Four new leagues have just been accepted to the WFTDA:

The Arch Rival Rollergirls from St. Louis, MO
The Denver Roller Dolls from Denver, CO

Green Country Rollergirls from Tulsa, OK

Maine Roller Derby from Portland, ME

Congratulations to all leagues! I also want to add a personal note to the acceptance of the Denver Roller Dolls since there are now two member leagues from Denver - congrats ladies, it’s been great meeting some of you and skating together. For those that aren’t in the Denver area, my league, the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls, is the other roller derby league in our city, and both RMRG and DRD worked together to make having two WFTDA leagues in such a small area something possible.

Just a quick rundown I wrote for our websites and bout programs, but I thought I should repost it here as well - this was one of the most exciting games I have seen, simply because Fight Club was able to keep the Mad Maxines SCORELESS for an entire period. I’ve never seen or heard of this in another bout. Plus there was a fight at the end and I don’t think in the year I’ve been playing I have been in a game with a fight in it (for better or for worse, haha).

September 8th brought the No Coast Derby Girls’ Mad Maxines from Lincoln, Nebraska to Denver to take on our own 5280 Fight Club on their home turf. These teams had never faced off before, and each side was ready to battle for national rankings as members of the WFTDA. Fight Club proved in the first period that they weren’t messing around, bringing air-tight defense down on the Maxines that prevented them from scoring a single point throughout the first 20 minutes – something practically unheard of in a sport with scores frequently reaching over 100 points in a single bout. The end of the period saw FC at 34, MM 0.

After the brutal beating Fight Club had served, the Mad Maxines desperately tried to up their game. Throwing in agile jammer Sylvia Bullet, the Lincoln girls were able to put a few numbers on the board, though not many. Second period put FC at 65, MM 9.

Though Fight Club’s blockers were putting the hurt on the Maxines up until half time, the third period was the jammers’ time to shine. Frida Beater, She Who Cannot Be Named and Olivia Cryin’ almost doubled the points for their team as the last 20 minutes counted down. With minutes left in the bout, Maxine pivot Juana Whippin and Fight Club blocker Annia LateHer got in a scuffle that ended with Fight Club’s coach, team manager, player Zoom Zoom Zetta and even a penalty timer getting ejected from the rest of the bout! Though the 5280 girls suddenly found themselves short, that didn’t prevent a 98-point spread – final score: FC 118, MM 20.

While it was rough on the track, RMRG loved having the Lincoln Ladies in town. Thank you to the No Coast Derby Girls, our volunteers, and all of our fans that made it out to this incredible bout!!

Wow, I’m behind in my recaps and writing in general, but I’ve been in and out of town a lot lately and trying to play catch up.

In the beginning of the month, the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls took on Foco Girls Gone Derby at the Thunder in the Rockies, an annual motorcycle rally in Loveland, CO (right next to Ft. Collins, FGGD’s turf). Last year RMRG faced off against PPDD at the same event, but this year the Foco girls got a chance to prove their stuff close to home. Foco recently played one of RMRG’s home teams, the Sugar Kill Gang, and lost by only 5 points - this bout for Thunder in the Rockies was against a large majority of RMRG’s travel team members as well as quite a few alternates, since many of the regular players couldn’t make it to this particular bout. The first period showed RMRG far in the lead with 56 to Foco’s 15.

Foco looked to have a number of new players on their roster - after losing one of their top jammers, Slick Vick, to the Denver Roller Dolls, this defense-heavy team appeared in major need of some point scorers. Urrk’n Jerk’n as Booty Block Ya snagged the most points for her team by far, but even she is a staple as a blocker for Foco. Foco’s strength definitely lies in their hard hits and their ability as blockers to step in between opposing players and their own jammer just in time to interfere with defense, and these moves allowed them to play some catch up during the second period, with RMRG 82, Foco 64.

By the third period, RMRG was no where near ready to let Foco take the win. Ida Hustler stood out as a major player who both blocked well and jammed hard, especially with top jammer Frida Beater MIA during this particular bout. Smashbox was another jammer to be reckoned with, but she unfortunately took a hard fall in the third period and was taken to the ER due to a broken wrist. The final score saw RMRG at 136, Foco at 68.

