The Gorge Roller Girls derby team hits the hardwood for its first bout of the 2014-15 season Saturday in an inter-squad contest between its two lineups, the Cherry Bombers and the River Reapers at Dufur High School. Doors open at 5 p.m. and action starts at 6 p.m., with tickets for sale at the door. The event will be run as a fundraiser for the Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital Foundation’s Julie Beliel Cancer Screening Voucher Fund.
In their third year since being formed, the Gorge Roller Girls continue to grow in strength and numbers, and have a year-round practice schedule to bring new players up to speed and help everyone stay in shape for the competitive season. The team plays three pre-season bouts — the first on Saturday, the second Nov. 22 at Dufur, and the third Jan. 24 at The Dalles Armory — as a lead-in to the traveling competitive season that runs from January to June.
The team will hold tryouts in a few weeks to determine which of its all-star players will comprise the traveling team that goes to battle against other derby teams from around the northwest.
Rachel Anderson, GRG’s new president, says this season should be an exciting one for the team as it looks to broaden its competitive calendar and challenge higher-caliber teams from across the region.
“We’re super pumped this year,” she said. “This is the first year we’ll have tryouts, and we’re looking to bout against more experienced teams and leagues.”
In addition to a good field of experienced returning players, Anderson said the team has “plenty of fresh meat that has been practicing all summer long.
“Roller derby is the fastest growing women’s’ sport in the world,” she said. “Our players are very dedicated; they never really have an official break during the year,” she said.
New this season, the team will be coached by Scar-Lene, formerly a player for the Portland-based Rose City Rollers’ Guns-N-Rollers squad. Also coming in the near future, GRG is working toward joining the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association — the international governing body of the sport — through a two-year apprenticeship program which, if successful, would bring huge improvements and expansion of the sport in the Gorge.
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