It’s survey season again! Starting February 1st, WFTDA is conducting our third annual demographic survey of skaters and fans. Enter a drawing to win a WFTDA Coffee Mug and t-shirt! Five winners from each survey will be selected at random after the surveys close and will be notified by email.

The main goals of this survey are to compile demographic information from both skaters and those who love roller derby. This allows the WFTDA to track the changing makeup of the sport, and your participation will help the Rat City Rollergirls, other leagues, and the WFTDA as a whole. The 2010 and 2011 association-wide results are available at http://wftda.com/sponsors/2011-demographic-information.

For those of you who either watched any of the WFTDA “Big 5″ tournament broadcasts, or even attended them in person, there’s a separate Tournaments and Broadcasting Survey available this year. This second survey will help with planning for the 2012 tournaments.

You can find the survey at http://wftda.com/survey, and it will be available through February 15th.

The opening bout matched up Derby Liberation Front and Throttle Rockets. DLF looked to have carried the momentum from their grudge-match win last July through through the off-season to take the win over the TRs, Season 7′s runners-up. This was a back-and-forth nail-biter for the whole 60 minutes, but DLF sealed it in the last jam for a final of 146-137.

The second bout pitted the 2011 RCRG Champions, Grave Danger, against 2010 RCRG Champions, Sockit Wenches. The Wenches got on the board first with a crowd-pleasing return of powerhouse jammer Anya Heels, but from the second jam onwards, Danger held lead until the last whistle, 136-86 final.

MVPs were awarded to  Derby Liberation Front’s Full Nelson, Throttle Rockets’ MaxMillion, Grave Danger’s Mona Agony, and Sockit Wenches’ Anya Heels.

Also, congratulations to the ten new Rat City skaters who made their Key Arena debut on January 21:
Derby Liberation Front: Chelsey & Full Nelson
Grave Danger: Kutta Betch, Nehi Nightmare & Trouble Dutch
Sockit Wenches: Death by Dollface, Kitty Kabooty & Sun Shiner
Throttle Rockets: Dawn Solo & Panda Beer

Our next bout is Saturday, February 18th, as DLF takes on the Sockit Wenches, and the Throttle Rockets go up against Grave Danger.

The evening’s first bout will feature everyone’s favorite derby revolutionaries, the Derby Liberation Front, taking on the black and silver of the Throttle Rockets. The action won’t stop there, as the second bout will see the Sockit Wenches revved up and ready to take on last year’s champs, Grave Danger! Every bout this season counts toward the standings, so the action will be fierce – you won’t want to miss this exciting season opener! Get your tickets now!

Doors at 4:30 pm, opening ceremonies at 5:30 pm.

And don’t forget our AFTERPARTY, hosted by Hula Hula Lounge at 106 1st Ave N., with drink specials for all Rat City fans! See you there!

SHOW US YOUR CANS

Hey fans! Help the Rat City Rollergirls support the Ballard Food Bank with your donations of canned food items, non-perishable goods, and cash. The first 250 Fans will receive free Thundersticks to cheer on your favorite teams and skaters!

WANT TO GET IN FREE?

Do you want to watch the next Rat City Rollergirls bout for FREE? Do you want to earn cool, limited-edition Rat City gear? Then sign up to volunteer with us!

Producing a Rat City Rollergirl event is no walk in the park. There is A LOT of behind-the-scenes work that goes into it. That’s why we are so appreciative of the time and services Rat City Rollergirl volunteers put into our organization – we could not kick ass like we do without the dedication of our volunteers!

Please contact our volunteer staffing coordinator, Tempura Tantrum, at volunteer@ratcityrollergirls.com to be contacted for future volunteer opportunities.

Our next tryouts are right around the corner, Saturday December 10 and we’re still accepting registrations, so sign up today. We’re hosting another open practice for tryout candidates on December 5 7-8:30 and we’d love to see you there!

For all the information you need to know about trying out, what you need to bring, how to prepare, check out Tryouts on the site. See you on December 10!

Just in time for the holidays and for a limited time only, Rat City Rollergirls season tickets are now on sale! Don’t miss a single moment of the seven-game action, and save 10 percent over purchasing individual bout tickets. As if that weren’t compelling enough, season ticket holders enjoy a variety of other perks — a free t-shirt, early entry to the games to stake out the best seats, special edition printed tickets and lanyard, a commemorative bout program, and access to the VIP bar at KeyArena (which serves cocktails as well as beer and wine). Don’t delay — season tickets will only be on sale until December 1.

Our Season 8 dates at KeyArena include: 1/21, 2/18, 3/24, 4/21, 5/19, 6/23, 7/14. The 2012 season will include an exciting mix of play from the home teams you know and love and interleague play from the Rat City All Stars, who recently placed fourth in the uber-competitive Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) Western Region semi-finals (narrowly losing to reigning WFTDA Champions Rocky Mountain Rollergirls).

Don’t plan on blinking — or at least don’t miss a single game. Season tickets in hand, you’ll be front and center as both returning and rising stars take to the track for faster and more hard-hitting roller derby action than ever before. Join us for a great Season 8!

DLF skater Know Mercy enters and wins the Washington State Department of Transportation sponsored contest, beating out nearly 600 others to win an exclusive 30 minutes on the Viaduct before it starts to come down October 22nd.

The Rat City Rollergirls have returning stars as well as new stars rising, and the roller derby action is faster and more hard-hitting than ever before. You won’t want to miss a single moment — or a game.

Watch for season tickets to go on sale this holiday season, and join us for a great Season 8!

Photo by Jules Doyle

The Rat City All-Stars moved up to 4th rank in the competitive WFTDA Western Region at the Bridgetown Brawl in Portland, OR. While the All-Stars will not advance to the Championships, they competed against the best in the WFTDA, and held their own.

For Bout Recaps, check out the following links from Derby News Network

Rat City vs Denver Roller Dolls (score 139-128; Friday Sept 23)

Rat City vs Rocky Mountain Roller Girls (score 107-117; Saturday Sept 24)

Rat City vs Rose City Rollers (score 134-186; Sunday Sept 25)

We happily accept pledges-per-lap or fixed amount donations. To make a flat donation, please click below to use the PayPal link. To pledge per-lap, you may “like” our Facebook page here and pledge using a comment OR send us an email about which skater you’d like to support and for how much $$$ per lap. Most skaters anticipate skating about 300-500 laps during that two hours, so even a penny per lap adds up! We’ll be live-updating the laps total on Sunday morning through our Facebook page so you can keep track of our progress!

Thanks so much! We appreciate every bit of support. ¡Viva la Revolución!