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MRDWC to join MRDA in new agreement

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MRDWC to join MRDA in new agreement

Posted on April 29, 2019 - 11:00 am by

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The MRDA and Men’s Roller Derby World Cup (MRDWC) are taking our relationship to the next level! Following extensive discussions between the boards of both organisations, and receiving majority support from their associated member bases, MRDWC will join the MRDA by 2020.

There is much work ahead of both organisations, but thanks to the close relationships forged since the creation of the MRDWC the process is expected to be smooth. Discussions will continue in order to facilitate a project timeline that allows for a full analysis of the MRDWC becoming part of the MRDA. MRDA Board of Directors will guide the formation of a dedicated workgroup, ensuring that MRDA members will continue to have a say in the future of their Association.

The first MRDWC was held in Birmingham, UK in 2014. Teams from 15 countries competed, viewers from all 7 continents watched, yes, that includes Antarctica. 2016 saw the MRDWC descend on Cowtown – Calgary, Alberta Canada. The event continued to grow, with 20 teams competing and total viewers across the world exceeding 27,000. In 2018 the event was held in Barcelona, 24 teams competed and the next event in St Louis is set to be even bigger.

MRDWC is proud of its support of gender diversity, particularly when it comes to officiating. At every event, the majority of Tournament Heads have not identified as male. MRDWC has even seen 3 wedding proposals, including one during the halftime break of the championship game.

The MRDA has supported the event since its inception, and is very much looking forward to welcoming the MRDWC to our Association. MRDA is committed to the growth of Men’s Roller Derby worldwide, hosting playoffs in Europe and North America since 2017. MRDA Champs will be held in Europe in 2020, with plans already in place to ensure that Champs happen outside of North America at least every 3 years.

The MRDA and MRDWC coming together will strengthen the MRDA’s position as the effective International Governing Body for Men’s Roller Derby, representing over 2000 skaters, officials, announcers, administrators and volunteers.

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Spring 2019 Rankings

Posted on April 24, 2019 - 11:00 am by

MRDA is proud to announce Spring Rankings for 2019.

Leagues currently ranked :

1 St. Louis Gatekeepers
2 Bridgetown Roller Derby
3 Roller Derby Toulouse
4 Vancouver Murder
5 Southern discomfort
6 Manchester Roller Derby
7 Texas Men’s Roller Derby
8 Magic City Misfits
9 Tyne and Fear Roller Derby
10 Lincolnshire Rolling Thunder
11 Denver Ground Control
12 Philadelphia Hooligans
13 Mohawk Valley Roller Derby
14 Austin Anarchy
15 Golden State Heat
16 San Diego Aftershocks
17 Race City Rebels
18 Toronto Men’s Roller Derby
19 Granite City Brawlers
20 Derby Club le Crès Lattes Montpellier
21 Manneken Beasts
22 Mass Maelstrom
23 Minnesota Men’s Roller Derby
24 Victoria Men’s Roller Derby
25 Glasgow Men’s Roller Derby
26 Oklahoma Men’s Roller Derby
27 Brisbane City Rollers
28 Lane County Concussion
29 Chicago Bruise Brothers
30 Carolina Wreckingballs
31 Barrow Infernos
32 Wisconsin Men’s Roller Derby
33 Chinook City Roller Derby
34 Dakota Men’s Roller Derby
35 Casco Bay Roller Derby
36 Pittsburgh Blue Streaks
37 Houston Men’s Roller Derby
38 Wheels of Mayhem
39 South Wales Silures
40 Crash Test Brummies
41 Cleveland Men’s Roller Derby
42 Nottingham Roller Derby
43 Flour City Fear Men’s Roller Derby
44 Harm City Men’s Derby
45 Detroit Men’s Roller Derby
46 Varsity Derby League
47 Capital City Hooligans
48 Sydney City SMASH

Leagues currently ineligible for rankings or on hiatus :

Puget Sound Outcast Derby
Your Mom Men’s Derby
Atlanta Men’s Roller Derby
Capital City Derby Doods
Cincinnati Battering Rams
Men’s Roller Derby Japan
Montreal Men’s Roller Derby
New York Shock Exchange
Panam Squad
Sioux City Korn Stalkers
Tampere Rollin’ Bros
Thunderquads Roller Derby Masculino
Wirral Roller Derby
Capital District Trauma Authority
Collision Men’s Derby

Officiating applications for MRDA Playoffs and Championships are open

Posted on March 26, 2019 - 11:00 am by

 

Officiating applications are now open for the European and North America MRDA 2019 Playoffs, and the MRDA Championships 2019.

