The Men’s Roller Derby World Cup will take place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada from July 21- 24 with 21 countries participating to be crowned the top men’s roller derby nation in the entire world.

Among the participating countries vying for a gold medal is the host country Canada, who finished third at the first Men’s Roller Derby World Cup in Birmingham, England.

Among the 32 skaters selected for the Canadian National team, all but one of them belongs to an MRDA member league, and the same can be said of the final 20 selected to represent the maple leaf at the biggest event of them all.

“This is the ultimate derby experience,” Montreal skater Buddy Oli said when asked why playing for Team Canada was special to him “This is it. I get to represent my country, doing something I love, in front of our fans, against the best in the world. It’s something I will never forget.”

Canada will face stiff competition from countries such as the United States of America, England, France and Australia,who comprised the top five at the first event, while teams from Chile, Italy, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain make their first appearances with hopes of putting their respective countries on the map.

The idea of playing new nations has the Canadian squad pumped, especially those skaters who have roots outside of Canada.

“I am Canadian, but Spanish too,” one of Team Canada’s captains El Tannant explained. “I was sad that (the first) MRDWC had no team Spain. I am pretty sure that this game will be a special one for me.”

Like El Tannant and Buddy Oli, other members of the squad from the Great White North are pumped about playing for their home nation, but another one of Canada’s captains Riceball gets to relive one of the greatest moments of his derby career while proving that age is just a number.

“I get to play with my son BrADASS for a second time,” Riceball said. “Being over 50, I believe this is my last opportunity to play for a National team in this capacity. I also really wanted to play because it was being held in Calgary where I was born and raised.”

While Canada sends BrADASS and Riceball to their second World Cup, along with a slew of others, there will be some new blood representing the nation whose ever-growing roller derby community is churning out spectacular talent, such as Vancouver Murder triple threat Dan Zimmer.

“I’ve anyways wanted an opportunity to represent my country,” Zimmer said. “After I went to the Team Canada tryouts in 2014, I knew that one of my goals going forward with roller derby was that I wanted to make Team Canada (when) the next time tryouts came around.

“I’m looking forward to playing in front of the home crowd and just feeling the atmosphere that will be created in the venue.”

With the atmosphere inside the Acadia Recreation Complex expected to off the hook, especially with an enormous contingent of Canadian fans shaking the foundations of the arena, Canada has a lot of pressure on them to stand on the podium by the end of the World Cup, a goal which captain and long-time veteran skater Jeff Tichbourne says will happen.

“This is our home, these are our fans. We have a nation behind us and we’re ready to play our hearts out for them,” he exclaimed. “Will we bring home a medal? Yes, yes we will.”

**The Men’s Roller Derby World Cup will be hosted by Chinook City Roller Derby and can be live-streamed at http://mrdwc.com/**

The Men’s Roller Derby Association is proud to announce its 2016 Officials’ Area Coordinators (OACs) and Regional Officiating Representatives (RORs). These elections were the result of a recent restructuring, approved by our membership, in order to give our MRDA Officials more intimate oversight and more direct points of contact within their respective regions. The OACs will govern their respective regions. The ROR positions exist based on the proportionate number of MRDA Leagues in a given region, and will support and report to their OACs. The OACs and RORs will communicate with MRDA’s Board through its Director of Officiating, so that they can help to foster, grow and support our MRDA Officials. Please join MRDA in congratulating and thanking this talented group of individuals for their dedication to our organization, officiating, and the sport of roller derby.

MRDA 2016 Officials’ Area Coordinators:
Australia: Arsenal
Canada: Pamtera
Europe: Skabarella
Latin America: Valerito
United States: Davie Darko

MRDA’s OACs can be reached at [email protected].

MRDA 2016 Regional Officiating Representatives:
Australia: OAC only at present
Canada: OAC only at present
Europe: Sven WillIBeFamous, Dirty Härry
Latin America: OAC only at present
US Northeast: Wreckordian, Headless Horsman
US Southeast: Peeka
US North Central: The Gorram Reaver
US South Central: Ninja Sassem
US Northwest: Dell From Hell
US Southwest: Marriedjuana

MRDA’s RORs can be reached at [email protected] .

Welcome to the first edition of the Canadian MRDA monthly recaps.

Each month, check this space for a breakdown of sanctioned games completed by Canadian MRDA squads, as well as upcoming bouts to keep an eye on.

It was an explosive month of action for the Canadian contingent of MRDA squads with The Vancouver Murder, Mont Royals, Toronto Outrage and Ottawa’s Slaughter Squad all taking part in sanctioned bouts, with each team hoping to rise through the rankings.

Vancouver (#27) had a successful 3-0 run at The Big O in Eugene, Oregon which featured dominating performances over Lane Country Concussion (#34), Twin Cities Terrors (#12) and Denver Ground Control (#30).

**While two of these games came at the end of April, we decided to group them here as the Big O crossed from one month into another.**

Vancouver – 322 Lane County – 42

Vancouver – 294 Twin Cities – 73

Vancouver – 312 Ground Control – 133

With the 2016 Spring Rankings counting for games played between March 1, 2015 and February 29, 2016, the Murder should expect a big jump in rankings, especially after taking down #12 Minnesota by 221 points.

