LVRG History

LVRG est. 2005

In the summer of 2005, Elaina Borchelt, one of the founders of the Lehigh Valley Rollergirls, attended her first roller derby practice with the Philly Rollergirls. Elaina loved the idea of roller derby and was immediately smitten with roller derby, if not addicted. But as the mother of two young boys, she decided that she could not make the long drive from Quakertown, PA to Camden, NJ, where the Philadelphia practices were held three times a week. She then thought about starting a roller derby team here in the Lehigh Valley, and that is
how the LVRG journey began.

Elaina contacted her new derby friends in Philly and a skater named Hydra, from the Texas Rollergirls, to look for advice and direction on how to start a league. Eventually through her research, she also

Elaina Borchelt as Pivot

connected with Amanda Jamison, who had also been researching how to start a league in the area. The two decided they should meet up and talk about joining forces. On January 20th, 2006, Amanda and Elaina
were set to meet to form the league. But for reasons unknown, Amanda never showed up. Instead, one of Amanda's acquaintances, Chelsea, joined up with Elaina and they decided that they would forge ahead
without Amanda to form the league.

A few weeks later, space was secured for LVRG at the Whitehall Skateaway for practices. Not long after, the first Board of Directors were voted into office. Those members  included Elaina Borchelt (aka
MetalVixen) as President, Nicole Hart (aka Busy) as Vice President, Lauren Petix (aka Roxy Moron) as Treasurer and Theresa Mitchell (aka Erin Go Braless) as Secretary. Around this same time, which wasn’t
long after first joining forces, Chelsea parted ways with LVRG. Regardless, the league continued to build momentum, crafting the league’s first set of bylaws while taking care to build the solid
foundation on which the league still stands today.

7 years, 6 seasons and about 70 bouts later, the Lehigh Valley Rollergirls is a 501(c)7, not-for-profit organization, and a proud member of the Women's Flat track Derby Association, all the while being dedicated to supporting the local community as well as to the growth and sport of roller derby.

LVRG specifically thanks Elaina Borchelt, founder and Board of Directors member for the last 6 years, for all of her commitment, passion and dedication she has given to our team. Without her perseverance and drive to keep this team strong, we would not be where we are today, or where we will be tomorrow.  She is the heartbeat of this team, and the keystone to our foundation.