MRDA Playoffs are an exciting two day, one track events that will host the top 8 ranked MRDA teams from the regions and will be hosted by Granite City Brawlers and Mohawk Valley Roller Derby. MRDA Championships will be a three day, one track event featuring the top 12 MRDA teams and is hosted by Denver Ground Control.

Applications

Applications for European playoffs (Aberdeen, Scotland, UK)
http://bit.ly/MRDAEuroPlayoffs2019

Applications for North America playoffs (Rome, NY, USA)

http://bit.ly/MRDANAPlayoffs2019

Applications for MRDA Championships (Denver, CO, USA)

http://bit.ly/MRDAChamps2019

Application deadlines

April 29th, 2019; midnight EST

  • Tournament Head Referee
  • Tournament Head NSO
  • Tournament Apprentice

May 13th, 2019; midnight EST

  • Crew Head Referee
  • Crew Head NSO

May 20th, 2019; midnight EST

  • All other officiating applications

 

Further information regarding the event and applicant expectations is within the applications.

 

MRDA Update – Southern Discomfort Investigation

Posted on February 21, 2019 - 5:35 am by

 

In our original statement, posted 19th January 2019, the MRDA BoD noted that an investigation into complaints made against Savage Hun was ongoing. With that investigation now complete, the Board would like to update our community of the outcome.

The MRDA Board has discussed with the Grievance Head and will be upholding a 3 game suspension and a year of probation based on the COC violations from the 2 victim statements. Further, the BoD would like to make it very clear that it is not up to anyone but the victim decide the impact, for which the intent has no bearing. Much like in our sport, very special circumstances must arise before a referee considers the intent of a penalty. It’s the impact that is an issue. Savage Hun and the SDRD Board have been advised of this outcome.

To reiterate from our original post on this matter, MRDA is not a home for those who think it’s ok to assault and harass their league mates, their competitors or anyone present at events hosted by the Association itself, by our member leagues or where MRDA members are present. Where possible, the Board will be proactive in disciplining members who have breached the Code of Conduct and policies we ALL agreed to upon joining the MRDA.

We take complaints seriously. Individual members or member leagues can bring a complaint to Grievance or the Board at any time. You will be heard.

 

2019 BoD Announcements

Posted on January 30, 2019 - 11:00 am by

It is with much excitement that the MRDA confirms it’s Board of Directors for 2019. All Board Members commenced in their new positions on 15th January and are currently supported by the previous board members during a month long handover period.
Thanks to departing board members Sin Diesel, Goldie Gloves, Ninja Sass’em, Wombo Combo & Cary Stark for your tireless efforts to support and grow our Association. We are all very grateful for your labour.

President – D. Baggins

“Hello everyone I’m excited to have been elected the MRDA President for 2019. I’m starting my 4th year as a MRDA skater and so happy I decided to try a sport at 33. Its been a fun ride I can’t wait to see where this year takes me. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my dear friend Sin Diesel I couldn’t have made it where I am today without you thank you for believing in me years ago.”

Vice-President – Gazooka

Credit – NSP 189

“Been with Manchester Roller Derby pretty much since it started, playing on New Wheeled Order, bench coaching the CheckerBroads and helping out the league where I can! Enjoy the Craic coaching Ireland Men’s, am a semi-qualified snowboard instructor, occasional gig goer and have a lovely ginger cat!”

Secretary – Donald Jones

“League Affiliation: Harm City Havoc.  Roller Derby Skater & volunteer, full time network guy, part time instructor, and LEGO master builder. Have been known to show up random places. Now MRDA Secretary as I was told there would be cake. I have yet to see the cake, has anyone seen said cake?”

Treasurer – Girl Fawkes

St Louis Gatekeepers’ own Girl Fawkes continues on the board in 2019 as Treasurer and unofficial MRDA archivist/Oracle. When not sipping on whiskey & gingers you’ll find her eating sushi, baking, and running rampant through St Louis with her bicycle gang.

Dir. Member Relations – Julia Sleazer

“I started derby in 2010 as an official and officiated & skated before I began announcing in 2013. I originally came in as an official after I smashed my wrist into tiny pieces at rugby, and thought it would be a bit safer. My professional background includes Cat Maintenance and Esoteric Knowledge. In that, I am an award winning cat petter at 2 international competitions and am good to have on your trivia team. I currently am pursuing a degree in AI, because I’m trying to move the current timeline more towards Bladerunner and less towards 1984.”

Dir. Officiating – Denominator

Credit – Stéphane Faraut Photographe

“Hello world. I’m Denominator and I have been officiating for 6 years and currently based at Varsity Derby League in Canberra, Australia. My highlights include being a part of the biggest tournament in the world (The Great Southern Slam) and officiating the World Cups in 2018.
My favourite songs include “Brown Cow Stunning” by Monique, and “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All” by Air Supply. I’ll watch almost any movie so long as it’s not scary. I’m Scottish so I’ll eat anything deep fried and served with haggis.”

