The MRDA, the international governing body of men’s roller derby has added 2 new leagues to its ranks this year, bringing its total number of member leagues to 53 internationally.
The Men’s Roller Derby Association has, by a vote of its membership, accepted the following teams;

Milton Keynes Roller Derby,

http://www.miltonkeynesrollerderby.com/quads-of-war-roster/

Vancouver Murder

http://mainlandmisfits.com/teams/vancouver-murder

Each league is skater owned and operated and skates under the MRDA Branded Rules of Flat Track Roller Derby. To find out more about these leagues, or the MRDA in general, please use the links provided or contact the MRDA.

www.Mensrollerderbyassociation.com

New MRDA Branded Version of the Rules of Flat Track Roller Derby Now Available

The Men’s Roller Derby Association in conjunction with the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association are proud to announce the newest version of “The Rules of Flat Track Roller Derby.” This is the 7 ^th revision/update since the shared rule set was first developed in 2005 by the WFTDA.

The changes include routine revisions and updates to include publications and clarifications since the 2013 publication of the rule set. They also reflect a handful of more significant changes to the game, which were beta tested by the roller derby community, reviewed and developed by the WFTDA Rules Committee, and with feedback from WFTDA and MRDA member leagues:

• Penalty time is reduced to 30 seconds per penalty, in an effort to reduce the impact of penalties (and in particular, power jams) on scores and game outcomes.
• Direction of Game Play penalties were revised, to bring those penalties in line with the impact spectrum of other contact penalties.
• The standards for Cutting the Track penalties were tweaked and the Skating Out of Bounds penalty section now includes expanded examples to better describe when actions are penalizable.
• New language regarding Multi-Player Blocks formalizes the principle that impeding an opponent with an impenetrable wall is illegal. (This does not change the types of actions that may be penalized, but descriptions of such actions were clarified.)
• Language related to Blocker False Starts has been revised to allow Blockers to yield more simply, without being fully lapped by the pack.
• Star Passes   now delineate a single point of transfer of both helmet cover and position at the point when the Jammer releases the Star into the Pivot’s grasp.

Teams may begin playing under the new rules immediately. All sanctioned bouts must be played under the revised rule set starting April 1, 2014.

To view and read and download the new rule set go to  http://www.linkyy.com/MRDA_02014_ruleset .

The WFTDA version of the rules can be found at  http://www.wftda.com/rules/20140301 .

For Immediate Release

1/15/2014 – The Men’s Roller Derby Association is proud to announce its newly-elected Executive Board of Directors. The Executive Board of Directors oversees the MRDA as the international governing body for men’s roller derby. Representatives from the 40 leagues (internationally) voted for the following newly elected Executive Board of Directors:

• President: Graham Espe (aka Grambo, The Quadfathers – Utica, NY)
• Vice President: Jonas Downer (Deep Valley Belligerents – Ukiah, CA)
• Secretary: Eric Harris (aka Biff Quick, Rock City Riot – Fargo, ND)
• Treasurer: Jill Vidal (aka Girl Fawkes, Connecticut Death Quads – Waterbury, CT)
• Executive Director of Public Relations: Andrew Black (aka Screecharound – St. Louis GateKeepers – St. Louis, MO)
• Executive Director of Sanctioning and Games: Jonathan Rockey (aka Jonathan R, New York Shock Exchange – New York City, NY)
• Executive Director of Member Relations: Danny Simard (aka Rave N BustHer – Drive-By City Rollers –  Los Angeles, Ca)
• Executive Director of Officiating: Kristine Phillips (aka Miss Trial)

The new Executive Board of Directors officially takes office January 15, 2014.

Stepping down from the MRDA Executive Board of Directors are President Erich Bennar, Executive Director of Public Relations James Brains, and Executive Director of Member Relations Filup Bagby aka Uncle Jesse McNasty, whose terms end officially on January 15, 2014.

Erich is a founding member of MRDA. He co-founded the first men’s flat track derby team in 2006, and helped co-found the Men’s Derby Coalition in 2007. Erich led the transition from MDC to MRDA in 2011, and has guided MRDA’s development from 8 teams in the USA to over 40 teams internationally. Erich has also played an instrumental role in forging a working relationship between MRDA and WFTDA. Mr. Bennar will continue to work with MRDA as an advisor to the BOD to provide continuity on high level projects and also historical perspective on current affairs. Erich continues to skate as member of the Mass Maelstrom.

James Brains worked diligently to help grow and maintain the integrity of the MRDA brand during his term as Director of Public Relations. James helped develop MRDA’s Merch Program and opened the door for MRDA’s broadcast on WFTDA.tv. He also kept the MRDA community apprised of MRDA happenings with his press releases. Mr. Brains takes his leave from the BOD to focus on his growing family and the raising of his newest addition, “Baby” Brains.

Filup Bagby aka Uncle Jesse McNasty was instrumental in designing the processes by which new leagues can become members of MRDA. He handled prospective member leagues’ applications and the review/acceptance processes, as well as providing excellent conflict moderation skills during his tenure in the Executive Director of Member Relations position from 2011-2013. Mr. Bagby takes his leave from the BOD to concentrate on his family, a new career, and skating with Dallas Deception.

The MRDA would like to thank Erich Bennar, James Brains, and Uncle Jesse for all of their hard work and service, and all that they have contributed to the MRDA. We wish them the best of luck in their new endeavors.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The MRDA Announces New Member Leagues

December 1, 2013 –Continuing in its mission of developing sustainable roller derby leagues and enhancing the derby community, the MRDA is proud to announce three new member leagues. They are:

RED DEER DREADNAUGHTS from Red Deer, Alberta Canada.

https://www.facebook.com/RedDeerDreadnaughts

http://rdrda.ca/teams/the-dreadnaughts/

TULSA DERBY MILITA from Tulsa, Oklahoma

https://www.facebook.com/tulsaderbymilitia?fref=t

http://derbystrong.com/

TOULOUSE QUAD GUARDS from Toulouse, France.

https://www.facebook.com/QuadGuards

http://www.rollerderbytoulouse.com/

Please join the MRDA in welcoming them and check them out.

Contact: Jonas Downer

[email protected]