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Dear roller derby community,

When our beloved sport was founded in Austin, Texas more than a decade ago, it was clear that this was the start of something truly special. The incredible DIY spirit of our community, the revolutionary actions of groundbreaking women, and the powerful voices of athletes from a diverse spectrum of identities helped roller derby grow into something more celebrated and inclusive.

As the sport itself has changed, from minor penalties to Roller Derby World Cups and from the birth of National Governing Bodies to a revitalized Officiating Certification, the WFTDA has grown rapidly — along with our partner organizations, the Men’s Roller Derby Association (MRDA) and the Junior Roller Derby Association (JRDA).

Our collective growth has happened so quickly, in fact, that our policies and culture no longer serve the needs of our community, nor do they keep all members feeling safe and welcome.

Athletes, officials, and support staff have rightfully called out the WFTDA, the MRDA, and the JRDA for issues of ignorance, abuse, lack of inclusiveness, and lack of empathy for our community’s needs. We have been listening. We have heard the call to do better and are working to find ways to collaborate together so we can make roller derby safer for everyone.

What we have not done is clearly communicate that exclusion, abuse, harassment, and discrimination are not tolerable.

It is time to do so.

We are initiating a cross-organizational effort to investigate, develop, educate, improve reporting requirements, and implement more inclusive, and more proactive anti-abuse, anti-harassment, and anti-discrimination policies — policies that are worthy of the revolutionary sport that we have built. These policies will be supported by educational resources for our organizations, and for the roller derby community worldwide.

WFTDA, MRDA, and JRDA events are natural starting points for strengthening event-based Codes of Conduct. JRDA is leading the way with a clear and mandated Code of Conduct and an anti-bullying program; they are reinvesting in United We Skate Against Bullying to help share resources for tackling issues of bullying across our community by providing support and educational tools to all members. The WFTDA is currently reworking both an event-based and a member-focused Code of Conduct over the next few months, and a streamlined grievance process. The MRDA has spent this past fall overhauling its grievance process and reporting functions to make it easier for members to feel confident about reporting any issues. The MRDA is also looking to expand its member league Code of Conduct with a section dedicated to sexual harassment and its reporting.

But beyond this, all of our organizations are looking to build a deeper commitment to safety and inclusiveness at the league level. We need our member leagues and supporting community to take issues of harassment, abuse, and discrimination seriously. We need to report abuses and believe survivors. We need to work collaboratively and creatively to find a system that offers dignity and compassion.

Together, our organizations recognize that we need a system for fielding and responding to these issues, and we must work hand-in-hand with our members to make that happen. We are turning to you — our athletes, officials, announcers, photographers, volunteers, fans, and our member leagues — for help.

As the WFTDA, the MRDA, and JRDA work together in the coming months to collaborate on policy, we challenge our member organizations to work on their own at the league and local levels. Several of our member leagues have made their policies public, and we encourage others to do the same.

For those of you who are members of a WFTDA league, we ask that you work with your Skater and Official Reps to take ideas back to the forum. As you know, our Reps are the cornerstone of the work that is done within our organizations, and this work is important.

For MRDA members, we encourage you to forward ideas to MRDA Central directly or through your League Reps. You are also welcome to reach out to the Member Relations Committee or Executive Board if preferred.

JRDA members can bring questions and concerns to their Regional Coordinators or their league’s Member Congress representative. JRDA also has reporting available to members for abuse and harassment through our Grievance Form here.

We also know that many of you may not be members of our organizations, yet are still an important and valued part of our community. Your feedback, ideas, questions, and concerns are necessary to help develop the sport we all want to see. Please reach out to us using the following contact information:

WFTDA: [email protected]
MRDA: [email protected]
JRDA: [email protected]

To our friends who have been made to feel marginalized, or unsure of your place in the sport of roller derby, you are absolutely valued and wanted. To those of you who are survivors, we believe you.

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The hard hits and trophies are right around the corner and the men’s game is taking it international as the 2017 MRDA Championships, the Cymru Clash will take place this year in scenic Wales, just outside the capital city of Cardiff. This exciting weekend of top level derby is co-hosted by South Wales Silures Roller Derby and the MRDA and is taking place at the Cwmbran Stadium, Cwmbran, South Wales October 13-15, 2017.

