Buffalo’s newest roller derby league, the Nickel City Renegade Rollergirls, is presenting an all out roller derby bout at New Skateland Arena on June 27, 2015. The two teams, Drop Kick Divas and the Crash Test Dollies, will go toe to toe on that day, delivering a full contact, fast paced spectacle with no penalties to slow down play.
I spoke to league founder Psyko Kupkake regarding her two teams, both of which were founded in 2014. Many of the players entered the league with little or no skating experience, and after some attrition, the players have come out on top and ready to rumble.
Last time I spoke with you, back in September, you were still busy recruiting. How has the playing field shaped up?
Although we have enough skaters to field the two teams, we are still looking for more players. Our newest active skater didn’t know how to skate, and she played the last game. We are super aggressive with our training. Mr. Kupkake teaches the basics on Mondays for the beginners, but we still have all of the players go over the basics on Sundays. At this point, we’re getting a couple of new girls per week… out of every four, only one will stay. There has to be a good fit – the skaters must enjoy what they’re doing. We just got a bunch of new girls through guerrilla marketing – we skate at Delaware Park, and events such as the Pride Parade. After the games, we get a big influx of new skaters. I’m happy with the two teams, and how far the players have come.
What other teams are you playing?
Most of the bouts are in-house. Next season we will be playing more teams outside of Buffalo. We will traveling at that point, just as other teams travel to come here. This September we are heading to San Diego. After that, a team from Bend, Oregon arrives in Buffalo (two weeks later). We will probably have a 10-12 player travel team.
Our first game, in April of 2105, we played San Diego (Mrs. Kupkake’s former team). The West Coast team traveled 3000 miles to come play us. It was so much fun. We actually held our own and did pretty well. As for the East Coast, Buffalo is the first city to establish a Renegade Roller Girls league, which opens the door for any West Coast team to travel east – this has worked to our advantage. We hosted a meet and greet the day before the San Diego game in Buffalo. Their team cooked Mexican food for us, and then we gave them (the obligatory) wings, pizza, and Paula’s Donuts. Then we took them to Niagara Falls.
Is starting the league and running it everything that you had expected?
It’s a lot of work, but I’ve been super lucky that all of our players are active in the league. Everyone helps with organizing. Some players help with coaching, or promo, or hustling for ads. We even have a couple of girls who come from Canada. We met them at open skate at Rainbow Rink when we first started, and they came to our practices and then stuck with us. We recruit where we can, while being respectful to other leagues.
What have you learned?
I love to see the friendships between the girls that never would have met, and now they are good friends. We jumped in feet first, and booked a schedule with bout dates on the calendar before we even had our teams. Then we were worried that we didn’t have enough girls, and they would be exhausted (before our last game), but they were fine. The league is starting to come into its own.
Will you be playing Queen City Roller Girls, Buffalo’s original roller derby league?
Because of their insurance, they can’t play us… from what I understand. It’s an entirely different league, with different rules and regulations.
What’s up next for the league?
We are trying to organize a Running of The Dames, by setting up a track in the street. The girls on skates try to take flags away from the runners. The last runner to keep his or her flag wins. We also have a car wash that we are planning. We’re doing to some free bouts in the suburbs to turn suburbanites onto the city and the sport.
I saw that during one of the halftime shows, you brought audience members onto the rink and put them on skates (on their stomachs). A roller derby skater then grabbed their legs and pushed and pulled them into a center circle. The audience members was trying to gather up a bunch of balls into baskets, with the help of the skater who was guiding them. What was that all about?
Hungry Hungry Hippos, using real people on skates, of course!
Tell us about your upcoming bout.
Nickel City Renegade Rollergirls presents Superheroes vs. Villains. We’re encouraging people to come in costumes. Saturday, June 27 at 9:30pm. New Skateland Arena. 33 E Ferry St, Buffalo, New York 14209
2015 schedule
april 18 vs SanDiego
may 23 dollies vs divas
june 10 outdoors quaker steak & lube parking lot
june 27 heros vs villians
july 15 outdoors quaker steak & lube parking lot
july 25 theme bout
august 15 divas vs dollies
august 26 outdoors quaker steak & lube parking lot
sept 12 pop up bout (outdoors)
sept 26 (AWAY SD)
oct 10 vs Bend Oregon
nov 14 season closer
Nickel City Renegade Roller Girls YouTube Channel
Facebook | 716-939-8942 | nickelcityrenegaderollergirls@gmail.com
Photos: Michael Nico Nostro (as marked)