| Greeley, Colorado's Women's Flat Track Roller Derby League |
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| Where did Slaugherhouse Come From? By "Keeper of the Derby" and League President, RollaRella Slaughterhouse Derby Girls was started in November 2007 after I skated with the FoCo Girls Gone Derby for just over a year. I learned about rollerderby while visiting my cousin in Seattle. He was a referee for the Rat City Roller Girls and they were hosting a big tournament at Bumbershoot. It was the first I'd seen roller derby and I knew from the first whistle that I needed to be part of this amazing sport. I never really was involved in sports as a kid, but for some reason roller derby just spoke to me! Roller derby has changed a lot through the years. Flat track roller derby (what we play) is actually a relatively new sport that started in Austin, TX in 2001. The old banked track was flattened so it could be played virtually anywhere with a large enough flat surface. Today's roller derby skaters focus more on the sport and less on spectacle where in the past, roller derby was more like the WWF. Don't get me wrong, we still wear fish nets and crazy makeup, we still have roller derby names (our alter egos), but fighting is not allowed and playing by the rules is crucial to a league's success. When I got home from Seattle, I found the FoCo league and joined. After a year of driving 40 minutes to practice twice a week through terrible weather and very late at night (I usually didn't get home until midnight), I contemplated starting a league here in Greeley. I started to do some research, found a place to skate, put an ad in the paper, and hosted our first recruitment meeting in December, 2007. We started skating in January, 2008 at the now closed JBS Sports. We started with 13 girls and slowly started growing from there! We had our first bout in May of 2008. In July, 2008 we learned that JBS had been bought so we had to look for another space. We looked into the FunPlex, other warehouses, and the old Wornoco building and finally found our current location in the old Startek building on 22nd St. We are now 35 skaters strong with a great support "staff" of coaches, referees, and volunteers. We just had a recruitment and have 18 new skaters from that group! We are a non-profit organization and none of us gets paid for what we do. In fact, all skaters have to pay monthly dues, participate in fund-raisers, etc. so we can continue to skate. Roller derby is considered an amateur sport (not recreational). We skate year-round, train for at least 4 hours a week together, and are very committed. Our skaters range in age from 18 to 48. We are students, moms, business owners, business women, married, single, divorced, tall, short, fat, skinny. There is no "typical" roller derby girl. We all have love for the sport, passion, commitment, and consider our fellow roller derby skaters "family". We are members of the Women's Flat Track Association (WFTDA). From their web site: "This amazing organization provides guidance, regulations, sisterhood, and the opportunity to compete with the best roller derby athletes in the country.". www.wftda.com. Hope this give you a little insight to the Slaughterhouse Derby Girls! Greeley, Colorado's only flat track roller derby league! |
| We will be hosting our first training camp Sept 4-6, 2010! Information for skaters Information for Junior League Skaters Information for Coaches Information for vendors |
| Our next home event is coming up on Sept 11 vs. Pueblo Derby Devil Dolls! Get your tickets Now!! |
| Join us! Next Recruitment is Oct. 20. We also do try outs the last Wed of every month. Info can be found here. |