Dir. Public Relations – Commando Roll

Credit – Tiff Stidwill

“Hi folx, I’m Commando Roll from Sydney City SMASH and my pronouns are They/Them. Here in Sydney you can find me skating with SMASH, coaching with Sydney Roller Derby League and announcing at any game where people are dumb enough to hand a microphone to me.
When I’m not skating I’m usually inhaling coffee, wine and other delicious things. Real talk – if you own a cat I have 100% trawled through your social media to look at your cat more.”

Dir. Sanctioning & Games – Skabarella

Credit – NSP189

“I’m Skabarella, Ska for short. I’m currently the head referee for Manchester Roller derby and have been involved in the sport since 2011. This year I’m taking up a support role for our MRDA team whilst continuing to officiate and help spread MRDA to new leagues.
I’ve always been a keen advocate of MRDA and am excited to get started in my new role.
I also like cats.”

 

MRDA Welcomes new member league – North Wales Roller Derby

Posted on December 23, 2018 - 11:00 am by

 

MRDA is excited to announce our newest member league – North Wales Roller Derby .

Formally coming together as a league in 2017, NWRD is a mixed gender league that has competed in both Men’s and Women’s divisions of the British Championships Tournament. NWRD Men’s also sent 9 skaters to the last MRDWC in Barcelona as part of Welsh Men’s team.

NWRD Men’s team will compete again in Tier 2 of the British Championship in 2019 and are looking forward to the challenge of playing against higher ranked teams

Llongyfarchiadau to North Wales Roller Derby and welcome to the MRDA.

 

MRDA Announces Playoffs and Champs for 2019

Posted on November 5, 2018 - 11:00 am by

 

2019 Playoffs & Champs

MRDA are pleased to announce the locations and hosts of our 2019 season!

First up, are our European Qualifies (MEQ Playoffs) which will be hosted by the Granite City Brawlers in Aberdeen, Scotland on 3-4 August 2019

Then North American Qualifiers (NAQ Playoffs) which will be hosted by Mohawk Valley Roller Derby in Rome, New York, USA on 17-18 August 2019

We are excited to announce that 2019 MRDA Champs will be hosted by Denver Ground Control, in Lakewood, Colorado on 11-13 October 2019. Further details to be announced, so mark your calendars, pack your jacket and get that high-altitude training in.

2020 Champs

Given the high representation of UK and European teams at this year’s MRDA Champs, we are proud to announce our intention to hold the 2020 MRDA Champs in Europe. Due to the likelihood of the continued International representation at the elite level we aim to hold MRDA Champs outside North America at least every three years moving forward.

Changes to MRDA Board of Directors & IT Leadership

Posted on October 12, 2018 - 6:35 pm by

 

The Men’s Roller Derby Association is proud to announce the following changes to our Executive Board of Directors, who are responsible for overseeing the MRDA as the international governing body for men’s roller derby.

President

Jimmy Rage has stepped down as president. Sin Diesel is acting in a caretaker capacity in this role for the short term.

Vice President

D Baggins has stepped into the Vice President role, vacated by Sin Diesel.

“I am excited to take on the role as Vice President and it is something I have worked very hard towards. For the past two and a half years I have been the Committee Head of Insurance within the MRDA. During that time I have worked with the prior and current administration on various issues within our organization. I have always taken every opportunity I have been given, to take the ball and run with it and I will bring the same passion and dedication to the Vice President position that I have exemplified during the past 3 years. I would also like to strengthen our relationship with both the WFTDA and JRDA organizations, having already established a working relationship with them over the course of my time in derby. In my own league I have contributed as an NSO, a skater, and have served on my team’s Board of Directors as well as multiple committees. I believe this helps me bring a broad range of information and knowledge to the position of Vice President. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to help grow this organization”

Director of Public Relations

Commando Roll is the new Director of Public Relations after Lumberjerk stepped down.

“Hi folks! I am Commando Roll from Sydney City SMASH in Australia. We were Australia’s first MRDA league so it is only fitting that the first board member from our part of the world is a member of SMASH. I have a background in Communications and Content Marketing and am excited about being able to bring my experience to the MRDA Board. I am very passionate about the growth of the MRDA, and working to continuously improve our sport and our association.”

 

In other movements within the MRDA structure, there has also been a change to our IT Leadership

 

Information Technology Director

Mooose was an important part of the development of MRDA Central and has stepped down from this key role. Now leading our Information Technology team is Dev Null.

