We have been honored to be one of chosen leagues  and look forward to showing everyone that Iowa is not to be underestimated. Since Roller Derby teams are skater owned and operated, many travel costs come straight out of pocket. We are looking to our fans to help us have a successful weekend on the flat track by helping us cover the cost of lodging. We have started an Indiegogo Campaign with many levels of donation with various perks. It doesn’t matter how big or small you give– every bit counts!

Please visit our fundraising campaign and see what works for you.

(“And we’ll love you forever!”)

The next two months are an important time for our ranking, because these bouts will determine our inclusion in the newly created Division 2 playoff tournaments.

Divisions and tournaments

Bang’s been on the track with OCCRG since the beginning.  Even though she’s been sidelined with injuries–she’s stayed on through thick and thin.  Most opposing skaters won’t notice her at first, until

Photo by Patrick Bloom.

they’ve been gently thrown into the suicide seats with one of her ninja-lethal, patented hip checks.  She’s also one of the best creative minds in the OCCRG arsenal–you may have seen her bottle-cap jewelry on display at our merch table, and hanging around the necks of most of our skaters.  She’s a team player through and through–she’s got your back both on and off the track–and she’s May’s Skater of the Month. (Cover photo by Cathy Kovach)

Who are you?
I’m Ciara, also known as (Jane) Bang. Jane is short for Janette, my middle name, and Bang ended up being that “household” or everyday word I was looking for.

Bang doles out some pretty punishing hits. Photo by Cathy Kovach.

Any advice to new skaters?
Always air out your gear, or at least unzip your bag.

Krussia Bonez and Red Tribution hold back the jammer. Photo by Danforth Johnson

Left 4 Deadwards gave Old Cap the leg up in the first jam, scoring an unanswered 28 points.  However, as usual for this season, Old Capitol ran into penalty trouble in the first few minutes of the game.  Jammer Ophelia Fracture spent a few minutes in and out of the box within the first ten minutes of the game, and served as a blocker for the remainder of gameplay.  This allowed Bat R Up to step up as jammer, scoring 41 of her own points in the duration of the game.  Deadwards outscored any jammer on the track that night, with an impressive 95 points.  Old Cap rallied during the last thirty minutes, scoring two-thirds of their points in the second half.  With 12 minutes left to go in gameplay, Outlaw Jessie Pains hit the pack and scored the 4 points Old Cap needed to tie the game.  It wasn’t enough, however, and Paper Valley pulled the score just out of reach by the second-to-last jam.

If you missed the bout Saturday, you also missed Animal Mother’s last home one. She will be moving to Alaska (of all places…) this fall for school, and will be missed greatly by the team. She was around at the birth of OCCRG and has helped it’s growth immensely over the years. Losing her craftiness and leadership will leave big knitted leg warmers to fill, but she will always be a part of our derby family.

Deadwards announcing Animal’s last bout. Photo by Danforth Johnson

With Division 2 playoffs nearing, Old Capitol will need to jump into high gear for the remainder of their spring play.  The opportunity to move up in rankings will surely present itself on May 11 during a re-match with St. Chux Derby Chix out of St. Charles, Missouri.  St. Chux out-maneuvered Old Cap in March, taking advantage of several power jams and leaving Old Cap in the dust, 156-228.  This time, Old Cap has the home field advantage–it’s sure to be a great game.  Either way, it will be a great evening, with a dozen local artists displaying and selling their home-made goods at our “Skate or D.I.Y.” craft fair.

Some Participating Vendors:

The Bent Alkhemist – Handmade jewelry with a steampunk and found object flair.

Wandering Mail – Chainmail jewelry, armored plushies and strange stuff.

KBee Knits – Knitted and crocheted items for all ages.

PaJama Love – Quirky, huggable sock dolls.

Sieck Stained Glass – Stained glass pendants.

Hooked On Anime – Crocheted goods.

Tall Corn Confections – Handmade candies and chocolate.

Night Owl Bliss – Wall art, hand-stamped cards, jewelry and more.

The Sara Initiative - Handmade home decor.

