Dayton Fangs Women's Ice Hockey

The Gem City Rollergirls is an all-female, flat-track, skater owned and operated roller derby league in Dayton, Ohio. FROM THEIR WEBSITE: "Is roller derby for real? Yes! The roller derby we play, unlike "Roller Jam" of the past, is 100% real sport. The hits are real, the injuries are real, the fights are real. Nothing about roller derby is staged or choreographed. There is a very lengthy set of rules we follow when playing, just like any other sport. We have trained referees to make penalty calls. Our skaters have to meet minimum skill requirements to play. We practice and train hard. This isn't the WWE, we're not just putting on a good show."

The Dayton Fangs, Miami Valley's first and only women's ice hockey team, is in the final week of preparation before the first game in club history. The Columbus Wizards will travel to Dayton Sunday, February 12, 2006, to face the Dayton Fangs at Hara arena for the Fangs first ever game. The Fangs began in October and have players of all skill levels from those who have played in college to those who have little or no hockey or skating experience. The members are from all areas of the Miami Valley. The roster includes players in the 20s to players encroaching on 50 and women from all walks of life from students to members of the US Air Force. The match will begin at 2:30 and is a preview of what is to come when the Fangs travel to Indianapolis, In, to play in the March Classic the first weekend in March. The game is free and open to the public. For more information on the Dayton Fangs, call (937) 293-1398, email info@daytonfangs.com, or visit daytonfangs.com.

SheSkatesHard.com was created by two women who love hockey. One born in the USA and the other born in Canada. Looking for female hockey information was harder then they thought. Most sites were out dated, didn't have many features, wasn't user friendly, and really didn't seem to offer a female hockey player everything she was looking for. SheSkatesHard.com is an online resource designed to give women and girls everything they are looking for, and with hockey from their perspective. SheSkatesHard.com offers a free hockey directory, female hockey news, message boards, free email, nutrition information, hockey tips, and much more! Simply making it the #1 online resource for women and girls hockey! Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

I just wanted to put up a cost list so that people can reflect on the cost so far and we can get some dialogue going about future costs and if things are getting too expensive for everyone. PRACTICES: Basically, Practices are costing about $20 each. These are, by far, the most essential part of the team. The more people who show, the less things cost. INSURANCE: USA Hockey insurance costs $35 per year. We must all be USAH insured in order to play against any other women's hockey team in the US or Canada. TOURNAMENTS: The one tournament we are definately going to is Indy. THe team entry fee for indy was $625. Each player entering the tournament will pay $60 + hotel. Expect to pay $65 for hotel for each player for the weekend (this includes money for the coach's room). Tournament fees and hotel seems expensive, but home games with the cost of ice and refs can also get quite costly. We'll always get at least 3 games out of a tournament, sometimes 4 or 5. Tournaments also give us a chance to play a wide variety of teams that could be harder to schedule since they usually come in from places further away. JERSEYS: We have 2 practice jerseys. Each jersey costs $15. I've given out a bunch of free socks to get as through, but have recently ordered 2 pairs of socks to match our jerseys each pair will cost $10. So a total player cost of jerseys and socks is now at $50. In the future, when people feel they are ready, getting nice game jerseys is always possible. TEAM MERCHANDISE: Sari and I have been getting a few prices from different places on a number of items. These are all for fun and since they aren't needed to play, no one should feel pressure to purchase them. Among the items are hats ($13), toques (knit hats/beanies, $10), tshirts ($7), sweatshirts ($26), longsleeve tshirts ($13), and warm-ups ($80). All these prices include set up. Sari also found some neat little dog tags that people may be interested in. The costs are decent and we only need a minimum of 6 to order. ADULT HOCKEY LEAGUE: The adult hockey league will cost $220 a player if we have 10 players. More and it will cost less (11 players $200, 12s $184, etc.). We are guarenteed 14 games so that's $15 a game (again less if we have more players). It will do a lot to get us more comfortable in game situations and have us work a considerable amount on defense. We'll also learn about face offs. Generally, playing on an adult women's travel hockey team can cost between $600-$1000 a year (not including travel costs). That can seem overwhelming, but if you consider the amount of ice time you are actually geting and that it's less than $90 a month over 12 months it's quite reasonable. (40 practices a year @ $15 each = $600 per player, 8 home games @ $415 a game (ice/refs)= $221 per player, 3 tournaments a year, or two tournaments and 1 league at and of $60 per tournament $180). Any league we enter will include at least three travel weekends, but usually only one over night stay (tournaments usually require two). So if you include hotel cost you are looking at an additional cost for hotel. This usually isn't bad when you stick 4 players to a room (Usually like $25-30 a night per player). I know that many of our players have been working on getting sponsors and we may also want to consider doing some other fundraisers. I know I don't have a whole lot of money, but this is where I chose to spend it. I want to make sure though that things aren't getting more expensive then everyone can handle. I put a considerable amount of extra $$ into the team, but I don't expect anyone else to do so, especially since so many of you put so much more time in. I don't want to surprise anyone with costs and I also want people to realize you don't have to leave the team if you can't afford all of this. You can do as much or as little as you can afford.

The Dayton Fangs will be headed to the Circle City Sirens Classic in Indianapolis, IN, March 4-5, 2006! Looks like these may be our first ever games! Players please make sure your USA Hockey Insurance is in order. -Marianne