Thursday, September 2, 2010

NEO is finally WFTDA!!!

Akron, Oh (9-1-2010) – NEO Roller Derby is officially a full member of WFTDA! The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association began accepting new leagues to participate in its Apprentice Program that is designed as a learning platform for leagues that want to join the ranks of the governing body of modern flat track roller derby. To complete the program generally takes a year and the apprentice league must work closely with a current full WFTDA member league to ensure that the league has what it takes to handle the rigors of being a WFTDA league.
Part of the process is bouting full WFTDA leagues which means NEO had to step up its game this season and go up against leagues that compete nationally. NEO has clearly completed all the necessary requirements and is now part of a proud group of women that can say they own and operate one of the fastest growing sports in the world.
NEO began its journey to WFTDA status officially last August, but the goal to be a WFTDA league was a founding principle when the league formed in May of 2007. NEO is the premier roller derby league in Akron and is now the only WFTDA league in the area as well. Thank you to Ohio Roller Girls, NEO's mentor league as well as Burning River Roller Girls for all their undying support and guidance over the years.
Congrats to all the women of NEO both present and past that made this journey a success!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Akron Roller Girls skate Rings around the ROSI

In Double Header NEO brings home a win and a loss
Tallmadge, Ohio (8-21-2010) – “Fight Up Your Life” instead of the similarly named Spice Girls album must have been the mantra of the NEO Rock n Rollers as they bested the Rollergirls Of Southern Indiana, or ROSI, bringing a second win to their home season. Not so victorious were the Audio Assault, NEO’s B team, that received a metaphoric spanking from sister league Burning River Roller Girls’ B team the Hazmat Crew. Rock n’ Rollers: 101-42; Audio Assault: 32-90.
The Audio Assault gave a good effort against a team that fielded some very strong players assembled from the ranks of BRRG’s 4 home teams. Some of those players are tried and true veterans of the sport and know how to put the hurt on as well as some rookies that are already showing promise as A team prospects. The short story is that the Hazmat was a better team. They were able to skate around AA’s defense and showed no mercy in sending score hungry Cupquake to the jammer line to show AA just how good a jammer can be in her first year. However, Monty Pipebomb and Rosa Mariposa from AA were not going down without a fight and Pipebomb looked to have skated probably her best game of the season having also played in the A game that followed.
The Main Event:
The Rock n Roller Girls went into this game perhaps overestimating ROSI’s skill. They did their research the results of which were making them sweat. ROSI had appeared to have an unwavering season so far and NEO was already down some key players due to injury. But they went into the game determined to show their hometown fans exactly why they are the best roller derby team in Akron. They came out guns ablazin’ and took control of the game early on.
Clearly the NEO’s favorite jammer for the night, Twin Pistol led the scoring with 32 points in 12 turns on the line. She’s certainly doing well this season and could very well earn the Triple Threat title at the end of the year. Not far behind her were Phantom Fox with 23 points in 8 turns as well as newcomer Holley Car Brader with 22 points in 6 jams. What tends to be forgotten when looking at the amazing abilities of a jammer is that she has to rely on her teammates to fight for her and defend her so she can pile up those points. Watching these skaters work together is sometimes more rewarding than any other individual’s feats.
In a relatively clean game, penalty wise, Chrissie B. Hynde was able to keep her Tsk Tsk Tiara as Queen of the Penalty Box, but with a modest two trips to the cheater’s chair.
The entire event raised money and awareness for the American Red Cross so in all (insert corny cliché here:) Everyone was a winner.
Tune in this month on September 18th to watch NEO take on Killamazoo in the bout titled: Skate Outta Akron. Yeah, Boiiiieee!!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Akron's NEO Roller Girls Disassemble Detroit

Rock 'n' Roller Girls bring home first win of season in double header

Tallmadge, Ohio (7-10-2010) – The bout was titled “Skate Factory,” a spin on Akron’s own The Black KeysRubber Factory. The action during the game suggested much of the same theme: The NEO Roller Derby clocked in with two shifts; B team Audio Assault taking on the Skee Town Skirts and losing 71 – 29; and A team Rock ‘n’ Roller Girls besting the Detroit team Motor City Disassembly Line 156 – 79. While the B team’s shift was slacking in its production numbers, the A team certainly pulled some strength from their team building seminars and effectively saved the company from ruin. Enough of the factory theme…? Yeah, probably. Let’s get to the recap.

The Audio Assault, NEO’s B team, is in its debut season. Not to sound like a cop out, but this is a learning year for NEO seeing as how they’ve introduced a B team and are working to bring it up to speed. That’s not to say that these girls are complete neophytes. The team has some seasoned players on the roster to help guide the newbies as well as some newbies that are skilled enough to play on the A team. So it’s safe to say that this team just needs some more time learning the ins and outs of the game as well as some strong team building strategies.

That said, they put up a commendable fight to the Skee Town Skirts hailing from Muskegon, Michigan. The Skee Town girls definitely played as a team and that might have been the deciding factor in the game.

The Rock ‘n’ Roller Girls took on a team from Detroit Roller Derby that’s assembled from a variety of their 4 home team skaters that are looking to keep gaming after their regular season is over. I don’t know that you can call this a B team or a C team or anything other than a hodgepodge travel team that’s not their league’s chartered team. Regardless of how they were assembled, the RnR’s took them apart. Detroit is known in the region as being an extremely well oiled derby machine and only the best of initiates makes it to a roster. They are a seasoned league that draws on some of the sport’s best players. It just so happens that NEO’s RnR’s brought their A game (literally) and played its best game of the season due in large part to its teamwork and manipulation of the rules to its advantage. That’s not to say that NEO got away with murder; they just used to their advantage certain elements of the WFTDA ruelset such as drawing a 20’ violation, forcing skaters to re-enter play behind the blocker that put them out of play etc.

Topping the list of point princesses was NEO’s Phantom Fox, a Jammer who knows how to find holes, please the crowd and smile throughout it all. Her 84 points in 13 jams led NEO’s way to victory giving her an average of 6.46 points per jam. Also gaining some tiara time was Twin Pistol. With her 37 points in 6 jams averaging 6.16 points per jam, as well as clocking in as Pivot and Blocker throughout the game, she’s well on her way to winning the Triple Threat award.

Taking home the coveted crown of the “Queen of the Penalty Box” is Chrissie B. Hynde. Her 3 trips to the box were slightly offset by her 4 Jammer Take Outs. But none the less, she’ll be receiving a fresh off the presses copy of the current WFTDA ruleset.

This weekend sees NEO Roller Derby hosting the Corndogs and Carnage exposition at the Summit County Fair. This second annual event brings in skaters from all over Ohio and some from outside its borders to mix and match teams and spread the word and interest of the sport of Flat Track Roller Derby.

Stay tuned for next month’s bout as well as some much delayed recaps of the 2010 season to bring you up to speed. Until then true believers....