This year’s championships feature 11 of the top teams in the MRDA including 4 teams making their first appearance at MRDA Championships. Fans can expect the action on the track to be as intense and exciting as ever during this three day event. The first day of derby will start with the first round of games and winners will advance to face the top 3 seeds who have a first round “bye” and are already one step closer to the Championship game. If your favorite team falls short on day one, don’t fret as there will be rounds of consolation games to keep things interesting on both Saturday and Sunday of the Cymru Clash.  

St. Louis, Missouri’s GateKeepers Roller Derby (8-0 record in 2017), the 2015 and 2016 MRDA Champions, show up as the #1 team in the MRDA as of the Fall rankings and are looking to crown themselves as three time champs in 2017.  While they have not played a sanctioned game since the Sibling Rivalry Invitational in late June, their impressive results against Magic City, Denver and Twin Cities leaves no one doubting they mean business in Wales. Their roster remains filled with incredible talent and skill, but every team is going to want to make a name for themselves to be the first team to defeat the Gatekeepers in sanctioned play since 2015. The action starts for the defending champs on Friday, October 13th against the winner of Manchester vs. Vancouver earlier that day.  

Coming in ranked at #2 in the MRDA is surging Bridgetown (5-1 record in 2017), who notched a league breakthrough fourth place finish at last year’s MRDA tourney and almost upset the St. Louis Gatekeepers in a classic scrum at the Big O in May that went down to the very last jam. With an impressive stifling defense and explosive offense, do the skaters from Portland have enough to wrest the title from St. Louis? The bracket is such that a rematch between the Menace and the Gatekeepers only happens in the Championship game, so stay tuned! Their quest to claim the title begins on Friday, October 13th when they face the winner of Toulouse vs. Austin earlier in the day.

One of the two local favorites (relatively speaking), Southern Discomfort (3-0 record this season) takes the track in Cardiff as the #3 team in the MRDA, their highest ranking ever as a league. While they have only played a limited amount of games this season and have not faced any of the top teams from the MRDA, this team never disappoints at the Championship level. Their roster remains strong and talented and they will play the winner of Puget vs. Austin on the second day of competition. If they can survive their first opponent, a potential clash awaits them against Bridgetown, must see viewing for any fans of the men’s game.  

The newly minted version of the San Diego Aftershocks (7-1 record in 2017) will travel to Wales as the #4 ranked team in the MRDA and they could be the wild card for this weekend that turns this tournament on it’s head. With a diverse roster of skilled skaters, the Aftershocks have put up some impressive outcomes in sanctioned play this year, only suffering a loss to Bridgetown in May. Their first round opponent on day one is against the New York Shock Exchange, a challenging start to their dreams of winning it all, but everyone has permission to cheat a little bit and glance at their potential match-up on day two with the St. Louis Gatekeepers. Safe to say that one speaks for itself.

The New York Shock Exchange (#5 in the current rankings), a perennial MRDA Champs entrant, is 5-2 in sanctioned play heading into the Cymru Clash with competitive contests at the March “Man-Ness Invitational” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and then in May at the Big O. The Brokers have claimed tight wins over #7 Magic City (149-140) and host #11 Philly Hooligans (191-121) this season. They did suffer a loss to Bridgetown and 2017 has been a challenging one for the venerable organization as they continue to integrate skaters and adapt to changes in their roster. They hope to advance out of their first round match-up with San Diego on day one.   

The first of our 6 teams playing in the first round on the first day is the #6 team in the MRDA, the Puget Sound Outcasts (4-3 season in 2017).  The Outcast suffered a 182-130 setback to Vancouver in early April, but avenged that loss with a win in their rematch just a month later. Their other two losses were handed to them by the #1 and #2 teams in the MRDA, so there is no question Puget is battle tested prior to this tournament. They play Austin to start their run and a victory in that game allows them to advance to play the next day against Southern Discomfort. Not an easy road, but the combination of veteran and up and coming skaters from Portland gives them a shot to have a very productive visit abroad.  