Paula’s Creations – Handmade jewelry.

Old Cap continues its spring season by taking on Des Moines Derby Dames on May 18th, as well as traveling to Milwaukee for the first weekend in June to take part in two exciting bouts.  Our spring season will come to a close with our mid-year recruitment as well as a fun home team bout on June 28th.  Mark your calendars and get ready for some excellent derby!

The OCC All-Stars will be hosting the Paper Valley All-Stars (Appleton, WI) at the Coralville Marriott Convention Center. The doors open at 6:15pm and the action starts at 7pm. Tickets are $10 in advance or $13 at the door, but kids 10 and under are always free.

Scouts are encouraged to purchase tickets early for our group rate of 10 or more at $8 per ticket. Groups can be made up of their troop, family, or even friends– all that come with a scout will count towards the competition. Any scout groups that walk up day of will receive $2 off each ticket at the door. A commemorative button will be handed out to the boys and girls while they last. This event is fun for the whole family with lots of great activities for kids, concessions, and a wheel toss at half-time! Get there early to check out the very full merchandise booth, complete with many skater-made items.

Group tickets and general admission tickets can be purchased at OCCRGscoutbout.BrownPaperTickets.com. Scouts should indicate online if they are for the Boy Scouts or Girls Scouts, and can also include their Troop if they would like a shoutout during the bout. Regular $10 advance tickets can be purchased at either New Pioneer Co-op locations or Crossroads Tattoo. Please contact us with any questions.

Keep your eyes on our Facebook for the release of the bout poster next week, and keep up on the buzz by following us @OCCRG #scoutbout! And if you want to take our relationship to the next level, sign up for our BRUISELETTER. It won’t hurt, we promise.

Many of our skaters enjoy crafting, such as A Few Screws Lucy, who owns Laid Out Clothing.

We are inviting crafters to join us at our home bout on Saturday, May 11th. We are looking for unique handmade items, textiles and art. We want to showcase the amazing crafting community that the Iowa City and surrounding area has cultivated, and we also feel it is one that would meld well with our own derby culture. A lot of our merchandise is handmade by skaters and we appreciate the D.I.Y. style.

We hold our bouts at the Coralville Marriott Convention Center. We are offering an 8 foot by 8 foot space alongside our merch and sponsors tables for a $25 fee. An 8 foot table can be added for $15. There is free WIFI available in the building and access to electricity is available but bringing an extension cord is encouraged. The booth includes one free adult admission and spaces will be filled at a first come, first served, basis.

Admission for our bouts is $10 in advance, $13 at the door, and kids ten and under are free. The game starts at 7pm and the doors normally open at 6:15, but will be opened at 5:00pm to provide more time for the audience to check out booths. There are two 30 minute periods with a 20 minute half time. Attendance at our first bout this season was over 700, and it is a very family friendly environment. We strongly suggest that applicants consider roller derby’s demographic when applying, and please e-mail us with any questions. The Old Capitol City Roller Girls are not liable for any lost or stolen items and vendors will attend at their own risk. More details about set up and break down will be provided once vendors are confirmed.

Fill out our application here and you will get a confirmation with directions for paying your fee. The deadline for applications is April 28th. 

Skaters have been enjoying the new rules, unfortunately some kinks still need smoothed out. A penalty heavy bout caused quite a few timeouts to make sure everything was correct. Photo by Patrick Bloom.

Cover Photo by Patrick Bloom.

The Old Capitol City All-Stars took on the Fargo Moorhead Northern Pains on March 9th in a sold-out, edge-of-your-seat nail-biter.  Fargo took the win, 186-168.  The crowd was excited to be back in the seats at the Coralville Marriott and shook the rafters with cheers and boos as Old Capitol and Fargo traded points and hits.  The new WFTDA ruleset creates a faster, harder-hitting game, and it was clearly a crowd pleaser.

