June 23-25, 2017: The Final Rankings Push

June 23-25, 2017: The Final Rankings Push Photo credit: Regularman Photography - regularmanphotography.com
June 23, 2017

This last weekend in June is the final big stretch of games before the rankings are tallied and teams are lined up for WFTDA’s Playoff tournaments this fall. Three big events are happening in different regions of the United States with a few single games sprinkled in.

In Portland, Oregon, the #3 Rose City Rollers are hosting Hometown Throwdown and have invited #4 Angel City, #5 Texas, and #6 London to join them. In the Midwest, Arch Rival and the GateKeepers organized the second year of Sibling Rivalry in St. Louis, Missouri with men’s and women’s teams joining them for the three day event. East Coast Derby Extravaganza is taking place in Feasterville, Pennsylvania with three different tracks, A and B WFTDA teams, as well as men’s and junior teams.

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When a Community Grieves: Suggestions for Support

When a Community Grieves: Suggestions for Support
June 9, 2017

Within the tight knit derby community, any loss of a community member has a deep impact on us all. However, death – even using the word “death”, instead of a euphemism – is a hard subject. As a general rule we seem to think that if we don’t think about it, we won’t have to deal with it.

What this winds up meaning is that when tragedy does occur we are left scrambling to figure out what to do, what to say, and how to process.

Having thought through how to care for people beforehand won’t make the pain of grief less, but it will allow your league to come together more readily and let fewer people go through this alone.

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May 2017 WFTDA Rankings Update

May 2017 WFTDA Rankings Update Photo credit: Preflash Gordon. facebook.com/preflash
June 8, 2017

Now that we have entered June, teams will be battling to secure their spots for the WFTDA tournament season. This year it will be a tougher fight with the amended tournament structure as just the top 36 teams will make Division 1 Playoffs and the next 16 will make up Division 2.

May had a lot going on and gave us our first look at many top-level roller derby teams, making this ranking release a telling one as we head into the homestretch before the June 30th cutoff. From the Big O in Eugene, Oregon to many important single games around the globe, there are some big movements to highlight.

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I’m a pregnant roller derby athlete

I’m a pregnant roller derby athlete Photo credit Marko Niemela (https://www.facebook.com/punkmarkophotos/)
May 17, 2017

Part One: Holy shit this is happening

I want to start out by saying; this is me being honest. This is what I went through. It might not be popular, or what other people went through… but this is what happened, and how it made me feel, and how I handled it. I’m here to share my experience so others don’t feel judged by expectation, so please don’t jump down my throat for my choices.

Pregnancy has a million expectations on women, and that’s part of what makes it difficult… because it’s not just the craziness of hormones and body changes you’re handling, but also the set of parameters of how you should feel because of that expectation of “OH THIS IS ALL WORTH IT, ‘CAUSE: BABY”.

That makes me furious. It ignores my struggles and frustrations like I should be some happy robot housewife from the ’50s.

So without further ado, here’s my story of learning about my pregnancy…

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2017 Big O Results

2017 Big O Results Photo credit: Benma Photo. facebook.com/benmaphoto
May 7, 2017

The Big O Tournament has been a platform for WFTDA, MRDA, and Junior roller derby teams to hit the track since 2011. In 2017 there are 16 WFTDA teams, 9 MRDA, and 4 junior teams in Eugene, Oregon from four different continents.

Check out our WFTDA preview of the weekend, Muckety Muck’s MRDA overview, and Sean Hale’s tournament tips for fans. Below are the results from the weekend with each team’s current ranking. Green are WFTDA sanctioned games, purple are WFTDA B teams, blue is MRDA games, and yellow are the junior games. Each game is linked with its archived video.

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