Making their MRDA Championship tournament debut is our next entrant, the skaters of Roller Derby Toulouse (ranked #8 in the world with a 9-1 season in 2017), the “Quad Guards” from of course Toulouse, France. The hosts of this year’s European Qualifier “The Harvest of Champions”, not only delighted fans by putting on a wonderful event, but by taking care of business on the track as well. They posted solid margins of victory against all of their opponents and have only suffered one loss this year to the #3 team in the world, Southern Discomfort. Their first round opponent is going to be a spirited contest with Philadelphia and if they advance, they will take on the Bridgetown Menace.  

The Vancouver Murder (3-4 season in 2017) are #9 in the MRDA and after notching their first trip to the MRDA Champs last season, they are poised to perform even better this year. With challenging games all season, the Canadian skaters have seen some of the toughest the MRDA has to offer and it will be the positive outcomes at the Big O and the Wild West Showdown that they will look upon for motivation when the first whistle blows on October 13th. They face Manchester in their first game and if they can advance, will face the #1 seed, the St. Louis Gatekeepers.

The second team emerging from the European Qualifiers, is the #10 team in the MRDA, Manchester Roller Derby (8-3 season record in 2017). The New Wheeled Order is going to have their own home track advantage as well as their fans only have a few hours of travel down the M6 to make this game and generate some noise. Manchester has played a prolific amount of derby in 2017, with a total of 16 sanctioned and unsanctioned games under their belt, time together on the track is not a problem for this squad. Their three defeats this season all came at the hands of Toulouse (including an 11 point setback in the European Qualifiers), but their results and success have grown as the season progressed. They face the Murder from Vancouver in the first round and this game is going to be intense as both teams want nothing to do with an early loss at this tournament. If they win, they will advance to play St. Louis and a shot to take out MRDA’s reigning Champions.

The Philadelphia Hooligans (6-4 season in 2017) head off to Cardiff just outside of the top 10 in the MRDA, coming in at #11 and they want nothing more than to make enough noise to end up even higher. The early part of the season for Philly was a challenge to find wins, but they took their lumps, picked up some valuable experience and as 2017 progressed, turned things around ending up with two wins (over Austin and Race City) at the Salish Sea Slam, the MRDA North American Qualifiers while winning a rematch against the Mass Maelstrom. Fired up and ready to show the world what Philadelphia derby has to offer, the Hooligans will take on Toulouse in a tough first round match-up on the first day.  

The final team in the 2017 MRDA Championship is Austin Anarchy Men’s Roller Derby (7-4 season in 2017) out of Austin, Texas. The scrappy Texans opened up some eyes with their excitement and solid play on the track at the North American Qualifiers, coming up just three points shy of beating Race City in their opening game and then bouncing back with a win against Montreal the next day. With a solid weekend at the 2017 Midwest Derbyfest and 2017 Clover Cup, Austin travels to Wales with nothing to lose and everything to gain. They have a tough first round game against the hard hitting talent of Puget Sound, but the Anarchy hope to live up to their name and break some brackets along the way.   

Eleven teams head to Cardiff, Wales with dreams of a Championship as their singular focus. A two-time Champion looks to make themselves into a dynasty and a host of hungry teams await them in the wings looking to dash those dreams and start their own path to greatness. New teams and new faces look to make the 2017 MRDA finale one not soon to be forgotten, so start your watch party planning right away and with six MRDA games on Day one, you might need to start stocking up on those snacks too!

For more information on the 2017 MRDA Championships, go to the event’s official webpage or to the event’s official Facebook page.

