The Acadiana Roller Girls are turning 2 years old this weekend and they have a very toddler-like birthday wish: to throw a tantrum down on the Magnolia Roller Vixens Saturday night.
Top Shelf Sports in Youngsville is hosting another bout of women with roller skates strapped to their feet racing in a circle of mayhem. Our team, the Acadiana Roller Girls, is 7-1 this season and hoping for yet another victory over the Magnolia Roller Vixens, another set of Dixie denizens of the Deep South who are rolling over from Jackson, Miss., for the Aug. 6 bout.
We've touched on this in previous blogs, but just in case you missed it, roller derby has been around since about the 1930s but was revived in Austin, Texas, about 20 years ago. It's steadily been increasing in numbers to the point where the sport has jumped the pond and now there are teams in Europe. (I have several friends on a London team.) It is a women-only sport, although both men and women serve as scorekeepers and referees. The point is for the one jammer of each team to surpass the opposing pack. Every time the jammer does so, their team gets a point. The means for blocking jammers can be brutal, as anyone who has skated in a tight circle at very fast speeds can tell you.
The women are made of up of lawyers, bartenders, moms and grandmothers, gays and straights - everyone is welcome as long as they are badass. It's a very family-friendly event. Tailgating starts at 4 p.m., doors open at 6 p.m. and the bout starts at 7 p.m. There is food and beer served inside Top Shelf but they are very friendly to tailgaters. You can buy tickets here or at the door Saturday night. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door, and kids under 12 get in free with the purchase of an accompanying adult ticket.
An afterparty will be at the Krooked Nickle on Johnston Street following the bout.