White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Tomorrow (December 12th) you’ll want to be at Southgate Roller Rink in White Center, when Southside Revolution Junior Coed Roller Derby hosts a “Star Wars“-themed bout just days before Episode 7 premieres. Doors open at 5:30 pm; tickets at the door will be $10 adult, $5 ages 6-12, kids 5 and under free. From the announcement:

Bout one is Southside Revolution’s Cadets battling it out with the Kitsap Derby Brats Rawkettes. The second bout will find the Southside Revolution’s Rebels facing off with the Kitsap Derby Brat’s Bomb Squad.

The game of roller derby is played on quad roller skates with “jammers” scoring points by passing the opposing team’s “blockers.”

Come in costume for a chance to win two opening day tickets to the movie “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

Southgate is at 9646 17th SW.

8:16 AM: An injury suffered during Friday night’s Evergreen-Highline football game in Burien has an Evergreen player in critical condition. That’s according to our regional news partner The Seattle Times, identifying the player as Kenney Bui and reporting that he is at Harborview Medical Center after emergency surgery. Bui is a senior at Evergreen; KING 5 quotes Highline Public Schools as saying counselors will be available on campus today for anyone who wants to talk about what happened.

2:58 AM: As also noted in comments, Highline superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield has announced Mr. Bui’s death:

It is with great sadness that School Board President Bernie Dorsey and I share with you that TEC High School senior Kenney Bui, who was critically injured in Friday night’s Evergreen v. Highline football game, died this morning at the hospital.

This is a devastating loss for all of us — Evergreen students, families, and staff, and our entire Highline community.

Our deepest condolences go out to Kenney’s family and all who knew him. Please join us in keeping them in your thoughts and prayers.

The Evergreen Wolverines need you to help them take the field for this year’s high-school baseball season. Simple and tasty way to do that – breakfast, one week from tomorrow! Here’s the announcement:

The White Center Eagles Club (FOE) is holding a fundraising breakfast on Saturday, March 7, 2015 from 9 AM to 1 PM at the White Center Eagles Club located at 10452 15th Ave. SW, in support of the Evergreen High School boys’ baseball team – the “Wolverines.”

Because of recent thefts of equipment and lack of funding, the team is in desperate need of basic equipment and field improvements to field a team this season. Baseball lovers from Southwest Seattle, White Center, Burien, SeaTac and surrounding areas are asked to contribute to help put a team on the field for 2015. Members of the team and coaching staff will be present to help serve breakfast. For any further information please contact the White Center Eagles Club at 206-248-1400.

The Rainier Roller Girls are bouting at Southgate Roller Rink on Saturday, vs. Faster Pussycats. And it’s not just a chance to see roller derby – the announcement also says:
“There will be an amazing bake sale with treats from Stuffed Cakes, Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe, and Mighty-O Donuts. There will be a Storm Trooper photo booth and many Star Wars characters from Garrison Titan and Alpha Base! A super-fun old school punk rock night of roller derby you won’t want to miss! And 10% of proceeds go to Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington!” See the Facebook invite here.

Southside Revolution Junior Derby was at West Seattle Summer Fest this weekend in hopes of recruiting skaters – and tonight’s your next chance to find out about what’s in store! 7 pm, interested skaters 8-17 (boys as well as girls – they’ll launch a coed team too if enough boys are interested), at White Center’s own Southgate Roller Rink. Southgate will be the practice site for the new league, which also plans an August summer camp. Questions? E-mail info@southsiderevolution.com – and/or check out this Facebook group.

Pamela McCarty shares the news that Southside Revolution Junior Derby is launching soon, and interested skaters 8-17 are welcome to come to an Info Night at White Center’s own Southgate Roller Rink next Monday (June 30th), 7 pm. Southside Revolution definitely plans a girls’ team, and will also have a coed team if enough boys are interested.

Southgate will be the practice site for the new league. If you just can’t make it Monday night but have an interested skater in the family, there will be another Info Night on July 14th and an August summer camp.

Questions? E-mail info@southsiderevolution.com – and you’re invited to check out this Facebook group.

This Wednesday is the third and final signup session this season for Southwest Little League: Steve Cox Memorial Park on Wednesday, February 26th, from 5 pm to 7 pm. From SWLL:

Little League Baseball is open to all children between the ages of 4 and 16 who reside or go to school in our boundary area, which is between Juneau Street SW and Sw 128th street and 35th Ave SW and 1st Avenue S, including the Arbor Heights area. Parents should check the boundary map on our website as well as review the eligibility requirements, which have changed for the 2014 season. Along with residents in the boundary area, children who go to school in the boundary area but reside in another Little League district are eligible to play for the league in which their school resides. For more complete information, please visit our website at southwestlittleleague.org

Hanging out in a West Seattle coffee shop that just got a poster for this – so we’re sharing the word! Rainier Roller Girls at Southgate tonight – details here.

