Pac what and Big who? There’s exciting expansion news from the Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby Association, plus two Texas Rollergirls teams take to the road today and the banked track TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls get ready for the beach next weekend.
Good news for the Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby Association: 11 leagues graduated this week from the its apprentice program. That includes its first fully-fledged European team, the London Rollergirls.
While the English league has skated competitively in the US and even hosted a certain Texas team, travel games could get a little costly. So to accommodate them and the other European teams expected to join the WFTDA soon, the association has announced two new regions: The London Rollergirls will be the inaugural members of the European Region, while the Hammer City Roller Girls and Montreal Roller Derby join the Canadian league. Until there are enough members to make those regions competitive, they’ll skate in the nearest US league for rankings purposes. WFTDA Executive Director Juliana Gonzales (aka Bloody Mary of the Texas Rollergirls) said, “Creating regions to house Canadian and European members is another signal of WFTDA’s preparedness for international expansion, and our eagerness to see non-US leagues compete under the WFTDA umbrella.”
As for games involving the local skaters, the next two weeks are a derby delight. If you’re free tonight (June 19) then there’s still time to drive to the coast for the big Hell Marys rubber match against Houston Rollerderby‘s Psych Ward Sirens. The Hell beat the Sirens 126-83 in 2008, but the Houston squad took their revenge last year with a 108-106 squeaker victory. Rematch tonight at the Kicks Indoor Stadium in Houston (tickets available online.)
If you can get your private jet warmed up in time, the Hotrod Honeys face Charm City Rollergirls‘ b-team Female Trouble in Baltimore tonight. Why the b-team? Because their travel squad, the Charm City Rollergirls All-Stars, will be in Austin next week (tickets available now.) According to the Charm City website, tonight’s bout will be streaming live via uStream, starting 6.30pm Eastern/5.30pm Central.
On the banked track tip, next weekend the Lonestar ladies’ All-Scar Army compete in the national Battle on the Bank III. The big banked tourney was in Austin last year, but this year the event shifts from the Third Coast to the Pacific Coast. The three day tournament runs June 25-27 in Del Mar, Calif., hosted by the San Diego Derby Dolls.
Of course, travel costs mount quickly and Roller Derby is an amateur sport, so here’s three ways you can help the skaters and the fans.
1: The Lonestar banked trackers are taking PayPal donations via their website for their Battle on the Bank travel fund.
2: The Texas Rollergirls will hold a Pennies for Points pledge drive next week: Fans can pledge a penny (or a pile of pennies, or a Porsche) for every point the Texecutioners score in their bout against the visiting Charm City skaters. All cash raised will go to sending the Texies to the WFTDA South-Central regionals in Lincoln, Neb. in October, and then hopefully nationals in Chicago, Ill., in November.
3: The Derby News Network is in the middle of a fund raising drive. The NPR of Roller Derby, it provides boutcasts and live commentary from match-ups around the country, but that’s not cheap. Donations will help keep DNN on the road through the year.
This article appears in June 18 • 2010.
