It’s the fastest action on eight wheels
The imagery of a banked track with fishnet clad female warriors on eight wheels is as outdated as the term ‘girl’ when referring to a young woman. Over the past decade, the sport of roller derby has evolved and worked diligently to be taken more seriously.
Successfully having bouts aired on sport channels like ESPN and with Erin Jackson branching out from skating with the New Jax City Rollers in Jacksonville, Florida to making the US Winter Olympics in 2018, derby is right on track.
The Chattanooga Roller Girls are thinking big picture as well and, after more than a decade creating excitement and raising money for local charities, are rebranding and changing their name to Chattanooga Roller Derby (CRD). This change is for the league to better reflect its inclusive core values to affirm and respect the diversity of its membership.
“This rebranding effort has been in the works for the past year and we couldn’t be more excited,” explains Macy Licht, media coordinator for the league.
“We wanted the name of our organization to be reflective of our affirming beliefs of gender diversity and felt that ‘Chattanooga Roller Girls’ was limited in that capacity. ‘Chattanooga Roller Derby’ better respects and appreciates our diverse membership, and signals to our community that we welcome all who identify with our values, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, body size, religion, or disability status.”
As a non-profit, the mission of Chattanooga’s only roller derby league, is to play roller derby and give back to the community. Through team practices, community service and other team related activities, they hope to create personal growth and community development. As each home bout benefits a local charity, CRD has helped Orange Grove, National Park Partners, and Siskin Children’s Institute just to name a few.
Along with the name change is a new team logo, designed by board member and veteran skater, Jenny Cate. “I wanted a design that was athletic but alternative. It’s a play on skull and crossbones, and the railroad spikes are an homage to the old logo and in keeping with the theme of that part of Chattanooga,” says Cate.
Chattanooga Roller Derby is celebrating the rebranding with a launch party on Saturday March 14th at the Gate 11 Distillery in the Chattanooga Choo Choo, starting at 5 p.m. New and vintage merchandise will be for sale along with tickets to the season opener.
Equally excited for all that is to come in 2020, CRD will be joined by Moonlight Roller Lounge, the Southeast’s first 18+ roller skating rink and lounge, who is the official sponsor of CRD’s first bout.
The party is open to the public (mark your calendars now) and will feature Moonlight’s “Moon Beams,” a quartet of skating dancers, and the Red Rogues, an acoustic/electric band performing an eclectic mix of rock, blues, and original Americana music.
Founded in 2008, Chattanooga Roller Derby is Chattanooga’s only adult flat track roller derby team and includes the Ruby Regulators, Chattanooga’s only junior roller derby team, and the Tennessee Valley Authority, a premiere group of dedicated referees and non-skating officials.
If you want a more skates-on approach, there is an upcoming skating event on Sunday, Feb. 16th at Hamilton Skate Place. As rental skates will be available, this fun and informative night is for anyone interested in becoming apart of the league either as a player, skating official, non-skating official or volunteer. If you can’t make it then, there is also a month-long bootcamp scheduled to kick off on February 25.
Chattanooga Roller Derby’s 12th season will officially begin with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 4th at the Chattanooga Convention Center. Get all the details, including this season’s home and away schedule, by visiting chattanoogarollerderby.com, Chattanooga Roller Derby’s Facebook, or contact them at join@chattanoogarollerderby.com.