While Foco played a great game and it was awesome to bout during the rally, one thing that really sticks out is the fact that Smashbox got injured. This is the third game in a row RMRG played at an expo-type venue, and the third game in which someone suffered a major injury (Rodeo Redd broke her ankle at Fat City and FWDG’s Devilyn Cide also broker her ankle at Taco John’s in Cheyenne). Fortunately Smashbox will only be in a cast for a short period of time and hopes to skate again soon. Hopefully this is the last injury we see for quite a while!

The Rocky Mountain Rollergirls‘ 5280 Fight Club took roller derby on the road this weekend to host the Ft. Wayne Derby Girls‘ Bomb Squad in Cheyenne, Wyoming on the 25th. RMRG’s regular home is the Bladium in Denver, but the Taco John’s Events Center asked the league to hold a bout there since there isn’t currently a league in the area. Ft. Wayne is another division three league in the WFTDA, so as of now they are unranked while RMRG sits at #17. Neither team held the home court advantage, though RMRG did hold a bout between their league’s teams at Taco John’s once before, and while Denver was technically the “home team,” there was no built up fan base or even many derby fans who were well aware of the rules. The first period put Fight Club well in the lead, with a score of FC 57, BS 14.

After Fight Club’s major domination of the first period, the Bomb Squad began to pick up the pace. Pushycat proved to be their top jammer while blocker Bang Bang Ladesh and pivot Rosemary’s Baby upped the defense. The Ft. Wayne Girls were able to gain 44 points in the second period to Fight Club’s 45, pushing the scores up to FC 102, BS 58.

The beginning of the third period took a turn for the worse on the Bomb Squad’s side, as Develyn Cyde suffered a severe break of one of her legs less than a minute into the period. While the skaters and audience were shook up, she remained incredibly calm as she waited to be taken off the track. I heard a rumor that she suffered two compound fractures and that it was pretty gnarly - hopefully a better update will come after she is treated and makes it back home safely.

After witnessing the accident and waiting for Develyn Cyde to be taken care of, the bout had to go on and each team was ready to finish what they had started. With Fight Club in the lead but a tougher fight from the Bomb Squad during the second period, it was clear that the Denver team needed to step up their game to maintain a solid win. Frida Beater, She Who Cannot Be Named and Olivia Kryin’ passed the jammer cap back and forth between the three of them and racked up the points while Pinky 500 got vicious and began knocking girls to the floor. Penny Payne, who is usually a jammer, traded in the star most of this game for a position as a blocker, and was able to stop many skaters in their tracks with her body blocking and keep them pinned behind her. The bout began to get ugly near the end when there were two ejections of Bomb Squad players - Pink Painther and Miss Jane Redrum - both for apparently for some sort of intentional tripping/skate kicking. The penalty box was full of skaters from both sides for most of the last 20 minutes, however. The final score - FC 164, BS 69.

The Ft. Wayne skaters put up a good fight, and they clearly have a number of talented players. I know myself and the rest of the league are wishing the best for Develyn Cide - hopefully she has a speedy recovery and is able to make it back home quickly.

The Denver Roller Dolls’ Mile High Club hosted the No Coast Derby Girls’ Mad Maxines from Lincoln on the 24th. No Coast is a WFTDA member league who is not yet ranked, while the DRD are in the process of applying for membership. Without either league in the rankings as of now it was difficult to determine which way the game may go, but the Mile High Club has played some impressive bouts recently, such as a match against one of Rat City’s home teams with an extremely close score. While the Maxines dominated the first jam of the period and scored the night’s first points, the Mile High Club immediately put a stop to that and gained a significant lead - 35 to the Maxines’ 18.

On the Mile High Club’s side, Friction VixXxen played a strong pivot and did a great job of either holding the Maxines back or knocking them to the ground, while Angela Death managed to snag a number of points. Rockett, who seems to usually play as a jammer, got some great blocks in, and Ro Chambeau proved to be a heavy contender in the point-scoring department on such a jammer-heavy league. The Mile High Club continued their strong lead through the second period - MHC 71, MM 38.