After several disappointing jams in the first few minutes, Old Capitol had a few lucky power-jams and scooped up enough points to come within striking distance of Fargo.  Fargo shifted their game, hitting harder, fighting stronger, and ran up the score to 111-84 at the half.  Old Capitol came back swinging, and after jam after jam of 3 and 4 points, took the lead with 10 minutes left to go in the second half.

Awesome buddy blocking by Manta Rae and Jane Bang. Photo by Dave Schrader.

It looked like Old Cap’s game, but it was a penalty heavy bout with Bat R Up and Ophelia Fracture fouling out after receiving 7 majors. Old Cap scrambled to keep it together, but gave up lead jammer too many times to control the score. Fargo regained the lead but had Old Cap hot on their trail. Going into the last three jams Fargo was ahead by only 13 points and a win wasn’t out of Old Cap’s sights yet. In what looked like the last jam, Left 4 Deadwards picked up a quick four points and a time out was called to get one final jam in. Deadwards took the line again and got lead as the crowd erupted in cheers, but the excitement was quickly extinguished as she got called off for a major high block.

The crowd was amazing and kept the skaters excited and going. Photo by Danforth Johnson.

Despite the loss, it was a fantastic display of athletics and just great derby.  The skaters and the crowd kept up the intensity and energy for the party afterward, hosted by Backpocket Brewery.

This weekend Old Cap heads to Omaha to take on their All-Star team on March 16. Two seasons ago in June, OCCRG took on the Omaha AAA team and walked away with an impressive 255 to 8 win. This time around against their All-Stars will be much tougher and an exciting battle against a higher-ranked team.  After spring break has come and gone, the OCC All-Stars will head south to take on St. Chux Derby Chix of St. Charles, Missouri.

Patrick Bloom’s Photos

Dave Schrader’s Photos

Danforth Johnson’s Photos

 Bat R. Up

Photo by Danforth Johnson

Who are you?! 

I’m Bat R. Up. I love to play slow pitch softball — mostly I love to hit the ball as hard as I possibly can, making those outfielders have to run for their lives once I make contact with the ball and surpass them by 100 yards. I thought it would be fun to have a derby name that holds true to another passion I have. It also means I get to wear baseball shorts, which is just a bonus.

Despite starting as a very small team practicing at our local elementary school gym, we have grown into a full member league for the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association and currently have close to 50 members.   I feel very proud of how far our team has come since 2008.  I remember my first practice with the team, and how little we all knew about anything but shared the passion to make our team successful.  I love that we never gave up and continue to learn every day, always growing and striving to become better at what we do.  We have come so far in the last four years, and I can’t wait to see where we go from here.

Photo by Cathy Kovach Photogrpahy

What was something unexpected that you got out of roller derby?

I think roller derby has unexpectedly made me be more conscious of my health and well being.  I don’t think I was expecting that from the sport, but I believe it has made me a more fit person, and heightened my awareness about nutrition and general self care.  I am very grateful for these things!

What do you still hope to accomplish? 

I read this quote the other day at the gym, and I feel like it really sums up the big picture of my goals.
“It isn’t hard to be good from time to time in sports. What is tough, is being good every day.”
-Willie Mayes

Whether it is staying out of the penalty box, or being a better communicator on the track, I want to be good every day, not just once in a while.

Any advice to new skaters?

I encourage everyone I meet to try roller derby.  It doesn’t matter how old you are, what shape you are in, or that you’ve never roller skated before.  DO IT!  It will change your life.  Buy really good knee pads, and practice, practice, practice.  Make that jammer work to get your point!!!

Photo by Cathy Kovach Photography

OCC takes the win over MNRG at the Xcel Center. Photo by Danforth Johnson

The Old Capitol City Roller Girls are taking to their home track for the first time in the 2013 season to take on the Fargo Moorhead Northern Pains on March 9th at the Coralville Marriott.  After a wild first season as full Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby Association (WFTDA) members, the Old Capitol City Roller Girls are gaining their footing and gaining a reputation as a strong, hard-hitting team with good sense and great attitudes.

