Beast of the East: History by the Numbers

Beast of the East: By the Numbers

In the first part of a 2011 Beast of the East preview, a look at how we got here…

PARTICIPANT HISTORY (BOE 2011 participants first)

Team	League	BOE Record	Notes
Les Duchesses de Quebec	RDQC	–	First appearance.
Thames Fatales	FCDG	3 – 5	First round in 08, 09. Quarter final in2010
Chrome Mollys	GTAR	–	First appearance.
Derby Debutantes	GTAR	1 – 4	3rd appearance. First victory in 2010.
La Racaille	MTLRD	12 – 3	Runners-up in 08, 10. Champs in 2009.
Les Contrabanditas	MTLRD	10 – 4	2nd place in 2009. 3rd in 2010.
Les Filles du Roi	MTLRD	11 – 2	Semi-final losses in 08, 09. Champs in 2010
Riot Squad	RVRG	0 – 2	2nd Appearance.
Slaughter Daughters	RVRG	2 – 4	3rd Appearance. Quarterfinals in 2009.
Chicks Ahoy!	ToRD	3 – 5	First round in all three tournaments.
Death Track Dolls	ToRD	2 – 5	Quarterfinals in 2009.
Smoke City Betties	ToRD	3 – 5	Semi-final 2009.
Gore-Gore Rollergirls	ToRD	6 – 3	Forfeit in 2009 after 3-0 start. 4th place in 2010.
Total Knock-Outs	TCRG	–	First Appearance.
Venus Fly Tramps	TCRG	1 – 4	3rd appearance. First victory in 2009.
Vicious Dishes	TCRG	3 – 4	3rd appearance. Quarterfinals in 2010.
NOT APPEARING in 2011
Hamilton Harlots	HCRG	7 – 4	2008-2010. Quarterfinals in 09. Champs in 08.
Death Row Dames	HCRG	3 – 5	2008-2010. Quarterfinals in 2010.
Steel Town Tanks Girls	HCRG	1 – 1	2008
Bay Street Bruisers	ToRD	1-3	2008, 2009
D-VAS	ToRD	0-1	2008
London Thrashers	FCDG	0 – 1	2008
Bytown Blackhearts	ORD	0 – 1	2008
Capital Carnage	ORD	0 – 2	2009
Devil Dollies	QCRG	1 – 1	1st US team (2008)
Derby Dames	Grn Mtn	2 – 1	2nd US team, 1st to reach quarterfinals (2010)

PAST CHAMPIONS

2008: Hamilton Harlots (HCRG)

2009: La Racaille (MTLRD)

2010: Les Filles du Roi (MTLRD)

RECORDS

Wins: 12 (La Racaille [MTLRD]); Win%: 85% (Les Filles du Roi [MTLRD])

Points Per Game (tournament): 80 (Les Filles du Roi, 2010) Points Against (tournament): 9 (Les Filles du Roi, 2010)

Most Points (Bout): 115 (Les Filles du Roi, 2010) Combined/Differential: 122/108 (Les Filles du Roi vs. Vicious Dishes [TCRG], 2010) [*The Gore-Gore Rollergirls [ToRD] were the first, and only other team, to score 100 points in a bout–a 103-11 victory over Capital Carnage in 2009]

YEAR-BY-YEAR RESULTS

Beast of the East 1: 2008

First Round

POOL A

Steel Town Tank Girls 40 vs Smoke City Betties 18
La Racaille 65 vs The Bytown Blackhearts 29
Death Row Dames 17 vs Devil Dollies 54
D-VAS 27 vs Les Contrabanditas 50

POOL B

Bay Street Brusies 45 vs Thames Fatales 38
London Thrashers 13 vs Chicks Ahoy 65
Death Track Dolls 23 vs Les Filles du Roi 37

Quarter Finals

Hamilton Harlots win the 2008 Beast. (photo by Derek Lang)

Steel Town Tank Girls 30 vs La Racaille 32

Devil Dollies 16 vs. Les Contrabanditas 42

Chicks Ahoy 30 vs Les Filles du Roi 38
Hamilton Harlots 53 vs Bay Street Bruisers 15

Semi Finals

Hamilton Harlots 58 vs Les Filles du Roi 29

Les Contrabanditas 32 vs La Racaille 39

Final

Hamilton Harlots 55 vs. La Racaille 18

Read the Derby Nerd’s reflections on a tournament he didn’t see.

