamper, we want your vote! Help introduce strong, athletic, and intelligent women to the rest of Atlanta by voting between now and August 1st. Best Local Sports Team = Atlanta Rollergirls!
As the World Turns (or, skating in derby direction)
 It is an important and often overlooked facet of roller derby that all skaters mostly travel in the same direction. The original intention of this rule was that the continuous circular motion of the rollergirls would keep the venue's air circulating, decreasing air conditioning costs, but it turns out it also has the fortunate side effect of drastically reducing head-on collisions, resulting in a lot more time spent playing derby and a lot less time watching sprawled-out figures on the ground getting poked with sticks to see if they're still conscious. Leagues ended up halving their poking-stick budget, and the change was made a permanent part of the game.
The rules allow rollergirls to skate clockwise (often called "non-derby direction"), but they're forbidden from doing certain things while doing so, the most important of which is blocking. Whether a block is an illegal clockwise block is judged by solely the direction the girl's skates are moving, which makes it totally legal for a forward-skating rollergirl to throw a shoulder backward into an opponent. It's a hard hit, and if the opponent goes down hard enough, the jam may have to be called off early so trained medical professionals can come out and poke her with a stick, but because only one skater's down, they only need one stick. And that's how skaters can afford to buy delicious popsicles at half time.
Photo Credit: Ian McCalister edited4tv.com
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