The Old Cap All-Stars have debuted this season at #20 in the North Central Division Rankings.  They suffered a hard loss at the hands of the Bleeding Heartland Flatliners (320-74)  on February 9th in Bloomington, Indiana, and a close scrape against the Sioux City Roller Dames on February 23rd in Sioux City (132-118).  However, the Old Cap All-Stars saw a ray of hope during their away bout in St. Paul on February 16th.  The All-Stars took on the Minnesota Roller Girls All-Star B-Squad and took away an exciting victory in front of nearly 8,000 fans at the Xcel Energy Center, 156-145.

With this early-season push behind them, the Old Cap All-Stars are ready to rise to the occasion and give you some of that fast-paced roller derby action that you’ve so missed!  The Fargo Moorhead Northern Pains (currently ranked #23) are not to be underestimated.  Their travel league has an almost an identical trajectory to that of the Old Cap All-Stars.  This promises to be an exciting bout–as well as the Old Capitol City home-track debut of the newest WFTDA ruleset.  This updated version of the rules creates a faster, cleaner game, featuring a single whistle start for the blockers and the jammers as well as the elimination of minor penalties.

This home game is also First Responders Appreciation Night!  We’re honoring those who work hard for us and keep us safe.  If you are a First Responder, you get the discounted admission price of $8 at the door.  Everyone else can get $10 advance tickets online, at New Pioneer Co-op, or Crossroads Tattoo. As always, we’ll have raffle prizes, games, coloring pages, and new merchandise that will keep you looking great in black and silver!

We are still looking for sponsors this season.  If you or your business want great benefits, advertising, and all things roller derby, email our sponsorship coordinator, Manta Rae. If you are interested in helping out at our bouts as a volunteer or official, email Animal Mother (no experience required!)  Also, sign up for our BRUISELETTER to get the inside scoop, great deals, and all the information about upcoming OCCRG events!

Triple D. Zaster

Photo by Patrick Bloom.

Every team probably has that one player who is out for blood every jam, the one who gets the most laps in five minutes and shows up at almost every free skate possible. When she first laced up her skates she probably had no idea what roller derby was, but she was ready to own it. Her passion makes her fiery and explosive during play and eager to get right back out there when she’s not. She celebrates wins victoriously with her team, but keeps losses to herself. In four years she’s made triumphs on and off the track and the league wouldn’t be the same without her sassy attitude. For us that person is our skater of the month, Triple D. Zaster. (cover photo by Patrick Bloom.)

What position do you like to play? Any signature moves?

It’s funny; when I first started playing derby all I wanted to do was jam.  I loved the speed and the rush of fighting my way through the pack.  And in a self-serving way, I loved the accolades that came with being a [sometimes] successful jammer.  However, with a few more years in the sport under my belt I have found that I have come to enjoy blocking just as much, if not more, than jamming.  I love all of the strategy involved and how the pack situation is always changing and making me think on my feet.  An effective and unrelenting defense is crucial in derby.  To the new or casual fan, a high-scoring jam may be all about the jammer, but they may have missed the blockers doing the brunt of the work — affording their jammer to pick up additional points by holding back or forcing the opposing jammer out on a major, judiciously knowing where to place themselves on the track to create a ‘no-pack’ situation, or simply making holes for the jammer to slip through.

I don’t really have a signature move but I am known for being an extremely aggressive skater, sometimes to a fault.  Something I have worked very hard on is my mental game and keeping my emotions in check.  I’m very passionate about playing and I hate to lose.  Sometimes that can make for a very volatile player.  But on a lighter note, I try to be a versatile skater; the kind that that the bench coach can put anywhere they have a need.  Some bouts I may jam very little or not at all because we are short on blockers, and at others I may alternate regularly between jammer and blocker.  I am not the fastest skater on my team nor the strongest, but I am workmanlike and scrappy.