Beast of the East 2: 2009

First Round (Double Elimination)

Capital Carnage 11	Gore-Gore Rollergirls 103
Death Row Dames 23	Thames Fatales 19
Les Contrabanditas 59	Venus Fly Tramps 26
Slaughter Daughters 24	Smoke City Betties 32
La Racaille 67	Bay Street Bruisers 10
Chicks Ahoy! 48	Vicious Dishes 32
Les Filles du Roi 77	Death Track Dolls 6
Derby Debutantes 6	Hamilton Harlots 69
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 32	Death Row Dames 5
Capital Carnage 20 (eliminated)	Thames Fatales 67
Les Contrabanditas 34	Smoke City Betties 20
Venus Fly Tramps 14 (eliminated)	Slaughter Daughters 48
La Racaille 36	Chicks Ahoy! 35
Bay Street Bruisers 16 (eliminated)	Vicious Dishes 21
Les Filles du Roi 34	Hamilton Harlots 25
Death Track Dolls 61	Debutantes 20 (elimin.)
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 35	Les Contrabanditas 26
Death Row Dames 15 (eliminated)	Smoke City Betties 24

.	Thames Fatales 28 (eliminated)	Slaughter Daughters 68
.	La Racaille 35	Les Filles du Roi 43
.	Chicks Ahoy! 21 (eliminated)	Hamilton Harlots 38
.	Vicious Dishes 27 (eliminated)	Death Track Dolls 32
.	Quarter Finals
.	Gores (forfeit)	Smoke City Betties
.	Les Contrabanditas 28	Slaughter Daughters 25
.	Les Filles du Roi 24	Hamilton Harlots 11
.	La Racaille 77	Death Track Dolls 17
.	Semi FinalsSmoke City Betties 23	Les Contrabanditas 33
	La Racaille 38	Les Filles du Roi 20
.	Third Place (Cancelled)Smoke City Betties	Les Filles du Roi
	FinalLes Contrabanditas 34	La Racaille 49
.

Read the Derby Nerd’s commentary.

Read a bout-by-bout recap by DNN’s Justice Feelgood Marshall .

Beast of the East 3: 2010

First Round (Double Elimination)
Thames Fatales 38 vs. Smoke City Betties 11
La Racaille 81 vs. Chicks Ahoy!12
Green Mountain Derby Dames 40 vs. Riot Squad 17
Death Row Dames 63 vs. Venus Fly Tramps 6
Les Contrabanditas 72 vs. Death Track Dolls 9
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 43 vs. GTA Derby Debutantes 20
Vicious Dishes 37 vs. Slaughter Daughters 20
Les Filles du Roi 92 vs. Harlots 6
La Racaille 91 vs. Thames Fatales 0
Chicks Ahoy! 89 vs. Betties 15 (eliminated)
Green Mountain Derby Dames 29 vs. Death Row Dames 15
Venus Fly Tramps 43 vs. Riot Squad 14 (eliminated)
Les Contrabanditas 63 vs. Gore-Gore Rollergirls 17

Derby Debutantes 38 vs. Death Track Dolls 29 (eliminated)
Les Filles du Roi 115 vs. Vicious Dishes 7
Harlots 28 vs. Slaughter Daughters 24 (eliminated)
Thames Fatales 24 vs. Venus Fly Tramps 15 (eliminated)
Death Row Dames 42 vs. Chicks Ahoy! 34 (eliminated)
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 45 vs. Harlots 20 (eliminated)
Vicious Dishes 52 vs. Derby Debutantes 24 (eliminated)

Quarter Finals
La Racaille 57 vs. Vicious Dishes 4
Les Contrabanditas 64 vs. Death Row Dames 11
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 45 vs. Green Mountain Derby Dames 22
Les Filles du Roi 91 vs. Thames Fatales 12

Semi Finals
La Racaille 69 vs. Les Contrabanditas 46
Les Filles du Roi 65 vs. Gore-Gore Roller Girls 1

Third Place
Les Contrabanditas 91 vs. Gores 21

Final
Les Filles du Roi 36 vs. La Racaille 20

Read the Derby Nerd’s preview and recap.

