Hello and welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report for this May 30th, 2025.
Have your host James J.Mail off here and welcoming back to the studio.
Our good friends at Mid-State, Roller Derby, we've got Migs with us.
Good morning Migs.
Good morning Migs.
Good morning.
And we have Blake with us.
How you doing?
Hey Blake, thanks a lot for being here.
I appreciate the time from you all.
We have done a really good job when we've gotten together talking about Roller Derby, really
getting into the sport.
For those that are not familiar with it though, I do encourage you to read up, learn more
about it.
Honestly, I don't think it'd take it very long if you know nothing about the sport, even
if you were just looking at the basics of it.
But maybe in a later date, if need be, we will dive into the sport more and everything
for now.
And today, with the time that I got you guys in studio, I want to get into a couple of
other things, the schedule, some community events going on, how people can get involved.
Let's dive first into the schedule, if you don't mind.
And I, first off, I want to just congratulate you on your opening victory.
Open the season with a victory, is that right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
We played in April, and we won our season opener in Steven's point at Willaterina, it's
the first time we've won a home bout in a very long time.
So it was very exciting.
It felt really good.
So then we had the month of May off in terms of boutting, and we hit it hard starting
right away in June.
Yeah, I see you've got to match in June 21st, this will be a double header, it looks
like.
Correct.
We are traveling June 7th to Rochester, Minnesota to skate med city.
And then June 21st, we're back in Steven's point.
We skate against Harbor City out of Duluth, it's definitely Minnesota.
We're going to go with Duluth, and then the second bout is actually a mixer, Minnesota
versus Wisconsin, and it's a B-level, C-level mixer, so skaters from any of the Minnesota
teams that are B-C-level are going to skate, and we have reached out to teams in Wisconsin
to get folks to just do a mixer for those two games.
Cool.
So it's going to be super fun.
Yeah, that sounds awesome.
That sounds like a really good one.
And a great opportunity for you to take this in, especially if you haven't before, you
get two matches right there, you get two games to be able to check out, so that's pretty
cool too.
And then you guys will be back on July 12th, mid-state roller derby, you can be taking
on another team there.
So that would be a good one.
Yep, also at Willa Derina in Steven's point.
Thank you.
I make sure to mention that thank you were good at this here, so good at this.
And again, marker calendars again for July 12th, that'll be a great match.
August 2nd, another one, this time taking on Madison team, Matt on Madison team in
Unicorn team.
Yes.
That'll be August 2nd.
The start times for these games, doors open at 4, games are about 4.30 about that time,
this one, they usually play for those that may have not been to a match before anything.
And wait a minute, let me get the stop, match, game, I keep using all these different terms.
What is the correct term?
Bout.
Bout, I know that.
I'm a boxer's son.
How do I get that messed that up?
Bout, for these bouts, is it good to get there a bit early, can you arrive on time and
be okay for those that you haven't been to about before?
I mean, when I spectate, I like to get there when the doors open.
So right away at 4 o'clock, you can get your choice of seating.
We have a great like stand setup so you can kind of be up above the action and really
see how it all goes.
And then if you want to bring your own chair, you can sit down track side and we kind of
refer to that as like the crash zone and nobody gets any contact there.
So you're right in on the action, that's where I prefer to sit.
But we always have like concessions, so we have beverages available, alcoholic and non-alcoholic
and then we have a food truck, the same food truck all year this year, Bork and Mark is
back.
Right out, shout out to them.
We also have merch for sale too.
So you don't always check out the merch before the bout, before the bout as well.
Every time you guys are in, I see a shirt I want, you got one on right now, yeah, please
get some of that merch everybody.
And then the as far as home games that August's second game that will wrap things up over
at the William and I serena for home games this season.
But you do have an away game on June 7th, that one that you mentioned, you'll be taking
it going up to Rochester for that one.
Correct.
That's pretty cool.
With the schedule seems exciting, seems fun, also seems like we're getting more attention
to this sport and things are going well with that as far as you know, it could always
be better.
We wanted to be better and stuff and we're going to make sure to help with that as much
we can.
