Announcing…the Lustre Pearl and Clive Bar Best Seats in the House

There are advantages to watching sports at home in your living room — you get to sprawl on a comfy couch and you don’t have to line up for food and drinks. But even the biggest TV can’t compare to seeing the action live, right in front of you, and even when you have all your friends over, the atmosphere isn’t as electric as being surrounded by 3,000 screaming fans. What’s a person to do?

The Texas Rollergirls, with Lustre Pearl and Clive Bar, are proud to announce that we have the solution: The Best Seats in the House!

Our friends at Lustre Pearl and Clive Bar are giving two lucky fans the opportunity to enjoy the ultimate derby experience at our next bout! They’ve installed two couches in a prime viewing position, right up against the safety barrier for a completely unimpeded view, and we’ll have rollergirls coming by throughout the night to answer any questions you might have about roller derby and the action on the track. Our winners will also be receiving a goodie bag with drink tickets from Lustre Pearl and Clive Bar, some Texas Rollergirls swag and snacks to nibble on throughout the night. All the comforts of home, with all the thrills of being at the event: blissful!

We’ll be conducting a random drawing on game day to figure out who’ll be enjoying this amazing experience — collect a ticket when you come into the building and keep your ears peeled for the announcers calling your number. You and a friend could be the lucky folk enjoying the Lustre Pearl and Clive Bar Best Seats in the House!

Buy your tickets online to our Saturday, March 3rd bout now and be sure to pickup your free raffle ticket for the Best Seat drawing!!

» Student/Military – $10
» General – $12
» General Day-Of-Bout – $15
» VIP (get guaranteed VIP seating, OK, not on a cushy couch, but, still right up against the bumpers AND early entrance – 30 minutes before any general admission tickets!) – $22

VIP Smack Packs are now on sale!

The Texas Rollergirls’ 2012 season is kicking off in just a few short weeks! We’re currently selling limited edition VIP Smack Packs and season tickets – do you have yours?

Our VIPs get amazing seating, right on the safety barrier for a perfect view of all the on-track action! You’ll get even more up close and personal with the Texas Rollergirls as skaters swing by your section to answer your questions and chat about the game, and hand out some special treats from our fantastic sponsors. VIP Smack Pack holders also get early entry to the bouts, so you can skip the lines at the door and the refreshment stands, as well as getting to see the skaters warm up.

Our regular season tickets offer amazing value – $75 gets you into every single game of 2012! That’s 18 games total: six home-team double-headers featuring your favorite local skaters and every game of the two-day tournament we’re throwing in June. We’re hosting four of the best teams in modern flat track roller derby, including Austin’s very own Texecutioners, currently ranked third in the world. These are the cheapest tickets we offer – don’t miss out on this deal!

Smack Packs and season tickets are available online only –  visit our ticket page for more information or to buy yours!

Champs rematch in our 2012 debut!

At the end of last season, the Hustlers ended the Hotrod Honeys’ three-year spell as Texas Rollergirls champions, while the Hell Marys fought their way to a win over the favored Honky Tonk Heartbreakers, taking home the third-place trophy. It was a night of thrills, spills and upset victories – the perfect way to end our amazing first season at the Austin Convention Center!

In 2012, we’re planning to lift our game and make our events even more exciting, so we’re kicking off our season with a rematch of last year’s championships … the mother of all grudge matches! Our teams are more closely matched than ever before and whether they’re aiming to keep their standings or earn them back, everyone rolling onto the flat track on Saturday, March 3, has a point to prove. Can the Hotrod Honeys take the shine off the Hustlers? And will the Hell Marys send the Honky Tonk Heartbreakers to the underworld … again?

This is your first opportunity to see the rising stars of Texas Rollergirls as our 2012 rookie class makes their debut, along with some exciting transfers, and of course, your favorite veteran skaters will be returning, too. The 2012 season promises to be harder, faster, stronger, better roller derby than ever before – and we can’t wait to see you trackside! Season tickets are on sale now at www.texasrollergirls.org or you can pick up single tickets online and at our vendors.

PURCHASE TICKETS
VIP Smack Pack Season Tickets, Regular Season Tickets, Single Bout Tickets Available.

Introducing: The 2012 HELL MARYS

2011 RANKING: #3 (1W, 3L)

The Hell Marys School for Wayward Girls, established in 1666, is a Texas institution and its varsity roller derby team is a force to be reckoned with. Clad in plaid, the Hell Marys started an Austin trend with last year’s new cheer:
“Punch, punch, punch, ARROW!”