Watch the archived bouts.

Nerd Meat Part 5: Opening the Doors

Nerd Meat: The Nerd Does Derby

Part 5: Opening the Doors

During our second day of scrimmaging, the two guys involved in ref training were pulled to act as on-skates officials. When I wasn’t pulled with them, the remaining skaters I haven’t yet met were really starting to wonder what I was doing there. So while once again fielding questions about my purpose at fresh meat, I had a moment of slight confusion myself: what was my role within this group of women? I knew, literally, why I was there (to get a better understanding of the sport), but I finally realized that a lot of the women weren’t sure how to interact with me, and I, them.

ToRD hosted the second annual Quad City Chaos on March 26 and 27 at the Hangar. (photography by Derek Lang)

I have really enjoyed the loco scrimmaging we’ve been doing, settling into a pivot role on the track in most cases, but that doesn’t really explain anything about my role in the group. I’ve had the time to think about this a lot more lately because we had a week off from training due to the Quad City Chaos tournament. For the second year in a row les grand étoiles from Montreal swept in and delivered their own unique lesson in how to play flat track roller derby. It was an extraordinary display of the game, proof that—at its best—the sport has reached that important point in its competitive evolution where the top teams in the game playing at their absolute best are capable of attaining a certain level of competitive beauty—there is a flow and continuity to the play that is mesmerizing to watch because of how effortless it appears, and how that level of flawlessness highlights both the nuances of the natural flow of the game and the contrived sophistication of the strategies that have evolved.

It was the kind of display of athleticism and preparedness that leads people to call even a fairly primitive sport like soccer, “The Beautiful Game.”

A lot of Canadian flat track "firsts" go through Hammer City, including the first WFTDA travel team, the Eh! Team.

Another reason that it was so amazing to watch Montreal perform the way they did at the QCC, was because it has only been four years since every team in Canada was more or less on equal footing, with Hammer City always a few steps ahead. They were trailblazers for the sport in this country, particularly here in the east. Although teams in other cities were skating and even scrimmaging, it was those Hammer City rollergirls who helped lead the growth of the sport in this country. If 2006 was the year everyone learned the sport from the skating on up to league organization, 2007 was the year the doors of flat track roller derby opened for the Canadian public.

The Betties D-Day had a profound effect on roller derby in Toronto, inspiring a roller derby merger in the city: the four teams that had formed out of the Toronto Terrors (Chicks Ahoy!, Death Track Dolls, D-VAS and Bay Street Bruisers) joined the Smoke City Betties and their new off-shoot team the Gore-Gore Rollergirls to form ToRD, the Toronto Roller Derby League. At the same time, in Quebec, the Montreal skaters had headed home from the tourney to form Montreal’s first team, Les Contrabanditas. In February, 2007, Les Contrabanditas hosted ToRD’s newly formed Gore-Gore Rollergirls in a closed bout (a nail biter that would be won by the Montreal team on the last jam), to begin an amazing year of roller derby in Canada.

Les Contrabanditas team photo that accompanied an article in Montreal's Mirror, discussing the first bout between Montreal and Toronto teams (February 24, 2007).

But if there is one month in Canada’s flat track history that will go down as being a turning point, it will be May, 2007. On May 5^th, at the Royal City Curling Club in Vancouver, the Terminal City Rollergirls would host a Red vs. Black scrimmage, beginning what would quickly become one of the most successful leagues in Canadian roller derby. Exactly one week later, on May 12^th, Hammer City would kick off its first full season, and a few weeks later at the George Bell Arena in Toronto, ToRD would host a day of scrimmages open only to friends and family that acted as a dry run for their first season opener on June 2^nd (which would see the Gore-Gore Rollergirls defeat the Death Track Dolls 117-78).  Add to that the formation of the three-team Montreal Roller Derby League, and organized scrimmaging in Forest City (London), and the public birth of roller derby in this country can be easily dated.