Just out of the inbox:

May 25 roller derby rematch: Derby Liberation Front vs. Jet City’s Pink Pistols

Join your favorite roller derby revolutionaries for an evening of rink riots and pistol whips as Rat City’s Derby Liberation Front (DLF) battles its neighbors to the north, the Pink Pistols of Jet City Rollergirls on Saturday, May 25th. The last time this rivalry met on the track in 2012 it came down to an epic final jam with DLF chalking up a win and the Pistols pleading for more. Well, they got what they asked for – another chance to see if the revolution can hold its ground when the Pistols come to town. First whistle is at 6:20 – don’t miss a second of this bitter rematch!

Who? Rat City Rollergirls, Derby Liberation Front vs. Jet City Rollergirls, Pink Pistols
What? Roller derby
When? Satruday, May 25th @ 6 PM
Where? Southgate Roller Rink in White Center: 9646 17th AVe SW
Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/364685

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Rat City Rollergirls, founded in White Center in 2004, hit the one-decade mark next year. This week, RCRG reps will be live online for a chat with sports editors at SeattleTimes.com (WCN partner), noon Wednesday (March 6th). Meantime, from their recent return to WC, with bouts at Southgate Roller Rink, we have melded their post-bout writeup with photos taken that night by Nick Adams for WCN. Roller-derby play-by-play ahead!

(At left, Foxy Throwdown gets ready, pre-bout)
Photos by Nick Adams for White Center Now
Story by Peter Cozine – Special to White Center Now

The line waiting for entry into the bout was out the door and snaked around the block on 17th SW in White Center. The energy was high as fans flocked to Southgate Roller Rink February 23rd to watch the Rat City Rollergirls battle it out on the roller-derby track where the league got its start nine years ago.

Rat City’s four home teams were in action: Derby Liberation Front (DLF) took on the Throttle Rockets (TR) and Grave Danger (GD) played the Sockit Wenches (SW).

(Referee Don Juan Jovi)
More than 400 fans, skaters, referees, and volunteers packed the rink to watch the Rollergirls take it back to the shiny wooden track at Southgate.

The TRs showed some explosive offense early in the first half, winning lead jammer in 5 of the first 7 jams.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been on the calendar for weeks, and tonight’s the night! From the Rat City Rollergirls:

This Saturday Rat City Rollergirls are rolling back into White Center with a double-header bout at Southgate Roller Rink, the original venue where Seattle’s now infamous roller derby league began back in 2004!

See the blood, sweat and tears fly from your rink side seat as all four of Rat City’s home teams battle it out in this epic Bout 3 of Season 9! No stadium seating, no jumbotron, no halftime acts – just pure, hard-hitting roller derby at its finest.

Doors open at 5:30 PM, and the action starts at 6 PM. The first match-up will feature Derby Liberation Front (DLF), in their first ranked bout of the season, as they take on the ladies in black, the Throttle Rockets. DLF is coming off of a huge win in January against the visiting Faster Pussycats from Terminal City, while the Throttle Rockets are still looking to chalk up a win after a pair of agonizing close losses.

The second bout is sure to keep fans on the edge of their seats, as the Sockit Wenches take to the floor against last year’s champions, Grave Danger. The Sockit Wenches have strung together a pair of wins this season in KeyArena, taking down the Throttle Rockets in an extremely tight finish in January, and then putting up an impressive point total against the Terminal City Bad Reputations in February. Meanwhile, the 2012 Champions Grave Danger also took down the Throttle Rockets in February, and are looking pull off their own winning streak. Only one of these teams will roll out with the win. Don’t miss the chance to see it happen!

Who: Rat City Rollergirls

What: Bout 3 of Season 9

When: Saturday, February, 23 at 5:30 pm

Where: Southgate Roller Rink, White Center

Youth-sports signup season continues with an event today for Southwest Little League, whose area stretches southward from SW Juneau in West Seattle to 128th, and westward from 1st Avenue S. From 11 am to 1 pm in the Log Cabin at Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center (15th/102nd), they’ll sign up prospective players in person – so if you live within the aforementioned area, bring your child’s birth certificate, three proofs of residency, and the registration fee. Check out the residency requirements, fee details and more on the SWLL website.

