The
Brazos Valley Roller Derby League (BVRD) is comprised of a diverse group of
women. We range in age from our early twenties to mid-fifties and consist of
single women, married women, single moms, and married women with families. We
have a variety of occupations like nurses, veterinarians, hairdressers, musicians, artists and students just to name a few. Despite our diversity,
we stand together unified as a team because of a sport that we all love to
play. However, love of the game alone is not always enough to move things
forward and thrive.
Currently
we practice 3 days a week and have home games in back room of our local VFW.
While we are highly appreciative of their generosity in allowing us to use the
space, the conditions in which we play in are still far from ideal. The track
we play on is temporary and is much smaller than regulation size, and the times
during which we can practice are limited by the availability of the VFW. There
is no space to house sporting equipment or projects that we might be working on
such as game decorations or community outreach programs. In addition, when we
play a home game there is often not enough seating to accommodate all our fans.
Many are left standing and chairs are packed so tightly that those who are
seated are placed very close to the track. While that offers a great view there
is always the danger of a guest being injured by a player being hit off the
track during game play.
This
is where we need your help. If we had funding for our league we would be able
to purchase items such as new team jerseys, updated equipment for practice, and
the tools needed for fundraising projects. This is something that we as a
small league do not have the ability to generate.
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The Brazos Valley Roller Derby League (BVRD) is comprised of
a diverse group of women. We range in age from our early twenties to
mid-fifties and consist of single women, married women, single moms, and
married women with families. We have a variety of occupations like nurses,
veterinarians, paralegals, hairdressers, musicians, artists, and students just
to name a few. Despite our diversity, we stand together unified as a team
because of a sport that we all love to play. However, love of the game alone is
not always enough to move things forward and thrive.
BVRD was a started in December of 2014 after the end of the
2014 season. Roller Derby is a growing sport in the Bryan/College Station area
and we now have a league that is 28 members strong.
The leagues journey since has been anything but easy. We are
still working on the logistics of everything that is necessary to be a fully
operating league. We are in the process of becoming a nonprofit organization,
and setting accounts so that we are more easily accessible for our fans. Our
only source of funding comes from our bouts once a month, and that is not
enough to buy 28 individuals uniforms. We are lucky that our local VFW allows
us to use their event hall for practices 3 days a week, and lets us host our
bouts there once a month. Our only other option would be to skate at an outdoor
hockey rink that we often have to ward of soccer players who would rather use
the rink than the soccer fields.
Currently we practice 3 days a week and have home games in
back room of our local VFW. While we are highly appreciative of their
generosity in allowing us to use the space, the conditions in which we play in
are still far from ideal. The track we play on is temporary and is much smaller
than regulation size, and the times during which we can practice are limited by
the availability of the VFW. There is no space to house sporting equipment or
projects that we might be working on such as game decorations or community
outreach programs. In addition, when we play a home game there is often not
enough seating to accommodate all our fans. Many are left standing and chairs
are packed so tightly that those who are seated are placed very close to the
track. While that offers a great view there is always the danger of a guest
being injured by a player being hit off the track during game play.
This is where we need your help. If we had funding for our
league we would be able to new team jerseys, updated equipment for practice,
and the tools needed for fundraising projects. This is something that we as a
small league do not have the ability to generate. We believe that if we are
able to raise enough funds, not only would it greatly impact our team, but it
would positively benefit our community as well.
Currently our league
has gone beyond the walls of the VFW taking our message of positivity and
reaching out to help the general community as best we can. We've helped Habitat
for Humanity three times with roofing, interior priming/painting, and
landscaping. One of our home bouts benefited SARC, the Sexual Assault Resource
Center. We have volunteered at functions that benefit Phoebe’s Home, a rescue
center for beaten and abused women and children. We also regularly work at
functions to assist the VFW. We would welcome the opportunity to be able to do
more community programs. This would be easier if we had a facility of our own
since location is often cost prohibited. There are many children in this area
who we could teach to skate and in the future even establish a junior derby
league. The possibilities are endless. Many of our players want to give back to
future generations since derby has touched their lives in ways they never even
imagined. To the women of BVRD, being able to be a part of this sport has been
a rock, an outlet, an emotional support system, and so much more than we would
ever be able to truly express with just a statement. Please help us raise money
to further our team and help us help our community!