Cymru Clash:  Day One

FRIDAY, October 13th

• Game One – Vancouver Murder vs. Manchester Roller Derby
• Game Two – Roller Derby Toulouse vs. Philadelphia Hooligans
• Game Three – Puget Sound vs Austin Anarchy
• Game Four – St. Louis Gatekeepers vs. Winner of Game One
• Game Five – San Diego Aftershocks vs. New York Shock Exchange
• Game Six – Bridgetown Menace vs. Winner of Game Two

Schedule with time zone breakdowns: https://tinyurl.com/y8rg4hmh
(Team rankings are from the MRDA’s Fall 2017 rankings.)
(Preview written by Magilla Guerilla aka Coach Dad)

MRDA, the international governing body of men’s roller derby, has added a new league to its ranks. Hailing from Aberdeen, Scotland, this new league was accepted, by a vote of MRDA’s membership, to be added to our growing list of MRDA affiliated leagues.

Granite City Brawlers
Aberdeen, Scotland
http://www.granitecitybrawlers.com/

This league worked hard to gain membership into the MRDA and we look forward to their contribution to men’s roller derby! Good luck and we will see you on the track!

More information on MRDA can be found at: www.mrda.org

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Men’s Roller Derby Association is excited to announce the Tournament Head Officials for the MRDA 2017 Championships in  Cwmbran Stadium, Cwmbran, South Wales October 13-15, 2017. We are very excited to have these officials join us in our biggest MRDA Champs yet (12 teams! 3 days!) so please join us in a big round of applause for:

• Tournament Head Referee: Pol E. Dangerous
• Tournament Head Non-Skating Official: Petti
• Apprentice Tournament Head Referee: Ninja Sass’em
• Apprentice Tournament Head Non-Skating Official: Sara Tonin

Many thanks to everyone who applied, and please join us in congratulating them. Here’s some background on these amazing officials:[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”3655″ img_size=”500×500″][vc_custom_heading text=”THR: Pol E. Dangerous” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Pol E. Dangerous has been officiating roller derby for over 7 years. He has traveled all over the United States officiating all levels of MRDA and WFTDA. Most notably, he has been to four of the last five MRDA championships, being selected as an Alternate Referee, OPR, IPR, and JR. He has also been selected as a CHR for the first MRDA North American playoffs. He brings experience as a THR from Brewhaha 2016, Classic City Crush 2016, River Valley Riot 2016, and Tiny Tourney 2017.

Photo credit: Kit Ruff – Shutterup Photography[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”3656″ img_size=”500×500″][vc_custom_heading text=”THNSO: Petti” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Petti has been heavily involved in roller derby since 2011. A proud member of Eastbourne Roller Derby – an Open to All league, means that Petti has continued to balance her dedication to Men’s, Women’s and Junior competitive play. Being selected as THNSO for the MRDA Championships rounds off her trio this year – along with THNSO for CAT (the first junior tournament in Europe) and THNSO for the Women’s World Cup. It’s a good job she really loves spreadsheets!

Photo credit: John Hesse[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”3657″ img_size=”500×500″][vc_custom_heading text=”Apprentice THR: Ninja Sass’em” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Ninja Sass’em will be travelling across the pond from St. Louis, Missouri where she is the Head of Officials for both Arch Rival Roller Derby and the St. Louis GateKeepers. A 7 year WFTDA veteran, she crossed over from D1 skating to officiating full time in 2016. An early champion of Men’s Roller Derby, Ninja has dedicated her time to the MRDA in many capacities; as Regional Officiating Rep, Officials Area Coordinator for the US as well as helping establish the Compliance Committee. With 5 years of officiating experience and 3 MRDA Champs under her belt as an official, she eagerly takes on the new task of Apprentice Tournament Head.

Photo credit: Mr. McWheely[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”3654″ img_size=”500×500″][vc_custom_heading text=”Apprentice THNSO: Sara Tonin” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Sara Tonin is an independent, MRDA recognized official, having been previously affiliated with Manchester Roller Derby. She has been officiating since early 2015 and in that time has worked at the past two Men’s European Cups, 2016 Men’s Roller Derby World Cup, and many other European tournaments. She has been the THNSO for the men’s side of the British Roller Derby Championships for the past 2 years and has a particular love for statsbooks, having recently become a stats processor for MRDA to help with sanctioning. In those few moments outside of derby, Sara enjoys pole and aerial fitness, fussing over her cat, and knitting.

Photo credit: Shirlaine Forrest[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

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