While in 2007 MTLRD and ToRD focused on increasingly popular house leagues, Hammer City continued to travel and host intra-city bouts. In June the Harlots and the Tank Girls would host and defeat Montreal’s Les Filles du Roi and Les Contrabanditas; the following month they’d prove equally inhospitable hosts of The Forest City Derby Girls. Later in that summer, Hammer City would blaze yet another path when the Steel Town Tank Girls hosted the Buffalo’s Queen City All Stars in the  second ever cross-border bout in flat track history (Edmonton’s Oil City had hosted the Rocky Mountain Roller Girls only months earlier). That fall they would visit the Penn Jersey She Devils and form what would become Canada’s first WFTDA travel team (fittingly called the Eh! Team) to head to Fort Wayne to take part in the inaugural Fall Brawl.

the Hammer City Eh! Team was the first Canadian team to head south to take on US competition.

An argument can easily be made that Toronto and Montreal’s early focus on their hometeams was what held them back from catching the continent-trotting Hammer City Roller Girls. But at the same time, it could also be argued that it was Montreal’s careful nurturing of a comparatively small and competitive home league (ToRD, with six teams, was the largest flat track league in the world at the time) that would lead to their fast-tracked evolution at the end of the decade.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Even though Les Filles du Roi proved tops in Montreal and the Gore-Gore Rollergirls would win their first (of three and counting) ToRD championships (89-53 over the Chicks Ahoy!), at the end of 2007 there was no question that the Hamilton Harlots were the best flat track roller derby team in Canada. They’d ride that momentum right into 2008.

Early Canadian roller derby legends: Tank Girls' Cheese Grater (now of the Skids) holds back Harlots' jammer Bitchslap Barbie and blocker Carla Coma at HCRG's 2007 season opener.

The more I think about it, the more my role in this fresh meat intake seems obvious.  The women who were on my line on our Sunday scrimmage a few weeks ago had a mixed range of derby knowledge, and when I tried to set them up to perform a fairly complex strategy on our first jam, it was predictably disastrous. I realized that once again, my brain was well ahead of the abilities of me and my line mates. But then, as we waited for our next jam, one of the girls looked at me and said something along the lines of, “so on that power jam we were trying to trap that blocker so the pack would slow down and the jammer could get to the pack quicker, right? to score points?” She nodded her head almost imperceptibly, coming to a key realization, showing that quickly growing knowledge of the sport that is common among this group.

The next time we had a power jam our line quickly fell to the back of the pack, isolated an opposing blocker and ground the pack to a near halt. After the jam I was exhilarated. This group of fresh meat, some of whom had seen as little as one bout, were already beginning to pull off complex isolation strategies, and they had no idea how amazing that was, how amazing they were, and how far ahead of the curve this batch of new skaters was compared to those of the past. All they needed was someone to tell them what to do. That could be my role.

It’s really exciting to be able to see a sport develop at this early stage, and simple pleasures like witnessing a well-executed power jam by a lineup of fresh meat remind me how profoundly lucky we all are–me especially–to be a part of it.

***Get to know the Hammer City Roller Girls in this 2010 feature produced by CBC.

**Read previous posts here.

Nerd Meat Part 4: Coming to Canada

Nerd Meat: The Nerd Does Derby

Part 4: Coming to Canada

I had a breakthrough at fresh meat. While stopping in any traditional sense is still a work in progress, we’ve finished learning all the falls, and I’ve come to realize that when great speeds are attained, falling to one’s knees is the quickest way to stop. My confidence shot through the roof. Then, this past week we scrimmaged. While it was exhilarating to say the least, my body has a long way to go to catch up to my mind: Even though I feel I know exactly what I should be doing, that doesn’t mean I can actually do it.

ToRDs Zebra Mafia prepare for a 2010 bout. (photo by Joe Mac)

I’ve been really interested in what drew these various women to ToRD’s fresh meat program, but as the weeks go by, it is becoming obvious that they are probably just as interested in what I’m doing there. I’m not the only guy, there are two others, both of whom are doing fresh meat alongside the referee training, but we stand out. I’ve got a stock answer set to respond to the inquiry: I write about roller derby and feel like I’m at that stage where I need to know it from the inside out. And that was the motivation. I have an extraordinary amount of respect for roller derby referees. The men and women in stripes who police this sport—as with other sports—don’t get a lot of respect. They get ridiculed by the crowd, harassed by the skaters. In the states, Queen of the Rink recently released a blog post called “How referees are killing flat track roller derby,” which argued for a reorganization of officiating in flat track roller derby. While I do think the sport is going through some growing pains (it is only 8 years old, don’t forget) and should be constantly refined, for the most part the refs want to do their best, and, I think, succeed just as much as the players do. And of course, without them, there wouldn’t be a game.