But when it comes to, you know, looking from last year to this and everything, I've seen
improvements, I've heard more and more people talking about it, I know, just in, not
even just in the studio or in, you know, on the show here or anything, I just mean in my
day to day.
I have heard, especially after, you know, once the season wrapped up and hearing people,
there was some people wondering what more games, you know, so I mean, that's an exciting
thing too.
That is.
When it come, I'm just seeking as an outsider, is that what you guys are feeling and seeing
too?
You know, some, some growth with the sport, some, you know, some more attention being brought
to it.
Well, that's what we're definitely looking for.
We're always recruiting, always, always, always recruiting.
And we can teach you how to skate.
So saying that I, I love to play, but I don't know how to skate.
Well, that's, that's not a good excuse anymore.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We've taught people how to skate when they put skates on for the very, very first time.
We make sure that you're safe to be on skates before you ever compete.
And we teach you the basics and more.
And so I think Derby is amazing because it's for lots of different people and lots of
different stages in their lives.
I think Derby is great for moms because it gives them something to do this just for
them.
And not there is not kid focused or spouse focused.
It's about them.
I think Derby is great for folks just coming out of college.
It keeps you very active and I joined originally.
Yep.
And it's a sense of community, right?
So if you're new to the area or you're just looking for something different or you know
what, you were active in high school and college and now you're kind of getting to the age
where it's like, well, now what?
Well, then there's Derby, right?
Because we practice up to three times a week.
We get together in the off season.
We do fun stuff.
We do community events.
So it really is a community that also skates.
It's great for lots of different people and we're always looking for new skaters.
Yeah, absolutely.
It's really important for us to have skaters to compete.
But it also is really an amazing opportunity for people who are off skates as well.
We have people who come in and never touch a roller skates, nor do they care too.
And we have people who start to skate and then based on what they prefer or what's going
on in their lives, kind of like Meg said, it can be for people in many walks of life.
And we have lots of volunteer opportunities and we've got a really good core group within
our league of people who don't skate as well.
So we definitely are seeing an uptick and interest on both of those side skaters and not
alike.
It's really good.
We need people.
If we're going to skate more about, we need more people.
When it comes to, there's a lot of organizations, a lot of sports organizations, especially in
this day and age, talking about being open to everybody and being a welcome area and
coming and all comeers welcome.
You guys actually back it up.
You guys are actually really doing it and everything and I really appreciate that and
love being able to highlight that as well.
When they are telling you that anybody come on down, doesn't matter age or what have
you, they cannot stress that enough.
Everybody is welcome to something like this, which not only just feels good to say, but
it also will help us grow this sport and more people, the better as Meg's was saying there.
The more people we get involved with this, the more teams we can have, the more games
we can have in all of this.
This is another part of this that I wanted to bring up because there isn't a whole lot
of this that goes on.
This is a group of people that get together, do this out of the love of the game and the
passion of this and fellowship and all those things.
It's fun and great as that is.
I know that there are some people out there that this might reach, but I know it'll reach
your wallet and I know you care about your taxes, you like a good economy.
This is something that helps the economy.
There are very few things in life that can, oh, I can guarantee you're going to make
a buck off this or I can guarantee that you can get your money back on this.
When you businesses out there are looking for things to sponsor, sports, end of sentence,
sports, and it doesn't matter.
There are people sponsoring pickleball.
There are people sponsoring, what do you call it, the sack.
Thank you.
Yes, yes.
Boy, I'm just really off today.
They are.
There are tournaments for that stuff and everything.
And all over you see logos and different businesses and everything.
This is no different.
This is a wonderful, actually, I think this is one of the best opportunities for a business.
You got a lot of great action going on.
This is a fun sport.
I want to start a business just to attach it to you, and it shows the community, not only
that you are, you know, you're naming, having it being seen by people that might not see
your logo, your business otherwise, but you're also showing the community, I support this.
I back this.
I don't want to be a part of this, which is something you can't put a price on.
It's encouraging to do that.
Be a part of these things.
You guys are going to be doing a lot of stuff.
You're doing your part, not only being here with me, putting up on my questions, and telling
us about the sport, but you're going to be out in the community.
You got some community events coming up, Meeks.
We do.
So far, in the early part of the spring, we've done, we did a walk in Marshfield, MS Walk.
