Congratulations to CNYRD’s Graduating Class!

Look out Central New York, there’s going to be some killer roller derby in 2011! Last night, at the league’s Utica practice facility, we graduated our newest class of skaters.

After completing twelve weeks of intensive derby training and passing physical and written assessments, CNYRD’s newest recruits are eligible to be drafted to the league home teams in January. This is CNYRD’s largest class to date! We had our largest turnout ever when we held our open skate back in September. Over fifty people showed up, including about twelve men who were interested in training to become refs! About twenty-five girls and six guys stuck with it and together learned all things derby. Once again, we got people from all walks of life. Some that had never participated in sports before, and others with experience in in-line skating, skateboarding, and running. We have girls from Remsen, Herkimer, Utica, Clinton and a girl who had recently moved from Oswego and had started with a team there. Along with the graduating class of new skaters, the league has also welcomed nine transfer skaters with derby experience from another league in recent weeks, making our derby family even bigger! Welcome to the CNYRD family, ladies and gentlemen.

Part Two of CNYRD Feature Story Airs

Following up from last week's post about the feature story on CNYRD airing during Good Morning America, Part 2 of the feature aired this morning. You can watch the second part of the video here.

Feature Story on CNYRD Airs During Good Morning America

Mike Spellman, the sports director at WUTR-WFXV-WPNY and cnyhomepage.com, paid a visit to practice just before Thanksgiving, and Part One of his feature story on the league aired this morning during Good Morning America. Watch the video here.


Thanks to Mike for covering the local roller derby scene! And make sure to tune in to WUTR next Friday morning during Good Morning America to see Part Two.

What makes the perfect holiday gift? Derby swag!

Share the derby love with your friends and family this holiday season. The Tramontane Cafe in Utica carries CNYRD’s t-shirts, buttons, stickers, totes, and baby bibs for every member of your family. Make sure to pick up some derby swag for gifts and stocking stuffers! The Tram carries CNYRD logo merchandise, as well as Utica Clubbers and Blue Collar Betties team apparel. And keep an eye out for the brand spankin’ new Rome Wreckers goods, coming soon to the Tram and to derby fans everywhere…

The Tramontane Cafe is located at 1105 Lincoln Avenue in Utica.

CNYRD Collecting Toys for Jams for Tots!

CNY Roller Derby is teaming up with Jams for Tots this year to make local children's holiday season a little more playful! Bring any unwrapped new toy to the Tramontane Cafe between November 15th and December 1st. On December 4th all of the toys collected will be presented to the Jams for Tots event taking place at The Electric Company from 2:00pm-2:00am. CNY Roller Derby will also be donating some of our merch in a gift basket to be auctioned off for the cause. Please join us in making this holiday season special for the kids in the area!

CNYRD wants to walk in with a gigantic sack of toys to donate, so HELP US OUT!

Donation Location:
Tramontane Cafe
1105 Lincoln Ave.
Utica, NY

Hours: Mondays & Tuesdays 7:30am-9:30pm; Wednesdays & Thursdays 7:30am-11:00pm; Fridays 7:30am-12:00am; Saturdays 12:00pm-12:00am; Sundays 5:00pm-11:00pm.


The Jams for Tots event is in its second consecutive year. Organized by our good friend Marie Soldato (of CNYRD sponsor Soldato's Pizza), and hosted by CNYRD sponsor and supporter The Electric Company, the actual event runs from Dec 4th at 2pm straight through Dec 5th at 2am. 12 hours of awesome live music for a good cause. The festivities will include raffles, giveaways, special guests, and live music by:

Positive Mental Trip
Tim Herron Corp. Acoustic
Joe Sweet
Sweet Vendetta
Cappy Franti Duo (Michael Franti's son)
John of the Shred
The Whiskey Reverb
El Ka Bong
Monday Night Special
and more TBA

$7 cover OR bring a new, unwrapped toy and get in for free
All money raised goes to the purchase of toys so we can give less fortunate children a better Christmas.
Strangers Helping Strangers will be there collecting non-perishable food items, baby items and feminine products.



If you're on Facebook and want to help us with our donation, please add yourself to our CNYRD event page here.
Also, please check out the Jams for Tots facebook page for more info

CNYRD Appearing at the Bargain Bin Review - B-Movie Bonanza Saturday!!!

Members of CNY Roller Derby will be participating in the Bargain Bin Review / B-Movie Bonanza event going on THIS Saturday, Noveber 6th, from 8pm-12:30am at the Uptown Theater, 2014 Genessee St, Utica, NY.

Come see your favorite Utica Clubbers, Blue Collar Betties, and Rome Wreckers get put on the spot in a game show and lots of other fun.

Showing BEST WORST MOVIE and TROLL 2, featuring games, prizes, vendors, live music by Tribal Law, and of course, US!

Tickets are on sale NOW, at the Uptown Theater or the Tramontaine Cafe, $10 advance or $12 at door.

CNYRD's Quest for a new home on City Limits!

Back in September, the crew from City Limits, the weekly TV show put out by Utica mayor David Roefaro , came to one of our home bouts and did some filming. They wanted to concentrate on showing our success with our events, the ladies of our league, and our quest for a dependable year round home.
We're happy to share that our prayers have been answered. More info on that to come;)

Thank you to the crew of City Limits for producing this wonderful piece. We really appreciate the support!

[unfortunately we could not get our video files to sync up with the audio....sorry for the weird sync stuff!]