That being said, I’m not particularly interested in refereeing. That’s not the relationship I want to have with this sport.

Another thing that comes up (from freshies and skaters alike) is the possibility of starting a “merby” league. While I’d be lying through my teeth if I said I’d never thought about playing in a bout, I’m still not sure about my relationship with men’s roller derby. Although a few years ago it would have been absurd to think of men playing this sport on any scale of note, it’s a reality now that can’t be ignored. From all-men or co-ed scrimmages at Roller Con to the ever burgeoning Men’s Roller Derby Association (formerly the Men’s Derby Coalition), men’s roller derby is coming and it is coming fast.

The Mens Roller Derby Association was formerly known as the Mens Derby Coalition.

The Men’s Derby Coalition formed out of that same initial explosion of North American roller derby in 2007. In 2006, it was actually fairly easy to count the number of women’s leagues playing flat track roller derby (there were about 30); by the summer of 2007 the sport had spread considerably and had grown beyond its American roots. By 2007 roller derby had come to Canada.

If you talk to anyone who was inspired to begin playing or forming roller derby leagues in those days, they all cite the same influence: the A&E series Rollergirls. The skaters of the Lonestar Rollergirls were a diverse bunch from a variety of fields who shared similar, attractive features: fiercely independent, athletic and strong, but also unabashedly feminine. Rollergirls presented more than a sport, it presented an attitude, a way of life.

That the show was remarkably appealing to a 21^st century woman should not be a surprise, and it probably shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that it influenced scores of women to follow suit. Playing banked track roller derby was a pipe dream for most, if not all, who were inspired by the sport. So when those first wannabe skaters began to research the possibility of playing, they inevitably encountered what was still known as the United Leagues Coalition (and later WFTDA), and the other girls in Austin, the flat-track playing Texas Rollergirls.

The show aired in Canada as well, and the same wave of formation followed. Out west Edmonton’s first league, the Oil City Derby Girls was forming, while in British Columbia the skaters who would form the Terminal City Rollergirls were beginning to organize in Vancouver, and a group of women in Victoria were coming together as the Eves of Destruction. Back east, in Hamilton, Toronto and Montreal, like-minded women were finding each other all with the same idea: to start a roller derby league.

The first organized league bout in Canadian flat track history was played by the Hammer City Rollergirls in 2006.

On July 22^nd, 2006, the newly formed Hammer City Roller Girls played the first official organized flat track roller derby bout in Canada when their Steel Town Tank Girls took on the Hamilton Harlots in Burlington, Ontario. While the importance of this date in Canadian flat track lore is undeniable, it could be the events in Toronto less than a month later that may have had the greater influence.

Toronto Roller Derby formed out of a merger and reorganization of two independent teams, the Toronto Terrors and the Smoke City Betties. To facilitate the development of a league (and to help with the growth and understanding of the sport in wider circles) the Smoke City Betties organized the Betties’  D-Day, the first ever inter-league roller derby event to be held in Canada. On August 19, 2006, Hammer City, Montreal, and five of the six original ToRD teams were all present to play in a series of mini-bouts. While loosely set up as a tournament, the event would prove to be more important as a networking and training event. The Hamilton Harlots (as they would in most cases in those early days) dominated the day, defeating the Death Track Dolls, the Steel Town Tanks Girls, and Montreal in the mini-bout portion of the tournament, before taking down the host Smoke City Betties (79-57) in the main event.

This Betties D-Day was a taking-off point for eastern Canadian roller derby. Hammer City would form Canada’s first travel team (the Eh! Team), Montreal would head back to Quebec and form their first home teams (Les Contrabanditas and Les Filles du Roi), Toronto would add the Gore-Gore Rollergirls to form what, at the time, was the largest flat track roller derby league in the world. By the beginning of 2007 all three leagues would be fully organized and in full swing, opening the doors to the public and beginning their first seasons of roller derby. Others in Ottawa, the GTA and London had taken notice and were following suit.

Betties D-Day, held in August 2006, was a seminal event in Canadian roller derby history.

Roller Derby folk like to toss around the word “revolution” when they talk about their sport (half ironically, of course), but in many ways the quick growth of flat track roller derby really does fit the definition. An entirely new sport created for women, by women that would feature women. Nothing like it had happened before. Over the 20^th century women had become increasingly involved in pre-existing men’s sports, but with flat track roller derby, they’d created their own.

It is perhaps because all of this that I am uncomfortable playing men’s roller derby. I still can’t help but think of roller derby spaces as women’s spaces, the sport itself as a women’s sport (and I mean that politically, not physically). But even on this point, I am heavily conflicted, and my opinion is slowly changing, as are the opinions of many in the sport. When I first discovered roller derby, I wholeheartedly bought into the idea of it being an extension of the riot grrrl/third wave feminism movements that had swept through North America at the end of the 20^th century, and it certainly was a major influence (Steel Town Tank Girls!). But as time passes and as the sport evolves, this categorization seems awfully limited, dated even, of another era: The sport has transcended such classification. I just don’t see that reactionary anger in roller derby; I don’t see skaters out there trying to undermine any pre-existing paradigms; I don’t see women who feel the need to fight for something (respect, recognition, whatever) that they feel they deserve. And while I think all skaters demand that their sport be viewed as a serious, physical, athletic endeavour, I don’t think many are too concerned with falling into the rigid parameters we have set for what has traditionally been called a “sport.”And that is probably what sets roller derby apart from the too easily defined feminist movements of the 1990s; skaters are too focused on developing their game to be engaged in some last-century battle for acceptance.

The 21^st century rollergirl doesn’t fight for equality, she expects it.

Hello 2011 (Part 2): Thunder to take WFTDA by storm; Vixens on the rise

Tri-City will compete in WFTDA's North Central Region this year.

A Few to Watch in 2011

In eastern Canada in 2010, no league turned more heads than Tri-City. Top hometeam the Vicious Dishes scored huge victories over ToRD runners-up the Chicks Ahoy! and both hometeams from Hammer City. This season, TCRG has added a third hometeam as well, the Total Knock-Outs, who look to help drive uip the competitive level during the home season. The Thunder clapped loudly this season as well, when the Tri-City travel team closed out the year with somewhat of  an upset in a one-sided victory over ToRD’s CN Power. Having attained full WFTDA status (they’ll join Hammer City’s Eh! Team in WFTDA’s North Central Region), the Thunder will embark on an ambitious first season in the big leagues challenging a number of North Central foes including Chicago Outfit (in Chicago on May 14) and Killamazoo (at home in October); they’ll also play Montreal’s New Skids on the Block in a closed bout in March, which could be their toughest challenge of the year. With such a challenging and exciting schedule, the Thunder could be this year’s New Skids on the Block.

RVRG recently became Canada's latest WFTDA apprentice league.

If the Thunder are this year’s Skids, than this year’s Thunder will be the  Rideau Valley Vixens. Adding a second hometeam late in 2009 and then creating the Vixens early in 2010, last year the Ottawa league suffered some early growing pains. So-so performances at the Beast of the East were a far cry from the Slaughter Daughters’ run to ’09 quarterfinals, but it all proved to be for the best: Both the Daughters and the Riot Squad picked up some big late season victories.  Taking the Montreal approach and jumping into competition head on, the travel team Vixens took their lumps early in 2010 with losses to tough teams in Toronto, Montreal and Pittsburgh, but they continued to reach wide and aim high for competition and spent the rest of the year turning the tides with a series of big victories south of the border over New Jersey (Jerzey Derby Brigade) and Utica.  They begin 2011 as Canada’s latest WFTDA apprentice league.

Thames Fatales had some big victories against US competition in 2010.

The Expanding Eastern Canadian Scene

The Thames Fatales had another strong season in 2010. Starting with a solid showing at the Beast of the East, the Thames Fatales made forays south as well, scoring some big victories in the US, while making inroads in Canada too with some improved performances against Hammer City and two one-sided victories over GTAR’s Derby Debutantes. With a new Fresh Meat squad (The Luscious London Lunch Ladies), and a continued acceptance of all challenges, the skaters from Forest City could be the next break-out Canadian league. A potential WFTDA apprenticeship in the future?