Pacwest Softball season is under way, and local signups run through Feb. 9. Here’s info on the next three registration sessions:

Teams are available for children ages 4-18.

What to bring:

Please bring 3 proofs of residency and a copy of your child’s birth certificate.

Signups will be at the following places:

Jan 29th, 6 pm – 8 pm
Highline Christian Church
14859 1st Avenue South, Burien,

Feb 2nd, 10 am – 2 pm
Tukwila Community Center
12424 42nd Avenue South, Tukwila

Feb 9th, 10 am – 2 pm
Boulevard Park Presbyterian Church
1822 South 128th St. Burien

For more information, please contact Kimberly Felix @ crashcat71@hotmail.com

(Seattle Derby Brats in action; photo by Frank Blau)
Big event coming up this weekend at Southgate Roller Rink! Manya shares the news on behalf of the Seattle Derby Brats:

On January 26th, at 5 pm, the Portland Rosebuds and the Seattle Derby Brats Galaxy Girls will bout at Southgate Roller Rink in White Center. They are two of the best junior roller-derby teams in the country, and they are also ranked #1 and #3 in the world.

The Seattle Derby Brats were started by a Rat City Rollergirl at Pathfinder School in West Seattle. The ‘brats’ now number 103 girls, ages 8 to 18, drawn from all areas of the Northwest.

The Galaxy Girls evolved as the competitive travel team that bouts other teams in the state and country. If you would like to read more on this sport, there’s a video at seattlederbybrats.com, the second part shows some of the girls in an actual bout.

If you enjoy great action and athleticism, come join us at Southgate Skate Center on Saturday night!

Southgate is at 9646 17th SW.

In this afternoon’s bright late-summer sunshine, a small group of dignitaries and community members gathered to celebrate the renovated Steve Cox Memorial Park tennis courts. (Added: Video of the entire event)

The work’s been finished for a while, but there was no point in hurrying the party, which had been three years in the making. The project depended in large part on a federal Community Development Block Grant, and while that was obtained in 2010, county parks boss Kevin Brown explained, federal stimulus-related projects took precedence, so this didn’t get done for a while. But this afternoon, as he presided over a ceremonial ribbon-cutting, that was all a distant memory:

Among other attributes, the courts are unique as a lighted public place to play tennis in White Center.

Just in from King County Parks via Facebook, that photo and this invitation for you:

Tennis, anyone? Please join King County Parks for a special ribbon cutting ceremony to rededicate the improved tennis courts at Steve Cox Memorial Park. Tomorrow @ 2:30 pm.

It’s been almost exactly a year since the work began (September 2011 story here), and much of the work was done by May (story here).

(Photos by Nick Adams for WCN)
Closely fought football-season opener at Southwest Athletic Complex in West Seattle tonight – but in the end, the Evergreen High School Wolverines lost to the Chief Sealth International High School Seahawks, 26-20. Before that, though, it had been a 20-20 tie, and the Wolverines kept fighting.

(Photos by Nick Adams for WCN)
She is the all-time leading scorer in women’s professional basketball, with a career in two leagues – and on Tuesday, Seattle Storm guard Katie Smith came to the White Center Salvation Army Day Camp for some one-on-one time with day campers like Aricel Perez (above). The whole group of 6- to 13-year-olds got to hear from her too:

Did we mention Smith is a three-time Olympic gold medalist?

While she signed autographs for the kids, some of them wanted to show her a thing or two as well – in the case of 7-year-old Kelsey White, a stuffed animal:

Even the staff got a chance for a photo to remember the day:

The Storm are in the midst of the WNBA’s Olympics break and resume play on August 16th (here’s the schedule).

Next White Center Jubilee Days event is today – though it’s happening a bit south of town. Glen Acres Country Club and Golf Course is the scene of the Jubilee Days Golf Tournament, starting at noon. There’s some info on the WCJD website – and lots more in this photo caption on the WCJD Facebook page.

The final phase of the renovation work at Steve Cox Memorial Park‘s tennis courts in White Center is almost finished – the colorful new surface is in place, the sealant was applied Friday, and now it needs time to cure, so that’s why the nets are down.

King County Parks spokesperson Doug Williams tells WCN that they’ll be down for a few more days in hopes that’ll keep court use to a minimum. The curing is weather-dependent, so, Williams says, the nets won’t be put back up till this weekend or maybe even early next week. The project, estimated last year at $153,000, was paid for with the help of a federal grant. (P.S. Thanks to Gill for the story tip!)