The Mad Maxines appeared to be a newer team, and their jammers looked to have a difficult time making it out of the pack, especially with some of Mile High Club’s stronger blockers up front. Busty St. Claire was a major point-scorer who was equipped with some good speed, and Sylvia Bullet was an extremely impressive blocker, going after Mile High jammers by herself a number of times and managing to knock them repeatedly to the floor. Sylvia isn’t your normal power blocker with her skinnier build, but her timing and her agility allowed her to get in some shattering hits on otherwise extremely stable skaters. The final score was Mile High Club 113, Mad Maxines 47.

No Coasts’ Mad Maxines are coming back to Denver to take on the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls on September 8th at the Bladium, and the Dolls’ next bout is later in the month on the 21st between their two home teams.

The Rocky Mountain Rollergirls invited the Pikes Peak Derby Dames down to Littleton, CO (a suburb right outside of Denver) for an expo bout between the two leagues this weekend. Instead of 5280 Fight Club and the Slamazons, each leagues’ travel team, facing off once again, the two Colorado leagues decided to switch things up by creating mix-up rosters of skaters of all different skill levels. RMRG brought old schoolers Penny Payne, Rodeo Redd and Winona Fighter, as well as a number of girls who had never bouted or had only played one or two games. Pikes Peak was strong with Sugrrr Rush, Count Smacula, Susie Q-T and Kamilla Bloospilla, as well as a number of newer girls. The first period started with speed skater Sugrrr Rush racking up the points, leaving RMRG desperate to catch up. Laying on the defense, RMRG came close but ended the first 20 minutes at 22 to PPDD’s 26.

These leagues’ travel teams and home teams have faced off a number of times with RMRG always pulling ahead, but it was clear that tonight could easily be PPDD’s time to take the win. Sugrrr Rush consistently scored for her team with Susie Q-T and Kamilla helping to bring the points up. RMRG put up a good fight, but the mix-up roster seemed to keep the girls from working well together - with a number of new players and skaters from different home teams who had never played together, there appeared to be a struggle to come together as a unified force. With only seconds remaining at the end of period 2, Rodeo Redd took a nasty fall and was sprawled on the track with a severly broken ankle, in need of paramedics. After a stressful wait for Redd to be stabilized and taken to the hospital, the girls on both teams as well as the audience were clearly shaken. Down one of their most powerful blockers, RMRG was at 44 with PPDD significantly ahead at 79.

While most teams would be ready to throw in the towel after losing such a strong player and trailing by 35 points, RMRG is becoming famous for their comebacks. With the collective jamming of Winona Fighter, Penny Payne and Smashbox snagging over ten points in single jams - the greatest number being Smashbox with 13 in under two minutes - and blockers like Green Venom and Mama KiCass stepping up the defense, RMRG ended up ahead by one point with minutes left in the game. Battling back and forth for the lead, PPDD snuck ahead by three points with seconds left and only one jam remaining. Pikes Peak threw Sugrrr in, and while it was still anyone’s game, she was able to grab lead jammer and call it off immediately, ending the bout and insuring their victory.

While this bout was an expo and didn’t count for WFTDA ranking status, it was PPDD’s first win in an interleague match. The lineups were much different than the first time these leagues met last year with RMRG at 110, PPDD 33, but it is clear that the Pikes Peak girls have some formidable new players and some older skaters that have significantly stepped up their game.

A number of the girls will meet again in October, when RMRG’s home team the Sugar Kill Gang will take on PPDD’s Danger Dolls.

EDIT: Wow, I just looked back on this and realized I left out the MOST IMPORTANT part - the final score! PPDD 98, RMRG 95. Gah, I guess I got so caught up in thinking about how strategically Sugrrr played that I got ahead of myself. Sorry for the blatant sloppiness!

This weekend, The Rocky Mountain Rollergirls’ 5280 Fight Club traveled to Portland to take on the Wheels of Justice from the Rose City Rollers. These teams bouted in Denver last November with a close final score of FC 127, WJ 122. Though Fight Club won, the Wheels have secured a spot in the WFTDA rankings at #13 while FC is at #17 after Dust Devil and half a year of interleague bouting since their last match. Rose City’s team pulled ahead this time around, however, with a final score of 111 to FC’s 74.