I thought that's what I was.
CF Walk.
Yes, CF.
Sorry, sorry, sorry.
That's our second time at that one.
I love that.
CF Walk.
We have done, gosh, I mean, we've done all kinds of things.
Not only events like the CF Walk, but we made valentines for the audience.
I heard about that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We have done, we answered phones for the trivia contest in Steven's point.
Coming up tomorrow, we're doing an adoptive highway.
We've got a section that we've got a cleanup.
We're doing that in August too.
We're doing that in August too.
It's going to be super awesome.
What else is coming up?
Point pride.
Thank you very much.
Point pride.
We're going to have a booth.
We're huge supporters of Point pride.
It's going to be down at Piffner Park in Steven's point on June 14th.
They'll have music and food and booths and things for kids.
It's a super amazing time.
It's such a fun event.
Such a great event.
We also pride this year because we're skating that day in Minnesota.
We typically do that as well.
We typically do.
We also pride.
But Riverfront Rondaview is coming up in July.
Yep.
We had the amazing opportunity last year to bartend at the North Beer Tent.
Prior to that, there was a sports organization, Steven's point that had done it for the
last 40 years or something like that.
And they couldn't get as many volunteers as they needed anymore.
So we took the opportunity that we didn't even realize was going to be such an amazing
opportunity.
And had an absolute blast.
We do bartending.
I think it's Thursday, Friday, Saturday this year.
That sounds right.
And it is so much fun.
It was great music, amazing food.
It's right on the river.
And that's a big fundraiser for us for the year.
So we have lots of our skaters that volunteer to bartend.
So if you happen to be in the area, please stop on down.
Say hi to us.
Talk to Derby with us.
Yeah.
And I really appreciate you guys not only doing a putting so much into the community,
but letting us know about them will be certainly reminding the audience about each one of these
events as we get closer to them and having you guys back.
Because as you last year, you messed up again.
You did too good.
Now you're going to have to come back.
Really do appreciate the time.
If people have heard this, they want to get involved.
Maybe they want to be a skater themselves or they just want to volunteer or just find
out and come to a couple of bouts or something like that.
What is the best way to reach out to you guys?
This is the best way to get a hold of people.
Honestly, we are very active on social media.
So you can find us through Facebook and Instagram.
We're just on the web, midstate, I'm sorry, midstaterollardderby.org.
And so all of that will have links on how to volunteer.
There's short forms, if you know, waivers, if you want to skate, as Meg's mentioned before,
we provide gear and things like that.
And I think through August, because we have new skater classes that start in the late
fall and winter.
But through August, the first and third Sunday of every month, we kind of have an open
skate opportunity.
So we do practices at KBWillit from four to six on Sunday.
So the first and third of every month, you can just show up and we will get you outfitted
and we'll, like I said, get the paperwork signed.
And just give you an opportunity to see what you want to do.
You can come to four of those, you know, and for free.
And then you'll have the opportunity to decide if you want to officially join the league
and any of the capacities that we've mentioned or fight up for a skate class or whatever.
It's just such a cool way to do it.
There's no pressure.
There's no, hey, you like it.
You like it?
You don't.
That's fine.
You know, there's no downside to this.
And there's only upside to it.
That's pretty cool.
We just love what we do.
And we want to share that with other people.
So if you just want to come and mess around on skates, come and do it with us.
Yeah.
Well said.
I love talking with you guys.
Thank you so much for the time.
Hope this weekend goes well with the cleanup and everything and we look forward to hanging
out again real soon.
Thank you so much.
Likewise.
We appreciate it.
We're actually going to be planning some meet and greets later this summer in early fall.
So we'll get you those dates.
If folks just want to come by and grab a beverage and hang out and talk with us and talk
Derby and get to know us a little bit, let you know.
Looking forward to it.
Again, that website, midstaterollerderby.org, midstaterollerderby.org, be sure to bookmark
that page.
They got the schedule and all the other things that we are talking about today there.
And be sure to follow them on social media and share their posts on your page.
Just never know who might see it otherwise.
Thank you again, both for the time.
Thank you so much.
And thank you for joining us out there at WFHR's Rapids Report.
Thank you.
