Courtesy of Rodney Chen 4th Season’s Winds of Change Bring Men to Roller Derby In the early 2000’s, the modern roller derby revolution began with a focus on all-female, woman run and organized leagues. In its earliest stages, newbie leagues worked closely together to build the sport, develop practices, and strategize about where the sport should head. As with all new leagues, roller derby was as much about the fishnets and tough, punk attitude as it was about the sport. It helped woman learn that they could be tough, beautiful, and confident all while playing an aggressive sport where they didn’t have to be meek and mind their manners. In its current form, modern roller derby has matured by placing more focus on becoming a serious professional sport. While the fishnets and tough, punk attitudes are still present, skaters are now focused on elevating roller derby into a highly competitive sport that can be enjoyed not only by those with punk or alternative lifestyles but can be enjoyed by hipsters and families alike. In November 2011 roller derby’s first World Cup competition was held with participating teams from across the globe. While these games were exciting, the US heavily dominated (as expected). The top US skaters have not only been playing longer but many helped bring about the modern roller derby revolution. Leagues from other countries are much newer but eventually develop similar skill levels as seen on the US flat track. Tournaments hosted by the Woman’s Flat-Track Derby Association (WFTDA) have become the industry leader in showcasing the best athletes that modern roller derby has to offer. The participants, who are national level skaters, are the roll-models for what the future of roller derby will become. They are fast, aggressive, strategic, and hard hitting – they are who most derby girls dream of becoming. What does the future of modern roller derby look like? One can only hope that roller derby does not only develop into a professional sport that showcases fast, aggressive and strategic athletes, but also keeps intact everything that makes it unique, from our derby name to our punk and alternative attitudes.. With that said, modern roller derby has started changing already. Recently, we have seen more focus on men and junior leagues. In December, Sac City Rollers hosted their sixth annual roller derby charity fundraiser Red Red Holiday 6; however, it was the second Red Red that men were allotted scrimmage time. During the prior year (2010), the men’s scrimmage was hard hitting and fierce but lacked strategy because many of the competitors lacked roller derby skater training, most were roller derby referees or coaches. Up until this time, there was only one men’s league in California and even that league was new to the scene. However, during Red Red Holiday 6, the California roller derby community had seen three new men’s leagues start training which resulted a hard hitting and fierce men’s scrimmage with increased strategy and skill. Watching our very own Graves #13 (Head Coach) and Judge Injury #2112 (Referee) participate in their first full length men’s roller derby scrimmage was exciting. Our Undead men did not disappoint. They not only skated fast and hit hard, but they showed that men too could play a very strategic roller derby game. Graves was even seen hitting Quadzilla, infamous for his excellent game play in men’s roller derby, out of bounds causing him to flip a few circles to gain control. While California men’s roller derby is still new and growing, it was evident during this scrimmage that the future of roller derby will include men who will grow into fast, aggressive and strategic athletes just as the women did. But as women have done before them, the men are sure to take men’s roller derby and make it their own. With this recent inspiration, Undead Bettys is proud to announce the very first East Contra Costa County men’s roller derby team. Given the success of our two all-female flat track teams we cannot wait to see what the men have to offer to our sport. Don’t worry, our all-female teams, the Undead Bettys and the Damned Skaters, will continue to bout throughout California too! While there won’t be as many fishnets and short skirts in men’s roller derby (although you never know) there will still be the hard hitting, fast pace strategic game play that you’ve come to know and love from Undead. Interested in playing men’s roller derby, check out our join page at: www.undeadbettys.com/html/join.html Photo was courtesy of Rodney Chen. To view more of his work, please see http://www.flickr.com/photos/beakertehmuppet Skater of the Year 2011 Prim & Improper #9 has been a member of Undead Bettys since the beginning of our first season and during that time she has been and continues to be the heart and spirit of Undead. She truly embodies what all Undead skaters should strive to be; her skating is undeniably aggressive and strategic, her attitude is positive and she’s always eager to learn, and she helps to push each of her sisters to be better. As a blocker, Prim’s asset is not only that booty with an attitude, it’s her ability to think strategically, be a direct leader on the track all while being effective as an individual. From a coaching perspective, she never disappoints, she will fight to the end, be where she is needed when she is needed, can effectively contain a jammer on her own, and still remain calm even if it’s the last jam and we are down by six points. From a teammate perspective, she has the ability to bring calmness to our line in the midst of an epic battle, she knows when to hug her sister, how to provide positive, creative criticism, or put her strong willed derby sister in her place during a tense moment in a bout but still have a great relationship afterward (I hear she can even calm the fire and fury of a roaring dragon every now and again). She brings strategy to our track and the ability to see it during the chaos of any jam. She is confident, dedicated, excellent at positional blocking, agile, quick, calm, an excellent derby sister, and can even jam when needed. As a