In conjunction with the Second Annual Rhiner Festival, the Ithaca League of Women Rollers is throwing their derby rule book out the window to present:
The Rhiner’s Brawl—The Greatest Show on Earth on September 11th at Cass Park Rink.
Come get an eye- and ear-full of this freakshow spectacle as Ithaca’s favorite rollergirls team up as The Tailed vs. The Tutu’d for this very special derby event. The arena will come alive with trumpeting Klezmer horns, heckling clowns, jousting acrobats, mesmerizing magician, balloon twisters, fabulous face painting, and all around Tom foolery that will give you a stitch in your side at this throwback to 20’s era circus show—fun for the entire family!
Cass Park will open their doors at 6:00 pm and the antics will start rolling at 6:30. A suggested donation of $5 for kids and $10 for adults makes this event possible. A portion of the bout proceeds will go to support the Tompkins County History Center. Spectators are encouraged follow the circus to Moonshine Island Speakeasy at Castaways after the Brawl, where bout spectators will receive a free glass of hooch.
Located in Long Island, NY
Please visit the Empire Skate Showdown website for more info on location and ticketing.
Teams from all over the Empire State will converge upon Long Island for the EMPIRE SKATE SHOWDOWN! An intense, single day event that brings together skaters from the Canadian border to the Eastern tip of Montauk battling it out in true Roller Derby fashion to see which team will be left standing to take home the ESSD Trophy!
8 Teams – 2 Tracks – 12 Bouts
Doors @ 1pm – First Whistle @ 2pm
Teams Competing:
Long Island Roller Rebels
GGRD’s Wall Street Traitors
Hudson Valley Horrors
Hellions of Troy
Albany All-Stars
Ithaca League of Women Rollers
Central New York Roller Derby
Assault City
Tickets available @ Brown Paper Tickets or from any Long Island Roller Rebel
$20 in advance/$25 @ the door
Wreck Derby is a chance to learn the basic skills of flat-track roller derby. This is a perfect way to learn the game if you are considering trying out for our league next year, or just for some great exercise. We’ll cover the basics and skip the bone-crushing hits! You learn the game with some modified blocking rules. Come skate, and meet some amazing women!!
*If you don’t have these items we can rent them to you. We’ll do our best to locate a pair of rental skates for you until you get your own. If we don’t have your size available, or you drop in and we didn’t know you were coming, you can also do your first night on rollerblades, if you already skate.
Knee and Elbow pads, (see below for details on recommended styles), wrist guards, a mouth guard and a skate helmet are required items. You can find starter items at any skateboard, or sports store, but remember to look for good padding! We have very limited spare items of safety gear, but it is first come, first serve, and size is limited. We recommend you buy your gear in advance, or borrow some. Rollerblading pads will work for your first night out, and a bike helmet will suffice too. Don’t be shy, come on out and try it!
1) Skates
Quad roller skates or quad speed skates are required.
Artistic boots or speed boots are your choices. Artistic boots are higher and offer more ankle support if you have weak ankles, but provide less ankle mobility for roller derby skating. It’s a personal choice, and trust us, your starter skates may last a very long time, but will not be your last pair if you like roller derby! Speed boots are the derby skate boot, of course, so it’s your best bet. We will strengthen those ankles in no time! If you do not have skates today, we have limited loaners available, but we will need to know when you plan to attend and what shoe size/skate size you need.
2) Safety equipment
a) Knees
Although we will let you skate with any pads of your choice, we recommend a skateboard/skating knee pad with at least 1 ½ inches of padding. This is so that you can learn to fall safely, and to perform exercises on your skates more comfortably. Recommended brands are Triple 8, 187 and Fatboy for skaters over 150 lbs, and Pro-Tec Street. These pads work for skateboarding and aggressive skating and offer the best protection for you.
b) Elbows
Same as above. Some falls we teach require elbow pads to connect with the floor, and we want you to be protected.
c) Wrists
A wrist guard protects the weak wrist joint from injury when you use your hands to prevent a fall, which is common for beginners when they fall backwards.
d) Mouth guard
You can pick a boil-and-bite mouth guard up at any sports/hockey equipment type store. We recommend you pay the little bit extra for a SHOCK DOCTOR mouth guard, as it comes with insurance. In case you fall and face-plant, you want your smile to stay pretty! Plus, it helps prevent concussions from biting down hard and suddenly during a fall.
e) Helmet
We recommend a skate or skateboard helmet, but any helmet certified for skating or cycling is acceptable for beginners.
For first timers:
Rollerblades, rollerblade starter pads, bike helmets, and low-level mouth guards are accepted for first-timers that are just trying it out.
We have very limited, first-come, first-serve extra pieces of gear, and loaner skates, but we don’t recommend that you depend on it! Please obtain your own safety equipment, even if you are borrowing it, or getting loaner skates from ILWR.
Otherwise, your first night can include some off-skate training and off-skate advice on what to work on until you have skates, and you can observe the practice to see if you are excited by it and want to come back. Please don’t be shy and don’t be scared. We start you off very slow and protected and teach you how to safely skate, stop, and even fall without injury.
Sample Skate Session
15 minutes free skate for warm-up
05 minutes stretch and introduction
30 minutes: Beginner instructions and Advanced Drills to work on new and improve existing skills. May include endurance training, or strength training drills.
30 minutes: Combined skating and practice time, or drills, that will range from pack work, to speed and endurance training, from agility to balance or strength training, derby scenario drills, or games for fun.
05 minutes free skate cool-down
05 minutes stretching
Total: 90 minutes (1.5 hours)
Here’s a quick introduction to the basics of Flat-track Roller Derby:
