World Domination: Flat Track Roller Derby Takes Over Dallas for the 2014 World Cup

Team USA successfully defended the World Cup it had first won in 2011. (Photography by Joe Mac)

In the early morning of Thursday, December 4^th, 2014, at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, a half-awake group of announcers, volunteers, and staff was groggily standing in line to check in for credentials at the 2014 Blood and Thunder Roller Derby World Cup. Nearby, and snaking all along the interior wall of the cathedral-like mezzanine of the auditorium, were hundreds of fans who’d arrived early to gain entry or pick up last-minute tickets to the event. There was a murmur in the Center, the buzz of half-formed expectations and fully realized anticipation, but it was muted by the early morning hour, by the remnants of jet lag yet to be shaken.

A set of doors at the near-end of the hall sprung open and out walked Team Argentina, unmistakable in their baby-blue and white striped kit, skates in hand, but mostly geared up for warm ups for their early-morning game on Day 1 of the second Roller Derby World Cup.

It took a moment for the groggy mass in the hall to take note of the arrival of the team, but when they did, one part of the sleepy line of fans suddenly erupted: dancing, chanting, singing, flags of Argentina materialized and waved proudly. The singing accompanied the blushing and appreciative team as it entered the World Cup stadium and disappeared from our view.

Yet the singing continued. The dancing continued, and it would do so nearly unabated for the next four days.

It was my first “World Cup Moment” and proved to be just one of a countless number of World Cup Moments that would touch and inspire everyone who gathered in Dallas, Texas, for what would turn out to be—so far anyway—flat track roller derby’s greatest moment, an incredible crowning achievement for a sport only a decade into its very existence.

It’s actually been quite a year for flat track roller derby, a bounce back year in many ways for its leading governing body, the WFTDA, through whom the vast majority of the participants at the event were introduced to the game. The WFTDA Playoffs were an incredible success on the track, including a Division 2 tournament that provided the most parity of any flat track tournament in history, and globally the game had grown far beyond even the thirty teams in attendance in Dallas, evidenced by the donations of gear being collected on site for the emerging league in Beirut and the buzz around the newly formed league in Cairo. And for a potentially defining year in flat track roller derby, the 2014 World Cup proved to be a fitting end.

Team Canada marches during the Parade of Nations at the 2014 Roller Derby World Cup.

No, it was not a highly competitive tournament, though arguably more competitive than some thought it would be, and no the dominance of the United States was not negated, though the Americans were tested more than any thought possible. What it was, was a celebration of the sport, a global coming-out party on a scale that far eclipsed that of the inaugural World Cup in Toronto in 2011. Of course, through the sheer force of evolution, this event was way bigger and way better than that previous one, but that is as it should be, and undoubtedly the next event will be way better than this one (though it is hard to see how it could be any bigger, at least in terms of participation). And along with being a wildly celebratory party, it was also (perhaps most importantly) the largest “swap meet” the sport has ever seen: a sharing of the game, of strategies, of training.

There were some muted grumblings about the one-sided nature of some of the scores, particularly in the round-robin portion of the event where established nations like Australia (515-5 over Italy), Canada (301-23 over Denmark), England (329-50 over Ireland), Finland (312-38 over Mexico), and Sweden (459-0 over Japan) smothered their competition, but it would be hard to argue that anything else was expected in those rounds: Italy did not come into the World Cup thinking it would triumph over Australia, Denmark was probably quite content to score 23 points against Canada, and when Puerto Rican jammer Goomba Toomba managed three points in a 637-3 loss to USA, the room erupted as if they’d just won the very World Cup trophy itself.

It actually isn’t that unprecedented in the history of sport to have initially one-sided international events. For example, in ice hockey’s first forays into international competition at the 1920 and ’24 Olympics, the scores were often absurd (A Canadian amateur team won its three 1924 round robin games by a combined score of 85-0), yet hockey historians universally look back upon those two tournaments as being instrumental in the global growth of the sport; similarly, it’s undeniable that historians will one day look back upon these initial Roller Derby World Cups with the same sort of favour.

And honestly, except for the top four teams (and really just the second- through to fourth-place teams) winning and losing was not necessarily the number one goal. This tournament was about so much more than that.

Even Jerry Seltzer, who has been known to be publicly critical of the flat track game, seemed overwhelmed by the event, and wrote a long glowing piece about it on his blog. It was fitting to see “The Commish” at the tournament, shuffling wide-eyed around the tracks and posing for photos at every turn, always willing to share a thought or a story. Beginning with Transcontinental Roller Derby in the ‘30s and ending with the World Skating League’s RollerJam in the ‘90s, the Seltzer name was roller derby. From patriarch Leo and his brother Oscar through to Leo’s son Jerry and daughter Gloria, the Seltzer named had been the beating heart of the sport for seven decades before the flat track revolution brought the game to a level that transcended any individual name.

And it’s not hard to see why Jerry was so taken by the event. In a 2010 interview at the WFTDA Championships in Chicago (part of which you can see here), Jerry pointed out that “all (Leo) wanted was a legitimate game that could be played at the Olympics.” It never came to pass in Leo’s lifetime, nor even with Jerry at the reigns, yet here it is, not the Olympics exactly, but truly global, and even if growth has slowed somewhat in North American, it is a sport still very much growing on the rest of the planet.

Despite the disparity in some games, competitive growth in the sport was indeed evident. Brazil and Argentina were virtual doormats in 2011 but entered the 2014 event with a certain air of confidence. Winless three years prior, both notched round-robin victories (tight wins over Portugal and Switzerland for Brazil and a dominant performance over Denmark for the Argentinians), before Argentina scored the upset of the event in a very physical 205-143 victory over France in the Round of 16. France had finished 7^th in 2011 and was expected by most to be a lock for a Top 8 finish in Dallas. Similarly, other returning nations like Ireland, Scotland and New Zealand have emerged as leaders of the global game.

Most fans were decked out in national colours all weekend, but Australian fans were particularly noticeable.

And there was shifting at the top too, with England gaining revenge on a Canadian team that had topped them three years before with a hard fought 156-112 win in the semifinals, and then Australia did so as well, taking advantage of a spent Canadian squad with a thoroughly impressive 197-128 victory in the bronze medal matchup. And finally, England shattered all expectations and won over the hearts of the world with a performance for the ages against the Americans, truly winning the silver medal in a 219-105 loss in the gold medal game (no national team had ever held the Americans to such a low total or managed to score so many).

But despite the giddiness of that result (and the 54 points Australia managed against the American juggernaut in the semifinals), lets not kid ourselves too much: USA still represents the best in the world. At the conclusion of the final, England, battered, bruised and exhausted, looked as if they’d truly left it all on the track, while the Americans—still very much bigger, faster, stronger—appeared as if they were ready to play at least another 60 minutes.

There is still no jammer who possesses the blend of speed and strength of Atomatrix or the unflappable composure of Nicole Williams. In the pack, the wily Akers and the bluntly powerful Sexy Sladie continue to be forces, while Smarty Pants remains a marvel, always in the right spot, seemingly teleporting herself around the track, showing an unbelievable intelligence and vision for the game honed through a decade of commitment to the sport.

And to show they too are continuing to grow, this Team USA has also advanced, and has been slowly taken over by a new generation of skaters from jammers Vanessa Sites’ and Scald Eagle’s combination of strength and agility, to the on-track leadership of Penelope Nederlander and Shaina Serelson. Serelson herself—in her heart-on-her-sleeve intensity—harkens back to that first generation of USA skaters as well, now representing the fiery core of the national team once occupied by the sisters DeRanged and Psycho Babble, although Serelson represents an evolution of even those fine skaters, sporting a discipline that allows her to better focus that intensity into controlled, well-calculated aggression.

So even if the bar does not quite seem as high as it once was, it is still the Americans who are setting it.

On so many levels the 2014 Roller Derby World Cup was an absolute success, but interestingly, the greatest harbinger of the sport may have come in an exhibition game. On Sunday, right before the bronze and gold medal games, the Junior Roller Derby Association held an all-star game. It was a stunning bout, a shockingly well-skated game, a display of talent by teenagers who will, in time, change the sport in ways unimaginable.

From the women who trekked from every corner of six continents of the globe, to the boys and girls who left fans with jaws agape in the JRDA all-star game, perhaps the most heartening conclusion to be taken from this World Cup is that the game of roller derby—right now already healthier than it has ever been—is in unbelievably good hands.

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***For full results and links to specific team websites, visit the official World Cup website.  You can also find all the results and stats (where available) on flattrackstats.com.

***Photos courtesy of Joe Mac. Visit his blog here.

Nerd Meat Part 10: Playing the Game

Nerd Meat: The Nerd Does Derby

Part 10: Playing the Game

It’s the opening bout of a key tournament and ToRD’s fresh meat team, the D-VAS, is lining up to play Queen City’s Baby Brawlers, the fresh meat team from this venerable Buffalo league; it is a big showdown between the youngest members of two very experienced flat track roller derby leagues. In deference to Queen City’s reputation and history, the D-VAS have tracked a comparatively “veteran” lineup of skaters from ToRD’s second-last fresh meat in-take. But in the midst of these skaters is one, #747 Ames to Kill, who is the freshest of fresh meat. She just completed her minimum skills test a few weeks before after completing the ten week fresh meat program. She looks focused playing in the pack, any fears—those nerves that have got to be there—are well-hidden. She looks like just another D-VAS.

Ames to Kill (#747) makes her debut in the DVAS opening bout of 2 Fresh 2 Furious (blocking with Rennie Rumble and pivot Skinned Knee Crosby). (Photo by Sean Murphy)

The 2 Fresh 2 Furious tournament (hosted by the GTA Rollergirls) is a showcase for new leagues and fresh meat teams of established leagues that has become an annual event in Toronto, and it fills a great need. With well over twenty leagues and counting, Ontario may be one of the fastest growing regions of flat track derby in the world right now. The growth of the sport in Ontario is reflected in the growth of the sport in Toronto, and ToRD is booming: right now the D-VAS have a roster of over 30, all at various stages of development, but all eligible for the 2011 draft that will be held at the end of the year (needless to say, they won’t all be drafted—ToRD has become too big and too competitive for that, but with the advent of the D-VAS, they will still get to play and hone their skills). Over the course of the 2 Fresh tournament, eight of the skaters with whom I’d graduated from the fresh meat program would play (Along with Ames, Slaptrick Swayze, Lexi Con,  BelleFast, General Patten, Smack Mia Round, Purple Pain and Zom-Boney would all get track time). The D-VAS would go on to finish second, losing in the final to the Gold Miners’ Daughters, a talented team from Timmins who came out of nowhere to record the victory.

Hitz Miller pivots for Durham Region against the Gold Miners' Daughters. (Photo by Sean Murphy)

It was hard for me not to become reflective during the course of the tournament. Along with the connection I felt for the D-VAS, my sister was also playing for Durham Region Roller Derby (Hitz Miller) who also had a successful tournament, and were the only team that beat the eventual champs (albeit early in the tournament in a non-elimination bout). But it was also hard not to see, out of this microcosm, the larger picture that it played into. This tournament, for instance, and other freshie bouts and tournaments around the world represent the ever-strengthening foundation of this sport’s revolution. Along with MMA, roller derby truly is the sport of the 21^st century. In terms of participation, its growth far outstrips that of any other sport being played on the planet (in 2003 there were about five active flat track leagues in only one country, eight years later and there are well over 900 in about two dozen countries). And as much as the sport has grown, it has changed continuously as well: the tens of thousands of current participants in the sport are all active members in its evolution. Eight years ago the teams that were playing were all competing at a fairly similar level as well. Now, the game being played at 2 Fresh 2 Furious (as watchable and exciting as it is) is nowhere the level of game being played at the WFTDA Championships.

Timmins' Gold Miners' Daughters won 2 Fresh playing the kind of up-temp derby that the Oly Rollers have mastered. (Photo by Sean Murphy)

While evidence of the beginnings of track strategies and isolation plays could be seen during the tournament, the level of play was at a fairly basic level (for the most part, the most advanced teams strategically, were those that did the best). The Gold Miner’s Daughters won the tournament playing a very basic style of roller derby, what I’ve come to call the “hit and run” game that defined the fast-paced action of banked track roller derby and was the default mode for the early flat trackers as well. It relies on fantastic individual talent (especially the jammers), and strong endurance. While there aren’t really any exclusive hit and run teams left at the highest levels of competitive flat track roller derby, some, including the extraordinarily talented Oly Rollers, still play a fairly simplistic style of derby that is fast and hits hard. There are others too, like Chicago’s Windy City Rollers,  who still play the fast game. The obvious drawback to this strategy is that if you run into a team of players who are better skaters than you, you’re in trouble. This was most evident for me when Philly’s Liberty Belles, who can play the fast game when necessary, took on Oly in the semifinal at the 2010 WFTDA Champs. The fastest bout of the tournament, the score remained close early on as Philly did their best to keep up with the Rollers, but despite how close the score was at half,  52-34 Oly, the game seemed all but over by then: It was clear that in a fast-paced, hit and run bout, Oly wasn’t going to be caught. And they weren’t, with their lead barely changing throughout another fast second half. When Oly was finally taken out by Rocky Mountain in the final, it was by a smart, strategic team that understood the key to victory against Oly was not trying to outduel them in a race: the key was playing a diversified, multi-paced bout that would draw Oly away from its strengths.

ToRD TV caught up with Jerry Seltzer at the 2010 WFTDA Championships.

But this, along with many aspects of derby, is debatable: flat vs. banked; mainstream vs. underground; men vs. women vs. everyone. I believe that when all is said and done, there will be derby for everyone at every level, on whatever surface. But right now with the community—as large as it is—still so interwoven, there are a lot of developmental debates. Jerry Seltzer, one of the founding fathers of the sport (his father, Leo, created the sport in the 1930s), and Commissioner from 1959 to its original demise in 1973, is still a central figure in the debates. While Jerry openly and freely offers invaluable advice and support on his blog and his insights are often inspired (and inspiring), I believe he’s missing the mark on at least two major points: the importance of television in Derby’s perpetuation¹, and the fact that the banked game is better than the flat one.

Eight of the Nerd's fellow fresh meat graduates suited up for the D-VAS at the 2 Fresh tournament. (Photo by Sean Murphy)

I don’t like this valuing of the banked over the flat (or vice versa, for that matter), and I also think that it is a waste of time: they are no longer the same sport.  When historians look back upon flat track history, I believe they will mark the year of the true birth of flat track roller derby as 2009. This is when the players of the sport began to exploit the advantages of playing roller derby on a flat track as opposed to a banked one; this is when the sport of flat track roller derby was no longer interchangeable with its banked-track progenitor.² It’s no secret that I prefer flat track over banked track because of the democratization of it, because of the inherent strategy involved in manipulating the pace at which the game can be played. It is not a perfect sport yet (what sport is?), but WFTDA seems to be on the right track in developing it (currently, they are experimenting with eliminating minors, another necessary step in flat track’s evolution). While I do hope that banked track continues to be played (perhaps with the flat track elements that have crept into it removed), my heart is on the flat track, where it will stay.

Despite completing Fresh Meat, I’m not that interested in playing the sport at any competitive level and am content, right now, to chronicle the growth of the women’s version of it; for me, watching the newest D-VAS in the 2 Fresh tournament was as close as I’ll come to playing on a team. Having spent ten-weeks sweating and struggling on the track with them, from first skate to minimum skills test,  I’ve watched each of those skaters closely; I’ve seen them progress from early jitters and confusion over the game, to the confident skaters on the track they’ve become. On top of that, I also feel that now that I am writing about them playing in a game—having read their names on the backs of their uniforms, seen their focus and balance increase with each jam—I have truly come full circle in my own fresh meat journey; I’ve come through the other side full of the same desire to fulfill the same role I’ve always filled—chronicling the early days of this amazing sport. Now I am just armed with an even greater appreciation for not only  the game itself, but for the larger role it plays in the lives of its participants.

That, as simple an admission as it sounds, has been my greatest achievement in this whole process.

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.