GTAR was another league to make some big steps forward in 2010 with the Debutantes shocking the competition at the Beast of the East and putting in a hard-fought performance against Edmonton’s E-Ville. An addition of a second team, the Chrome Mollys, could help them narrow the gap between them and the other eastern Canadian leagues. Canada’s original WFTDA league, Hammer City, will also look to rebound after an up-and-down year. With the Eh! Team unable to work their way up the WFTDA rankings, suffering some big losses, including their first ever loss to ToRD’s CN Power. Hammer City hometeams also suffered setbacks to Tri-City and saw the gap narrowed between them and Forest City. But with the realigned hometeam rosters creating a competitive parity between the Death Row Dames and the Harlots that hasn’t been seen in years, Hammer City could get that competitive edge back in 2011.

Halifax is leading the development of a buoyant Maritime roller derby scene.

New roller derby leagues continue to sprout at a surprising rate as well. In Ontario, leagues in Sudbury (Nickel City Roller Derby–who will be playing ToRD’s D-VAS in February), Guelph (Royal City Rollergirls), Oshawa (Durham Region Roller Derby), and Kingston (Kingston Derby Girls) are on the verge of bouting, and there are so many other leagues sprouting up that this is really just the tip of the iceberg of the sport in this province. But the sport is moving further east as well with leagues forming in Quebec City, Moncton (Muddy River Rollers), St. John (Fog City Rollers), Charlottetown (Red Rock ‘N Roller Derby) and St. John’s (709 Derby Girls). The Nerd has a personal interest in the development of a stable league in the city of his birth, Halifax, Nova Scotia. And is excited to say that after a few false starts in the city, the Halifax Roller Derby Association finally has solid leadership and is up and running and gaining a lot of momentum. With Muddy River set to host the region’s first major flat track roller derby training camp in July, 2011 will see a huge surge in the participation in and popularity of roller derby in eastern Canada. This bodes well for the future.

**The Derby Nerd will be business as usual in 2011 continuing here and also my work behind the mic for ToRD.TV. One change is that I will be writing about learning the sport from the inside as well, as I embark on ToRD’s latest Fresh Meat training session. You can follow my growing knowledge of the practical side of roller derby on the Nerd Meat: The Nerd Does Derby page (beginning Friday). Also, I’ve done a little reorganization of the site (to the stats and results pages) and you can now subscribe and share!

**Please feel free to use the comment section below to promote any important dates, tournaments, non-mentioned leagues, events, etc. To a successful and exciting 2011!

Weekend Preview: Pride + ToRD = Clam Slam!

ANOTHER ALL-STAR LINEUP FOR CLAM SLAM

Clam Slam II, a Pride–ToRD collaboration, takes place this Friday night at The Hangar and it once again features some of the finest skaters Toronto, Canada and even the United States has to offer. The Clam Slam will feature two teams of all stars: The Vagine Regime, managed by The Death Track Dolls‘  bench boss Big Chees, and The Clam Diggers who will be managed by Tri-City’s Boss Applesauce. It’s anyone’s guess as to the outcome of the bout will be, as both rosters are stacked with talent.

VAGINE REGIME

Jackie Daniels of the Windy City Roller Girls

In a lineup full of big hitters, ToRD’s Land Shark and Sail-Her Poon, along with Hammer City’s Lock N Roll, will be relied upon to carry a good part of the jam load for the Vagine Regime, but they could be gamely aided by Windy City‘s triple threat Jackie Daniels, a well known and respected skater who helped start the Grand Raggidy Roller Girls and now plays for the #1 ranked team in WFTDA‘s North Central Division (and also appeared in last fall’s Whip It). But given the celebratory nature of the event, expect to see some players more known for their blocking than jamming don the star, and there are definitely options. Aside from outstanding ToRD blockers like Mega Bouche, Nasher the Smasher, and Lucid Lou, and great pivots like Rebel Rock-It, Brim Stone and Bionichrome (AKA the Dolls’ Monichrome), the Vagine Regime also boasts big-hitting visitors Mirambo (Forest City Roller Girls), Grouchy LadyThug (Assault City Roller Derby), BruiseBerry Pie (GTA Rollergirls’ Derby Debutantes), Sofanda Beatin (Tri-City) and Nameless Whorror  (Montreal). Primarily a team of veterans, P Doddy joins her Betties teammate Poon as the only rookies on the lineup.

