Weekend Highlights: 18 May 2019
There are far too many valuable fixtures to cover all of them (especially in France and the UK, which tend to have multiple tournaments, bootcamps etc all on one weekend), but we also don't want to be so strict as to have just 1 per country. So, we'll be doing the following:
Two highlights a weekend - Sat + (All Weekend); and then a smaller one for Sunday.
Both highlights limited to 1 event per country, with an "extra" event allowed for a different kind of fixture (so, 1 tournament and 1 bootcamp), or if they involve Scottish leagues (since we are the Scottish Roller Derby Blog). Other notability might also allow the extra event - great posters, notable teams, etc.
In a bid to make this list as useful as possible, we've avoided links to Facebook except where noted. (Links to Teams are to non-Facebook resources - Instagram, or actual team pages - we'd strongly recommend that Teams get themselves an actual webpage [we can help host one if you need help]).
Locations are roughly organised East-West (with things before the weekend out sequence at the start).
Sat: Auckland, New Zealand
Pirate City Rollers host their first inter-league of the 2019 season with a double header. This is the first ever inter-league double header for these teams, so there's some history here. The teams here are all special mixed teams, as this is all for fun.
- Te Taniwha (Pirate City mixed/ Auckland) versus Bat City (Hellminton Roller Ghouls mixed / Hamilton)
- Apex Predators (Pirate City mixed) versus Sparks (Auckland Roller Derby League mixed)
This event is not listed in Flat Track Stats, as the teams are also not listed there.
Event starts: 1700 Saturday (doors open)
Venue: The Trusts Arena, 65-67 Central Park Drive, Auckland, New Zealand
Sat-Sun: Sydney, NSW, Australia
[FTS LINK 1] [FTS LINK 2] [FTS LINK 3] [FTS LINK 4] [FTS LINK 5]
Sydney City SMASH host 5 games of Australian Men's Roller Derby over the weekend. Due to venue limitations, these are closed games, with no events on social media.
- Teams competing:
- Sydney City SMASH (Sydney M)
- Capital Carnage (Varsity M / Canberra)
- Tasmanian Men's Roller Derby
- Men of Steel (Newcastle M)
Event starts: 1400 Saturday
Venue: Dunc Gray Velodrome, Bass Hill, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Sat: Pyeongtaek, South Korea
OH! Roller Derby [Facebook link, as no other social media] (the only active team in South Korea, at the USAG Humphreys base) host an open scrimmage - listed here as it's using Short Track Roller Derby rules.
Event starts: 1200 Saturday
Venue: Turner Fitness Centre, USAG Humphreys, Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Sat: Uppsala, Sweden
Jackdaw City Rollers host Karlstad's Sun City Rollers for a bout, introduced with a quote from Dracula, so who knows what's going on here...
- BURDS (Jackdaw City B / Uppsala) versus Sun City Rollers (Karlstad)
Event starts: 1300 Saturday (doors open)
Venue: Fyrishov A-Hallen, Uppsala, Sweden
Sat: Roskilde, Denmark
Roskilde Roller Derby host a single-day 6-team Roller Derby Sevens tournament, with teams from across Denmark. The tournament is structured as a two-group initial phase, with "final placement" games between the equivalently-placed teams in each group for final rank. (So, the "winners" of each group play for tournament #1, and so on down, pairwise.)
- Group 1
- Copenhagen Ladybugs (Copenhagen OTA)
- Aalborg Combat Bullies
- Northern Lightning (Groningen W)
- Group 2
- Helltown Hellcats (Helsingborg)
- O-Town Roller Derby (Odense)
- Roskilde Roller Derby
This tournament is not listed on Flat Track Stats, as they do not collect Roller Derby Sevens tournament stats by default
Event starts: 0930 Saturday (doors open)
Venue: Himmelev Hallen, Herregårdsvej 42, Roskilde, Denmark
Sat: Bremen, Germany
Bremen Meatgrinders host a Bundesliga D3 North game - the first of the 2019 season - as part of a double header, followed by public scrimmage for newer skaters to gain experience.
- Bremen Meatgrinders versus Zombie Rollergirlz (Münster) [Bundesliga D3N]
Event starts: 1430 Saturday (doors open)
Venue: Eissporthalle Paradice, Waller Heerstr. 293a, Bremen, Germany
Sat: Geneva, Switzerland
Genève Roller Derby United co-host a triple header event with Lausanne's Rolling Furies!
- Wild Wild Fresh (rookie Geneva skaters?) versus d'autres Fresh (other rookie skaters)
- Mères Royaume (Genève A) versus Hellveticats (Luzern)
- Rolling Furies (Lausanne) versus UB Suisse (open subs Swiss team)
Flat Track Stats link is for Genève v Luzern, as the others are not rateable bouts
Event starts: 1200 Saturday (doors open)
Venue: Chemin du Fort-de-l'ecluse 1, Genève, Switzerland
Sat: Floreffe, Belgium
[FACEBOOK LINK] [FTS LINK 1] [FTS LINK 2] [FTS LINK 3]
Namur Roller Girls host a triple-header of Roller derby featuring three of the four teams in Namur.
- Glorious Basterds (Namur M) versus Mons'ter Munch Derby Dudes (Mons M)
- Namur Roller Girls A versus Ruhrpott Roller Derby
- Namur Roller Girls C versus Les Nasty Pecheresses (Montreuil)
Event starts: 1200 Saturday (doors open)
Venue: Centre Sportif Communal de Floreffe, rue Joseph Hanse, Floreffe, Belgium
Sat: Aberdeen, Scotland
Granite City Roller Derby host a single header against Vagine Regime UK. Cake stall sales for this game support Mermaids, the charity supporting transgender and gender variant children and young people.