My skating experience was pretty much nonexistent when I joined the team years ago.  I had skated [terribly] a few times as a young girl, but that was a long time ago.  I was a horrendous skater at first, and Animal Mother used to say that she just constantly worried that I would hurt myself because I fell all of the time.  A lot of people who see me skate now say they have a hard time believing that, but I had to work very hard both in and outside of practice to make of for my lack of ability.  Skating just didn’t come naturally to me.  I remember coming to practices in the first few months and watching Bat R Up, Ophelia Fracture and Left 4 Deadwards and wondering if I’d ever be decent enough to share the track with them in a bout.  I do hold my own nowadays and I’m proud when Animal Mother tells every crop of fresh meat that it’s okay not to be a skating phenom right away: “Trip was really bad when she started but now look at her; she’s actually pretty good.”

As for my athletic background prior to playing derby:  I’ve always been miserable at sports involving aim and any sort of coordination, but I’ve always been somewhat quick so I did cross country and track in middle and high school. I was good enough to make it to state at the end of the season, but that was about it.  Roller derby is first team sport I have ever played and I was seeking a team sport at the time to make friends.  What a superb decision that was!

Oh, gosh.  I love everything — the friends I have made, the three-hour practices, the road trips to away bouts, after-bout parties, seeing the new faces each year at recruitment.  But my favorite thing is that winning feeling you get after you and your teammates have given everything that you have on the track, pulled together and executed everything you’ve spent many hours practicing into play.  There’s nothing like it.

The nail-biting end to our 2011 bout vs MRD’s Unholy Rollers. Photo by KORfan.

Self-confidence.  I started playing at a time when I felt very defeated in life.  I had just withdrawn from college and was laid off from two jobs in the span of six weeks.  Having just moved back to Iowa City, I had virtually no friends.  I was desperate for something to make me feel good about myself and a common ground between myself and other people.  I had attended two practices with the Roller Girls of Central Kentucky (ROCK) in Lexington, and the fresh meat mentor, Ragdoll Ruby, vigorously encouraged me to pursue roller derby even though I had moved.  And for this, I am forever in her debt.  Roller derby has been like a second home for me and I feel like I can do anything.  It’s funny how things work out; I knew nothing about roller derby when I joined but it was easily the best decision I ever made.  I can’t imagine life without it.

The people on this team are like a second family to me.  They’ve been there for me with my many ups and downs, and their support has been unfailing.  My teammates are the first to praise me when I do something well, and conversely the first to let me know when I’m out of line.  Because of them I am a much more disciplined and mature person than I was when I first started four years ago.

I was voted MVP at a bout two seasons ago, and with the talented roster of women that I skate with I never expected something like that to ever happen.  I also outscored the Des Moines Derby Dames’ speedball Stella Italiana in our first meeting, and sometimes I think about putting that on my tombstone.

I definitely want to be a more consistent performer.  I ran a bit hot and cold last year as a skater and I think I’m better than that.  I’d like to be a more patient jammer with better footwork and agility.  As a blocker I’d like to play smarter — the dynamics of the pack are always changing and I’d like to do a better job of staying on top of that, as well as improving the accuracy and efficiency   of my blocks.  Finally, I can be my own worst critic and pretty down on myself sometimes — this season I want to be my own biggest cheerleader and just shrug off the jams that don’t go my way.

Photo by Jay Larson.

1)  If you have been kicking around the idea of joining the team as a player or a ref:  Just do it already!  It’s worth a try and it might end up being one of the best decisions you’ve ever made.  2)  Even if you’re not where you want to be right now, keep trying and practicing.  There’s a lot of bumps and hurdles along the way, but you’ll get out of it what you put in.  Go to as many practices as you can, and spend time on your skates outside of practices as well.  I always take my skates with me when I am traveling and have really enjoyed learning from other teams who were kind enough to host me.  And when the weather is nicer outdoor skates are great tests of endurance and agility.

Derby heroes?

Definitely my captain, Bat R Up.  Even people who know nothing about the sport watch her skate and know that she’s special and quite gifted.  And I’m not sure if there was honestly anyone prouder than me when she made it to the Team USA tryout finals and turned heads at the Battle of the Bank in Seattle as part of Team Legit.  A demanding but encouraging coach and friend, she eats, sleeps and breathes the sport as much –if not more– than I do.  She is a fantastic skater and an even better person.