Mexican Jumping Mean from San Fransisco's Bay Area Derby Girls

CLAM DIGGERS

Despite that intimidating roster, the Clam Diggers have nothing to fear.  While they might not boast as much of a powerful pack, the may be able to lay claim to more natural jammers. Familiar face Sista Fista (who played two season with ToRD’s Dolls before returning to Victoria’s Eves of Destruction) will lead Getcha Kicks (GTAR’s Derby Debutantes), Kari-Mia Beere (ToRD’s Chicks Ahoy!), and ToRD veteran Memphis Kitty (Smoke City Betties) at the jam line.  There’s also a good chance that Dyna Vagina (AKA the Chicks’ Dyna Hurtcha),  Firweed (Chicks) and Mexican Jumping Mean (From the Bay Area Derby Girls) will be thrown the star as well. What the Diggers’ pack lacks in pure power, it may make up positionally. The three Tri-City skaters on the roster (Anita Martini, sine-e-star and Bareleigh Legal) play together on both the Tri-City Thunder and the Vicious Dishes and are all key components of the recent successes of that league and its teams, and the great development of their pack control and pace strategies. Waxey McBush is a rookie with Montreal’s defending champion Les Filles Du Roi and has looked strong positionally early on in her first season. Two ToRD rookies will be joining her for their first Clam Slams as well (The Gores’ Shiver-Me-Timbers [AKA Aston Martini] and Hot Boxx [AKA Chronic]); a few veterans, Victoria’s Lady Cuntessa, Hammer City’s Perky Set and ToRD’s Hot Roller and Hoff will be relied up to hold things together in the pack.

However you look at it, both teams balance out in the end which is a bonus for fans. While you can expect all the big hits and strategic packs as you would in any roller derby bout, there will be a more playful element to the proceedings: If last year’s Clam Slam is any indication this will be an exciting celebration of roller derby and a can’t miss Pride event.

* I was recently interviewed by Bryan Mcwilliam from Gear Up for Sports. He has been doing a great job following ToRD this season introducing it to a new audience and giving roller derby the sports-page treatment that it deserves. The interview was part of his Clam Slam preview. You can read it here.

THE ROSTERS

Clam Diggers Anita Martini 9 (Tri City Roller Girls, Kitchener) Bareleigh Legal 18 (TCRG, Kitchener) Dyna Vagina 21 (ToRD) Fireweed -40  (ToRD) Getcha Kicks 76 (GTA Rollergirls, Toronto) Hoff 65+ (ToRD) Hot Boxx 60gritt (ToRD) Hot Roller 48 (ToRD) Kari Mia Beer 6 (ToRD) Lady Cuntessa 702w (Eves of Distruction, Victoria) Memphis Kitty 56 (ToRD) Mexican Jumping Mean 7 (B.A.D Girls, San Francisco) Perky Set 3 (HCRG, Hamilton) Scissor-Me-Timbers 510 (ToRD) sin-e-star 306 (TCRG, Kitchener) Sista Fista 54u (Eves, Victoria) Waxey McBush 200$/hr (MTLRD, Montreal) Manager: Boss Applesauce (TCRG)

Vagine Regime Bionichrome 35 (ToRD) Brim Stone 2:18 (ToRD) BruiseBerry Pie 31 (GTA Rollergirls, Toronto) Fubar Bundy 765 (ToRD) The Grouchy LadyThug 12:00 (Assault City Roller Derby, Syracruse NY) Jackie Daniels No7 (Windy City Roller Girls, Chicago Ill) Land Shark 33 (ToRD) Lock N Roll 00 (HCRG, Hamilton) Lucid Lou 12:34 (ToRD) Mega Mouth 26 (ToRD) Mirambo (Forest City Roller Girls, London) Nameless Whorror 202  (MTLRD, Montreal) Nasher the Smasher 2×4 (ToRD) P Doddy 32 (ToRD) Rebel Rock It  7 (ToRD) Sail Her Poon 090w (ToRD) Sofanda Beatin 420 (TCRG, Kitchener) Manager: Big Chees (ToRD)