The Hells ended their wilderness years in convincing style in 2011. After picking up a lot of fresh new talent at the start of the year, the team finally pulled out a win when it mattered most, in the third-place playoff. They’ll be looking to build on this success in 2012 and with several promising newcomers on the roster, they’ll be in good shape to raise some hell!

Watch it below or on youtube: Hell Marys 2012

Texas Rollergirls Survey

Central Texas fans: Do you want to win 2 free tickets to the first Texas Rollergirls bout on March 3rd? Then take our survey created by students at the University of Texas! It is brief, confidential, and will help out with our future marketing efforts!

PLEASE NOTE: This is different than the WFTDA survey that just came out – this is a TEXAS ROLLERGIRLS survey.

Thank you so much!

WFTDA Surveys!

It’s survey season once again! This year the WFTDA is collecting data and audience feedback in two separate surveys.

Are you a fan, skater, or league partner? Please participate in our third annual demographic survey. The WFTDA wants to know more about you and your opinions!

And if you watched the WFTDA 2011 Big 5 tournament broadcasts or attended them in person, please also participate in our first tournaments and broadcasting survey. Help us plan to make the 2012 tournaments and broadcasts as successful as possible!

The surveys will be open from February 1st to February 15th. Survey participants may optionally enter a drawing to win a WFTDA prize pack (a Ceramic Insulated Coffee Mug and a Gildan Soft Grey WFTDA Tee). Five winners from each survey will be selected at random after the surveys close and will be notified by email.

Sponsor Highlight – Minuteman Press

We wanted to highlight one of our sponsors for 2012. Minuteman Press has been so amazing to work with last year and this year — always with great pricing for us, and also honest, dependable, speedy service — always. The quality of work is outstanding – all of the schedule cards, posters and programs you see coming from the Texas Rollergirls – are printed by them. We are HUGE FANS! THANK YOU MINUTEMAN PRESS!!!

- Sinnerfold
Chief Communications Officer for the Texas Rollergirls
Skater for the Hell Marys

Minuteman Press

Austin 1221 W. 6th St, Austin 78703
www.minutemanaustin.com
Hours: 8:30-5:50 M-F

We are a full service print shop — just about anything printed — we can put your logo on it. We work for individuals and businesses – everything from business cards to band posters to high-end wedding invitations.

Any deals for TXRG fans? We will print your poster art (11″ x 17″) on our standard paper for 50 cents each – as many or as few as you need for the entire 2012 Texas Rollergirls’ season! (THAT’S MORE THAN 50% OFF!) Come in and say, “Texas Rollergirls Rock”

Which Texas Rollergirls home team do you cheer for and why? Hell Marys, because they are the meanest.

What’s your favorite thing about Austin? Austin is cool because the people are cool here, and it rubs off on people who come here as well.

How long have you been in business? Who are the owners? Tom and Carol Marek are our owners – we have been in business for 3 years and just expanded the business.

What’s unique about your business? We believe the business can only work if we have one happy customer at a time – we believe a competitive price and great service will keep people coming back.

Why do you sponsor TXRG? We like the whole idea of the derby – it is awesome to watch, and the atmosphere is great at the bouts.

If your business played derby, what would the derby name be? Slim Whitman

(Slim Whitman! LOVE IT!)

(Hell Marys!! I did not make him say that.)

 

2011 Whammy Awards

Scarlot Harlot & Whiskey L'amour

Another year, another season revving up–but before we look forward to our second season at the Austin Convention Center, we honored our skaters from the past season at the 2011 Whammy Awards. Dressed to match the spy-themed occasion, costumes ranged from a variety of Bond-girls, an homage to Archer, and a cameo by Inspector “GoGo” Gadget. The festivities were emceed by retired Texas Rollergirls Whiskey L’amour and Scarlot Harlot who kept the night lively.

Big winners of the night included Luce Bandit with six awards and Vicious Van GoGo with eight awards. Other notable award winners were Olympia with Best Assets, NaeSlayer as Most Improved, and returning skater, Desi Cration, as the 2011 Ms. Texas Rollergirl. The Derby Brothers, based in Houston, were also honored with the first ever “Best Volunteer(s)” award.