This bout was a few weeks ago but I thought I would post the recap up here - this is just a simple write up for the RMRG website and programs but it gives a basic idea of how the bout went down.

Ragers pushed off the road

On June 16th, the Angel City Road Ragers revved up their engines in Denver to take on our own 5280 Fight Club. This was the Rager’s first interleague game as members of the WFTDA, and Fight Club was more than willing to be the team to give them a warm welcome on the track. Starting off strong and thanks to jams such as She Who Cannot Be Named’s 14 points, FC gained a sizable lead by the end of the first period, bringing the score to FC 59, RR 31.

Not to be outdone in period 2, Fight Club’s Frida Beater pulled in 13 points in one jam, sneaking by the constant heavy lateral blocks from Ragers such as Va Va Va Gina. Fight Club held onto their lead until half time, ending the period with FC at 112, RR 60.

Both teams came back from the break out for blood, and thanks to players like Estro Jen and Ms. D’Fiant the Ragers were able to almost double their points. With only a few minutes left in the game Rager Diesel was ejected for insubordination, though players on both sides had tempers flaring on the track. While the Ragers came back with an impressive point gain, Fight Club still held the lead with a final score of FC 173, RR 119.

We’d like to thank the Angel City Road Ragers for coming up to play us – while the bout was brutal all around, you ladies kicked our butts on the dance floor afterwards! Also, congratulations on your new membership to the WFTDA!

The newest WFTDA rankings have been posted for June. Notable changes include the additions of the Alamo City Rollergirls, Assassination City Derby, Bay Area Derby Girls, Dixie Derby Girls, East Texas Bombers, Houston Rollergirls, and Kansas City Roller Warriors, who were all previously inactive. Also added were the previously unranked Brew City Bruisers. The biggest jumps belong to the Windy City Rollers who moved up six spots, and the Sin City Rollergirls who lost six.

1. Rat City Rollergirls (Rat City All-Stars)
2. Tucson Roller Derby (TRD Saddletramps)
3. Texas Rollergirls (Austin Texecutioners)
4. Mad Rollin’ Dolls (Dairyland Dolls)
5. Kansas City Roller Warriors (KCRW Travel Team) New listing
6. Minnesota Rollergirls (MNRG Travel Team) -1
7. Carolina Rollergirls (CRG Travel Team) -1
8. Arizona Roller Derby (Tent City Terrors) -1
9. Philly Rollergirls (Liberty Belles) +4
10. Gotham Girls Roller Derby (GGRD Travel Team)
11. B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls (The B.A.D. Girls) New listing
12. Providence Roller Derby (Riveters) -4
13. Rose City Rollers (Wheels of Justice) -1
14. Windy City Rollers (WCR Travel Team) +6
15. Sin City Rollergirls (Neander Dolls) -6
16. Duke City Derby Girls (Muñecas Muertas) -5
17. Rocky Mountain Rollergirls (5280 Fight Club) -3
18. Boston Derby Dames (Boston Massacre) -3
19. Detroit Derby Girls (DDG Travel Team)
20. Atlanta Rollergirls (ARG Travel Team) -3
21. Dallas Derby Devils (DDD Travel Team) -5
22. Charm City Rollergirls (Mobtown Maulers) -4
23. Grand Raggidy Roller Girls (GRRG Travel Team)
24. Houston Rollergirls (HaRD Knocks) New listing
25. Ohio Rollergirls (ORG Travel Team) -4
26. Assassination City Derby (ACD Special OPS) New listing
27. Pikes Peak Derby Dames (Slamazons) -5
28. Brew City Bruisers (BCB Travel Team) New listing
29. Big Easy Rollergirls (BERG Travel Team) -5
30. Alamo City Rollergirls (ACRG Travel Team) New listing
31. East Texas Bombers (ETB Travel Team) New listing
32. Dixie Derby Girls (DDG Travel Team) New listing