The Old Capitol City Roller Girls (OCCRG) are hosting two bouts this Saturday at the Marriott in Coralville. In addition to being their fall home-opener, this will be the team’s first ever double-header.
The newly-formed OCCRG B-Team will skate in the first bout of the evening against the Cedar Rapids Roller Girls at 6:00 p.m. Though the B-Team is relatively inexperienced when it comes to official play (three girls will be skating in their first official bout), they did beat the Cedar Rapids Roller Girls during a recent scrimmage.
The night’s main event, a bout between the OCCRG All-Stars and the Twin City Derby Girls, is scheduled to take place immediately following the B-Team’s bout.
The All-Stars have lost nine of their last twelve bouts, but according to jammer, blocker and coach Lisa “Left 4 Deadwards” Edwards, the team is constantly striving to improve.
”[Our record] sounds bad on paper, but we’ve been playing a lot of really good teams. There’s a ranking system for roller derby and we’ve been playing a lot of teams above us,” Edwards said.
The team took a break from competition in July, but have continued to practice and prepare for their upcoming double-header. The last time the OCCRG All-Stars met the Twin City Roller Girls, the All-Stars came out on top.
“They’ve been doing good this year, so I think it’ll be a pretty good bout,” Edwards said, later pointing out that the Twin City team is actually from Champaigne-Urbana, not Minneapolis-St. Paul as some might assume.
In partnership with the OCCRG, members of the FilmScene staff will be helping out at the event while raising a bit of cash for their upcoming theater, Scene 1. At half-time, the Roller Girls typically hold a contest in which they sell roller skate wheels for fans to throw at a target in the center of the rink. This weekend, a portion of the half-time proceeds will go to FilmScene, and the winner will receive a free membership to the new cinema, set to open this fall in downtown Iowa City.
Doors open at the Coralville Marriott at 5:15 p.m. Advance tickets can be purchased for $10 online, or at New Pioneer Co-op and Crossroads Tattoo. Tickets may also be purchased at the door for $13. Children under 10 years old get in for free.