Check out the full list of award recipients below:

League awards:

Jammer of the Year: Vicious Van GoGo
Blocker of the Year: Bullet Tooth Tracy
Pivot of the Year: Luce Bandit
League MVP: Luce Bandit
Rookie of the Year: Smarty Pants
Most Improved : NaeSlayer
Ms. Texas Rollergirl: Desi Cration

Luce Bandit

Team awards — Hell Marys:

Best Jammer: Luce Bandit
Best Pivot: Virgo Vengeful
Best Blocker: Smarty Pants
Most Valuable Player: Luce Bandit
Most Valuable Spirit: Babyface Assassin
Captain’s Choice: Kat A Killzem

 

 

Nae Slayer - Most Improved

Nae Slayer

Team awards — Honky Tonk Heartbreakers:

Best Jammer: Shortcut
Best Pivot: Ruby Wring
Best Blocker: Ruby Wring
Most Valuable Player: Shortcut
Most Valuable Spirit: DeBella DeBall
Captain’s Choice: Ruby Wring

 

 

 

Vicious Van GoGo

Team awards — Hotrod Honeys:

Best Jammer: Vicious Van GoGo
Best Pivot: Lucille Brawl
Best Blocker: Shank
Most Valuable Player: Vicious Van GoGo
Most Valuable Spirit: Vargas Grrl
Captain’s Choice: Hydra

 

 

 

Belle Starr

Team awards — Hustlers:

Best Jammer: The Killa Sal Monella
Best Pivot: Bullet Tooth Tracy
Best Blocker: Belle Starr
Most Valuable Player: The Killa Sal Monella
Most Valuable Spirit: Bad Influence
Captain’s Choice: Cheap Trixie

 

 

The Texecutioners

Team awards — Texecutioners:

Best Jammer: Vicious Van GoGo
Best Pivot: Luce Bandit
Best Blocker: Luce Bandit
Most Valuable Player: Vicious Van GoGo
Most Valuable Spirit: DeBella DeBall
Captain’s Choice: Olivia Shootin’ John

 

 

Chip Queso

Other awards:

Best Assets: Olympia
Most True to Name: Shortcut
Camera Hog: Muffin Tumble
Best Team Intro: Hustler “UFO”
Best Boutfit: Lady Stardust
Best Volunteer: Derby Brothers
Unsung Hero: Chip Queso
Best On Track Antics: Belle Starr
Life of the Afterparty: Baby Face Assassin
Best Take Out: Curvette taking out an unsuspecting Vicious Van GoGo

Fan favorites:

Who is your favorite Texas Rollergirl (on or off the track)? Vicious Van GoGo
Which Texas Rollergirl is fiercest on the track? Vicious Van GoGo
Who was your favorite DJ? Sparkle Plenty
Which was your favorite band? August 6 – School of Rock
Golden Mic – Who was your favorite announcer? Chip Queso
Shutterbug Award- Who was your favorite photographer? Felicia Graham

 

All photos copyright Bill Smotrilla. 

Announcer Audition Update

We recently held open auditions to find some new men and women to join our announcing crew for the upcoming season. Held at the historic Scholtz Garten in downtown Austin, over 20 talented inviduals came out to show off their skills on the microphone.

In the end, we were only able to keep seven. But we’re looking forward to welcoming a fantastic new crew of Announcers and Crowd Wranglers to help keep the energy turned up to an 11 for our upcoming season of serious sport and serious fun at the Austin Convention Center. Mark your calendars & buy your tickets now: March 3rd is our first game of the 2012 season!

International photographer to shoot our 2012 campaign

Photo by Rom Anthonis

We’re thrilled to announce that Australian photographer, Rom Anthonis, will be in Austin this weekend shooting our 2012 marketing campaign. He first came to our attention when he photographed some of our Hotrod Honeys during their trip to Australia this summer, as part of a feature showing Melbourne’s quirkier side. Rom’s images captured both the grit and the glamor of roller derby, and as soon as we saw the pics, we knew we wanted to work with him in a much bigger capacity!

So how did we convince a photographer from the other side of the world to come to Austin to work on this project? It’s thanks to our head of marketing, Sinnerfold, and some really good timing, says Rom. “I was very happy to be asked and seeing as I’d planned a trip to see some buddies and do a shoot in Los Angeles at about the same time, I thought I’d kill two birds and get involved with this shoot as well. Sinnerfold just seemed very organized and had a vision for the style of the campaign, so I was grateful to help out.” Of course, Texas’ illustrious history didn’t hurt! “She also mentioned that Austin was THE town for the top skaters around,” Rom adds, “and that roller derby was basically ‘born’ there, so it seemed very appealing.”

Check out Rom’s portfolio on his website.
And you can also follow him on Facebook.

Rom has also been recently doing camerawork on a slasher/derby film titled “Murderdrome.” It’s an online serial – find the whole project at murderdromemovie.com or become a fan on Facebook.

This weekend’s shoot is Top Secret but we will say this: we are super excited about what’s in store for our 2012 marketing campaign. Check back over the weekend as we’ll be giving you some glimpses behind the scenes – just enough to whet your appetite!