Vancouver doesn’t have any games scheduled for June.

Montreal’s Mont Royals (#16) also had a spotless May, going 3-0 with a victory over Ottawa’s Slaughter Squad (unranked) on May 7th, as well as wins over Casco Bay (unranked) and Collision Men’s Derby (unranked) at Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts.

Montreal – 181 Slaughter Squad – 70

Montreal – 402 Casco Bay – 95

Montreal – 277 Collision – 78

The current highest ranked Canadian MRDA squad is inching closer and closer to a playoff appearance and has a tough slate of games scheduled for June when they play the #11 ranked Mass Maelstrom and #20 ranked Jersey Boys Roller Derby.

The Toronto Outrage had a busy month of May, playing five bouts, four of which were sanctioned. The 36th ranked squad made a statement winning three of their four sanctioned games, with a close loss to #26 Capital District Trauma Authority in Albany.

Toronto – 190 Chicago Bruise Brothers – 129

Capital District – 190 Toronto – 153

Toronto – 271 The Quadfathers – 69

Toronto – 219 Slaughter Squad – 150

A big win over #22 The Quadfathers and decisive wins over Chicago (#37) and Ottawa (unranked) should push the Southern Ontario team up the rankings in a big way.

Toronto doesn’t have any sanctioned bouts scheduled for June.

Ottawa’s Slaughter Squad took part in two bouts for the month of May, losing to both Montreal and Toronto, although the scores showed the team from the Canadian capital is a force to be reckoned with in the future.

Montreal – 181 Slaughter Squad – 70

Toronto – 219 Slaughter Squad – 150

Ottawa doesn’t have any sanctioned games scheduled for June.

Finally, two Canadian teams that were dormant from a playing perspective were the Glenmore Reservoir Dogs (#28) from Calgary and the Red Deer Dreadnaughts (#42).

While Red Deer doesn’t have any sanctioned games scheduled for June, Glenmore will be traveling to Colorado for Mayday Mayhem where they will take on #35 BisMan Bomberz and unranked Uinta Madness.

Check in next month for the next edition of the Canadian MRDA recap and enjoy all of the MRDA derby action you can in June!

**All listed rankings are from the Spring 2016 MRDA rankings period**

Rank Team

1 St. Louis GateKeepers 14-1
2 Your Mom Men’s Derby 10-1
3 Texas Outlaws 10-3
4 New York Shock Exchange 9-3
5 Puget Sound Outcast Derby 6-3
6 Southern Discomfort 3-2
7 Portland Men’s Roller Derby 5-4
8 Magic City Misfits 7-3
9 Tyne and Fear Roller Derby 7-4
10 South Wales Silures 6-1
11 Mass Maelstrom Roller Derby 4-4
12 Minnesota Men’s Roller Derby 6-8
13 San Diego Aftershocks 4-2
14 Arizona Men’s Derby 2-3
15 Race City Rebels 7-4
16 Montreal Men’s Roller Derby (Mont Royals) 6-4
17 Lincolnshire Rolling Thunder 2-5
18 Toulouse Quad Guards 4-3
19 Manchester Roller Derby 7-3
20 Jersey Boys Roller Derby 4-7
21 Drive-By City Rollers 2-3
22 The Quadfathers 7-3
23 Tampa Bay Men’s Roller Derby 4-3
24 Sioux City Kornstalkers 5-5
25 Carolina Wreckingballs 3-4
26 Capital District Trauma Authority 5-4
27 Vancouver Murder 4-2
28 Glenmore Resevoir Dogs 3-5
29 Rock City Riot 4-6
30 Denver Ground Control 5-4
31 Cincinnati Battering Rams 2-5
32 Philadelphia Hooligans 4-6
33 Barrow Infernos 3-5
34 Lane County Concussion 2-3
35 BisMan Bomberz 2-4
36 Toronto Men’s Roller Derby 1-6
37 Chicago Bruise Brothers 2-5
38 Capital City Hooligans 2-5
39 Austin Anarchy 2-3
40 Milwaukee Blitzdkrieg 1-5
41 Harm City Havoc 0-4
42 Red Deer Dreadnaughts 0-6
43 Vermont Men’s Derby 0-5

Please join the MRDA, the international governing body of men’s roller derby, in welcoming our newest member league, the New Orleans Brass Roller Derby, to our organization. Hailing from New Orleans, LA (USA), this league was accepted by a vote of MRDA’s membership to be added to our growing list of international men’s roller derby leagues.

More information on New Orleans Brass Roller Derby can be found here:
www.facebook.com/NewOrleansBrassRollerDerby/

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

The Men’s Roller Derby Association announces a new member league!

Please join the MRDA, the international governing body of men’s roller derby, in welcoming another new member league, Cleveland Men’s Roller Derby, to our organization. Cleveland Men’s Roller Derby is located in Cleveland, Ohio (USA) and was accepted by a vote of MRDA’s membership to be added to our growing list of international men’s roller derby leagues.

More information on Cleveland Men’s Roller Derby can be found here:
www.clevelandguardians.com
https://www.facebook.com/clevelandmensrollerderby

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