A little delayed, due to there being so much stuff, we'd like to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first Roller Derby League in Colombia: Rock N Roller Queens . Starting back in 2009, RRQ were the start of a rapid swell of Colombian roller derby - over the following two years, a full 10 leagues had come into existence, many (including RRQ) based in the capital, Bogotá, but also across the other cities.

With the rapid growth of Roller Derby in Colombia, their first National Tournament was held in 2012, and the Rock n Roller Queens won, defeating second place Bogotá Bone Breakers (who were also the second league to form in the country). The following month, July 2012, they also made history by being accepted as the first ever South American league to join the WFTDA Apprentice program. They were also one of the few leagues in Colombia to have both A and B teams, with their Queens forming soon after their membership.

Both of RRQ's teams were also founding members of Bogotá's "District Tournament", which has run from 2014 to 2018 so far. The District Tournament has been one of two tournaments feeding into Colombia's National Tournament (the other being their Regional Tournament covering the areas outside Bogotá), and RRQ have never failed to qualify for that event, in years in which it has run.

From 2014 to 2016, as full WFTDA members, RRQ's travel team actively participated in WFTDA Sanctioned Play, with a consistent performance (taking into account the rapid growth of leagues, and the inherent inflationary nature of WFTDA Ratings year-on-year). In the last few years, no Colombian team has achieved a WFTDA ranking...

...however, on their 10th anniversary, RRQ told us that they have plans to change this. Over their lifespan, the Rock n Roller Queens have undergone what they refer to as "important generational changes", and the new league are planning to make a splash on the WFTDA Sanctioned tournament circuit in 2020.

As part of this, Rock n Roller Queens are also planning a rebranding exercise, which will be open to artists across the world. (We hope that this won't be expecting the artists to work for free...).

We're looking forward to RRQ's 2020... but before that, they're hosting their annual " Derbynaldos " [link to Facebook] end of year contest this weekend, which has a special resonance in this year.