derby girl, there are not many like her and that is why this is one skater that many of us dream about being someday! She is not only a top notch skater but she is serving in her second year on the executive committee as the Director of Operations and previously served as a captain. On executive committee, she helps to make the tough decisions, helps to determine our next steps in our derby journey, and helps to ensure our skaters are well represented. She even served as an interim league President for one month this season. Prim & Improper, thank you for being so awesome – your drive and dedication to your own skating is inspiring and your dedication to Undead is very much appreciated. You are truly an amazing skater and an excellent sister who we count ourselves lucky to have! You are and always will be the heart and spirit that all of Undead strives to be! Volunteer of the Year 2011 Graves #13 is Head Coach of the Undead Bettys, serves on our executive committee and is CFO, is a master strategist, refs for other leagues when needed, and is a friend and role model to all of our members. He inspires us all to work towards being the best skaters we can be. These roles do not seem to define him completely so we would venture to say that he is truly a modern day renaissance man. He has donated more hours to our league than any other volunteer and more than many of our skaters. He developed Undead’s unique beginner training program which teaches individuals to have solid, confident skating skills before learning to be a derby girl. He later developed our intermediate training program which teaches our Dead (i.e. scrimmage level only) skaters to safely scrimmage and he continues to train these skaters once they are Undead (i.e. bouting level) to not only play safely but push the boundaries and think/play strategically in the pack. He attends advance trainings, watches high level bouts, participates on coaching forums, and avidly reads many coaching and derby blogs to ensure that Undead’s training program continues to grow and keep pace with the ever-changing world of modern roller derby. Even with his extreme dedication to developing our training program, he finds time to serve on Undead’s executive committee and helps to shape the future, goals, and strategies of Undead. He is an advocate for our skaters and members of Zombie Control Unit (“ZCU”, i.e. Undead’s referee and non- skating officials crew), he brings original and well thought out ideas to the table, and he helps the league in any and all areas that need help. He’s served on all committees during various phases of their growth and his imprint can be found throughout our organization. He always strives to be fair, ethical, and professional. For three months this past summer, our founder and president had to step away as her work whisked her away to London, so the executive committee voted for Graves to act as the interim President. He stepped into her skates and filled the role without missing a beat and Undead thrived during his reign. Did we mention that Graves has also signed up to be our first men’s roller derby player? Graves, from all of the members of Undead, we cannot thank you enough for your dedication to our league. Without you, Undead would not be here today! You are an awesome skater, a great Head Coach, and a good friend and leader to Undead. It doesn’t seem like enough but thank you! 2011 Season Close Awards Each year, Undead hosts our season close party during which time we take a moment to reflect on our past season and recognize certain members who stand out amongst us all. We are proud to announce that the following members received the following honors: Season Close 2011: "Philanthropy Maven" Most Dedicated Volunteer: #48 Bad Roll-mance Season Close 2011: “Unrequited Love" Dedication without Bouting Yet: # 245 CatDIEver Season Close 2011: “Ohh Shit Where’d She Go” Most Agile: # 50 cent Ida Bangder Season Close 2011: “You Make This Easy” Best Attitude: # T1T5 Motorboat Season Close 2011: “Gonna Rip Your Ass Next Year" Most Potential: # 72 Nasty Drew Season Close 2011: "The Scrapper" Most Aggressive: # 88 Risky Reignbow Season Close 2011: "Tiger Out The Box" Best Performance In First Game: # 99 Wheelie Hot Season Close 2011: “You’ve Come A Long Way, Girl” Most Improved Player: # 44 Clockwork Carnage Season Close 2011: "Undeadicated Z.C.U. Worked more than half the bout: s #1700 Ewen Jected Season Close 2011: "Undeadicated Z.C.U. Worked more than half the bouts: #2012 Judge Injury Season Close 2011: "Undeadicated Z.C.U. Worked more than half the bouts: # 98 Boyband Season Close 2011: "Undeadicated Z.C.U. Worked more than half the bouts: JewSeal Season Close 2011: "Undeadicated Z.C.U. Worked more than half the bouts: Carson O Genic Season Close 2011: "Undeadicated Z.C.U. Worked more than half the bouts: Ref A. Mortis Season Close 2011: "Undeadicated Z.C.U. Worked more than half the bouts: # 69 DangerX TrickX Season Close 2011: “Shooting Star” Best Damned Jammer: # 76 Dutch Crunch Season Close 2011: “Jammer Death” Best Damned Blocker: # 0 neg Blood Thirsty Season Close 2011: “Jammer Death” Best Undead Blocker: # 86 Ivy Creepin Season Close 2011: “Shooting Star” Best Undead Jammer: # 14 Lethal Limey Season Close 2011: “Heart Of Infected”: # 2020 EvilEye Cherry Season Close 2011: "Heart Of Dead": # X0X0 BamBam BootySlam Season Close 2011: "Heart Of Undead": # 2 Sweet D'Cay Season Close 2011: “Volunteer Of The Year 2011”: #13 Graves Season Close 2011: "Skater Of The Year 2011": # 9 Prim & Improper

Undead Bettys was established to provide a fun sport to promote the empowerment and fitness for all women. We are a female, flat-track roller derby team who focuses on providing entertainment for our fans, fitness and fun for our skaters, and promoting confident, independent members.

We are a grassroots, DIY, skater owned, and operated team that was established in July 2008. We are a brand new league looking to pull ourselves up by our skatestraps through dedication, sweat, and blood.

Got what it takes to be an Undead Betty? If so, check out our Join Us page!