If you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s like to live a day in the life of a
Cincinnati Rollergirl, you’ll have your chance, should you bid on that prize and win the auction item at
The Cure Starts Now Foundation’s sixth annual
Once in a Lifetime Gala & Auction.
Christina Kuhnhein, also known as
“Ruthless Chris,” has been skating with the Rollergirls for two years, and she says the winner of the auction will experience first-hand how seriously the skaters take their sport.
“We’re confident, very focused," Kuhnhein says. "Everyone has their own thing in the locker room—some are quiet and listening to their playlist that’s going to pump them up, and some are very excited and yelling and trying to pump everybody else up. But it’s a very serious environment—we want to win. Our coach usually gives us a pretty good pep talk beforehand, and we just go over what we’ve been doing in practice—our strategy—remaining in control and confident and calm.”
The auction winner will sit in on pregame and halftime locker room sessions, in addition to receiving a private practice session, VIP tickets to the final home game of the season, a two-and-a-half hour standard practice session with the Girls, and what Kuhnhein says the team refers to as “lots of swag”—T-shirts and other gear.
Rumor has it there will even be a gift certificate for a tattoo included in the package. “Rollergirls have this reputation of having all these piercings and tattoos, and it’s such a tough sport,” Kuhnhein says. “And I will say that I’ve never seen so many tattoos since I’ve started hanging in this circle, but honestly, it’s just something fun.”
Kuhnhein says she remembers watching RollerJam back in the '90s. There was a “lot of fast skating and theatrics,” but the sport is much different now because “people aren’t as concerned with how they look.”
“It used to be about outfits and trying to show off, but now it’s much more athletic—it’s teams that are very serious about strategy, working together and really killing the other team," she says.
While Kuhnhein says she loves the aggressiveness and the stress relief she gets from skating, she’s just as passionate about giving back.
“It is an honor to go out and help other charities in our city, and helping local businesses—we have a lot of fans that have certain charities that are close to their hearts, and we try to help in any way we can,” Kuhnhein says. “We’re doing at least one if not two or three charity events a month.”
The Once in a Lifetime Gala is circus-themed and features live performers from the
Cincinnati Circus, in addition to special guest and daredevil
Nik Wallenda. The event takes place May 4 and helps fund pediatric brain cancer research.
Do Good:
• Support The Cure Starts Now Foundation by
purchasing a ticket to the Once in a Lifetime Gala & Auction.
•
Check out and bid on available auction items.
• Like the
Cincinnati Rollergirls on Facebook, and follow
The Cure Starts Now Foundation on Twitter.
By Brittany York
Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.