Women's Roller Derby Teams Compete Tonight in San Angelo

SAN ANGELO, TX Last year LIVE! brought you the story of a local group of women with some extraordinary athletic abilities. Though they come from different backgrounds and life experiences, the one huge passion they all have in common is their love of Roller Derby.

Leo A. Seltzer is credited with the basic creation of the sport in the 1930's, which rose in popularity so rapidly it was estimated that by 1940 more than five million spectators watched in about 50 American cities.

If you've never seen Roller Derby live or are a die hard fan, this weekend is your chance to check out the action. The San Angelo Roller Girls (SARG) are hosting their 'Rainbows vs Heteros' event today from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Foster Communications Coliseum located at 50 E. 43rd St.

The SARG are bringing in derby girls from all over Texas and New Mexico to raise money for the Open Arms Rape Crisis Center & LGBT+ Services, a non profit organization that serves the Concho Valley, to include Tom Green County, and 13 surrounding counties.

 
Spokesperson for the event and skater, Lanie Rogers aka 'Lanie Jack'd Daniels No.7'  said, "doors open at 6 p.m., and ticket prices are as follows: VIP tickets (floor seats) for 18 years and up, are only $10. General admission is $7, and a Military ID gets you in FREE (general admission seating only). Kids 10 & under also get in FREE!" 

"The skaters are selling a limited amount of floor seats for those who want to be really up close to the action, and we may have a limited amount of tickets for sale at the door; we usually bring in 600-1,000 people," said Rogers.

Although the SARG own a banked roller derby track, for this event it will be a flat track game on the cement floor (see below).

 
"We will be giving out programs as well as t-shirts and other fun stuff throughout the event and the skaters will be available on the floor after the game for pictures and autographs," she added. Cow bells as well as other derby memorabilia will also be for sale as well as full concessions and ice cold beer.

"The focus of this event is highlighting Open Arms and the wonderful things they do for our community," said Rogers. Keeping with the positive uplifting spirit of the event, she added, "we will have a drag queen as a color announcer, a fun song performed as a teaser between quarters, and the junior derby skaters, ages 8-17 will be skating after the first quarter."

To finish out the evening, Rogers said, "we are having an after party at Beauregard Place, located at 1421 W. Beauregard from 9 p.m. until midnight where the skaters can just hang out and will also be accepting donations for Open Arms."

For those who know nothing about the sport and need a crash course, the WFTDA (Women's Flat Track Derby Association) have a You Tube video called 'Roller Derby 101: Gameplay' (click here)

[[{"fid":"29108","view_mode":"wysiwyg","type":"media","attributes":{"alt":"Roller Derby 101: Gameplay","height":"562","width":"750","class":"media-element file-wysiwyg"}}]]

Founded in 2011, the San Angelo Roller Girls (SARG) is a competitive, non-profit athletic organization, providing its members with disciplined training and instruction for national level competition. We promote safety, teamwork and outreach programs to keep the community involved in the growing sport of roller derby. League membership is open to any person interested in assisting, participating, or otherwise promoting the positive image of the league. SARG is skater-owned & operated.

For more information contact the San Angelo Roller Girls on Facebook or Open Arms.