“I’m Dev Null from Calgary Canada and I am one of the founders of Chinook City Roller Derby and currently play with the Glenmore Reservoir Dogs.  I’ve been in IT for 24 years doing everything from consultation to management.  I want to create an IT team for the MRDA who can build and implement the best possible system we can. If you are a full stack developer or a sysadmin please fill out the job form and we will find a place for you! I also hope to bring a measured approach to keeping the website changes coming while being open to feedback and new ideas.”

The MRDA would like to thank Jimmy Rage, Lumberjerk and Mooose for their tireless efforts on behalf of the MRDA members and wish them well for the future.

MRDA endorsed tournament : Silver City Cup, Aberdeen (SCT)

Posted on September 19, 2018 - 11:00 am by

Qualifiers are over and teams are gearing up for the 2018 MRDA Championships in Portland, Oregon.

Meanwhile in Aberdeen, Scotland…Granite City Brawlers are preparing for their first MRDA endorsed tournament; the Silver City Cup.  This tournament will see six MRDA teams take to the track on 22-23 September to take home the cup. The teams are Crash Test Brummies, Derby Club Le Crès Lattes Montpellier, Nottingham Roller Derby, South Wales Silures Roller Derby, Tampere Rollin’ Bros and of course hosts Granite City Brawlers.

We caught up with the tournament hosts and representatives from some of the participating teams to find out what their goals are and what they’re most looking forward to.

MRDA:  Tell us a little bit about the tournament

GCB: This tournament was specifically targeted at unranked teams or teams that hadn’t passed the 40th rankings (by the spring rankings!).  We really wanted to host something that would help give opportunities to teams in these positions and give them 3 sanctioned games in one weekend.  Ultimately to help provide more eligible teams for 2019 european qualifiers.

Bringing higher level derby and sanctioned games to Aberdeen is great for our local community also. Showing visiting teams our city and shire and what we can achieve up here in the north of our wee island!

MRDA:  What is your goal for the tournament?

TRB:  This tournament is really a kickstart for Rollin’ Bros.  We’ve been on hiatus and the team has changed a bit since the last time we played.  We just want to get back into it basically. We also have a few skaters making their debuts.  But we’re not coming there as tourists and we’re up for a fight, that’s for sure! Still it’s always hard to predict how we will do.

NRD:  Our experience at MEQ has helped us to really bond as a team, we’ve got a lot closer and it feels even more like we’re all pushing to get to the same place. We want to start harnessing that energy and using it to help us pick up the wins we know we can achieve. One of our goals will be to even the score with the Brummies after their win against us on September 1st.

CTB:  Our main goal is to play together as a team.  We’ve had a tough year with a lot of turnover and had to play games short against some really strong opponents.  We’ve lost some players and support team and thankfully we’ve gained some fresh faces as well as levelling up our existing ones.  Now we’re finally in a place where we can say “This is the Crash Test Brummies”.

GCB:  Our goal is to put into practice everything we’ve worked on for the last year; working as a unit, communicating and being effective.  We want everyone to experience the excitement of a tournament and hopefully inspire the team to want to do more tournament style events!

 

MRDA:  What are you most looking forward to?

CTB:  Personally, I’m looking forward to playing against Kamiquadz.  I’ve never played them before, so it will be exciting to see what they can bring.

TRB:  There is so much.  I’ve always wanted to play SWS so it’s nice to meet them finally.  Also seeing new teams (for me) like Smash Brollers and Granite City will be so cool.  We’ve played Montpellier and Brummies in the past and it’s going to be nice to catch up. Finally I’m making my debut as a blocker so it’s sure to be an exciting event on many fronts!

GCB:  We’re really looking forward to putting on a good event and hosting these teams in our city.  From a gameplay perspective though we’re really looking forward to seeing Brummies. We played Beta Test Brummies almost two years ago which had a lot of their regular players but playing in different positions.  It will be great to see them at full capacity with their new team! And although I’ve seen skaters from Kamiquadz and Tampere play at MRDWC, I’ve never seen the teams play so definitely looking forward to that too.

NRD:  I’m personally most looking forwards to stopping at a Tim Hortons in Glasgow on the way up AND the way back, because no matter how well my diet and gym routine are going, a boy needs his timbits and large dark roast double-double.

From a derby point of view I’ve not seen SWS play in ages so it’ll be good to see them and I’ve been a fan of the Tampere uniforms for ages, so hopefully they’ll have some there to pick up.

 

If you want to know who answered the questions…

Granite City Brawlers;  Pudz & MoMo (skaters)

Crash Test Brummies;  Doom (skater)

Nottingham Roller Derby;  Cupid Stunt (bench coach)

Tampere Rollin’ Bros;  Kenny Superpowers (skater)

More information on the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/616684768693015/

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