- Northern Fights (Granite City A/Aberdeen) versus Vagine Regime UK ()
Event starts: 1230 Saturday (doors open)
Venue: Beach Leisure Centre, Esplanade, Sea Beach, Aberdeen, Scotland
Sat-Sun: Newcastle, UK
Newcastle Junior Roller Derby host a single-header bout against Lincolnshire's own junior derby, Lincolnshire Bombinos (with a few friends helping them out)! Entry is free, with donations gratefully received.
- Newcastle Junior Roller Derby versus Lincolnshire Bombinos
Newcastle Juniors are not listed in Flat Track Stats at present
Event starts: 1300 Saturday (doors open)
Venue: Benfield Sports Centre, Benfield Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
Sat-Sun: Rennes, France
Les Bonhommes host the second fixture of the Men's Nationale 1 division of the Championnat de France. "You May Win, Championship Edition", two days, and 8 bouts of roller derby.
- Sat:
- Les Calebrutes (Paris M) versus Knocking Balls (Creil M)
- Les Menneles (Strasbourg M) versus Les Bonhommes (Rennes M)
- RATM (Arras M) versus Les Calebrutes
- Les Menneles versus Les Marquis de Sabre (Lille M)
- Sun:
- RATM vs Les Bonhommes
- Les Menneles vs Knocking balls
- Les Calebrutes vs Les Bonhommes
- Knocking balls vs Les marquis de Sabre
Event starts: 1000 Saturday (doors open)
Venue: Complex Sportif es Chalais, rue du Bosphore, Rennes, France
Sat-Sun: Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona Roller Derby host the 4th edition of Brawlcelona, their annual international tournament. This year's edition is a four-teams round robin tournament over two days, featuring:
- Ingles de Acero (Barcelona A)
- Les Quads (La Boucherie de Paris A)
- London Rockin' Rollers
- Limerick Roller Derby
Event starts: 0900 Saturday (doors open day 1)
Venue: CEM Trinitat Vella, Via de Bàrcino 84, Barcelona, Spain
Sat-Sun: Curitiba, Brazil
[FACEBOOK LINK] [FTS LINK 1] [FTS LINK 2] [FTS LINK 3]
Blue Jay Rollers host a two-day Roller Derby extravaganza, Derbyzarro, with a fun event on the Saturday, and a Brazilian triple-header on the Sunday. No entry is charged for this weekend, and the hosts also provide accommodation in their venue for just $10!
- Sat:
- Derby games (Pin the Tail)
- Roller Relay
- Non-contact bout
- Sun:
- <s>Blue Jay Rollers (Curitiba) versus Thunder Rats Derby Squad (Santos)</s>
- Blue Jay Rollers versus Iron Ladies Roller Derby (Blumenau)
- <s>Thunder Rats Derby Squad versus Iron Ladies Roller Derby</s>
Note, due to problems with Thunder Rats attending the event, their games were replaced with games against a pick-up team from skaters present
Event starts: 0900 Saturday (doors open)
Venue: Sei São José dos Pinhais, Rua Maria Helena 707, Bairro São Pedro, São José dos Pinhais, Brazil
Sat: Mar del Plata, Argentina
MDQueens host a single-header event, with free entry! As with a lot of these Argentine bouts, there's also a raffle with prizes!
- MDQueens (Mar del Plata) versus Rebeldes del Asfalto (Mar del Plata)
Event starts: 1900 Saturday (doors open)
Venue: Club Atlético Mar del Plata, Rivadivia 3358, Mar del Plata, Argentina
Sat-Sun: Copa TNT Mexico
EMEXRD host the 2019 edition of the Copa TNT (one of two TNT cups in the Roller Derby world, the other one being in Aalborg, a few weeks earlier). Mexico's Copa TNT is a two-day tournament with WFTDA-gender and MRDA-gender tiers, competing in parallel single-elimination tournaments.
- WFTDA-gender tier:
- Quimeras Roller Derby (LRDCM / Mexico City)
- Ovejas Negras (Michoacán)
- Discordias ( )
- Mexico City Roller Derby
- Minervas (Guadalajara)
- MRDA-gender tier:
- Berserkers (Xalapa M)
- All Blacks ( )
- Disorder RD (EMEXRD M/ Mexico City)
- Bastardos (San Luis Potosí M)
- Minotauros (LRDCM M/ Mexico City)
Event starts: 0800 Saturday (first bout!)
Venue: Deportivo Morelos, CDMX, Mexico
Special mention to, also, these North American tournaments, of interest as they feature European competitors:
Fri-Sun: Santa Cruz, CA, USA
The 2019 Boardwalk Empire tournament, hosted by Santa Cruz Derby Girls . This is a WFTDA Invitational style tournament for Division 1 teams (no "winner", just a bunch of games for WFTDA rating)
Featuring:
- Angel City Derby
- Arizona Roller Derby
- Bay Area Derby
- Minnesota RollerGirls
- Philly Roller Derby
- Rat City Roller Derby
- Santa Cruz Derby Girls
- Harbor Hellcats
- Stockholm Roller Derby
and
- Texas Rollergirls
Fri-Sun: Saint-Anselme, Québec, Canada
The 2019 La Foire du Nord tournament, hosted by Roller Derby Québec. This is the first edition of this international WFTDA Invitational.
Featuring:
- Forest City Roller Derby
- Roller Derby Québec
- CT Roller Derby
- Oslo Roller Derby
- Penn Jersey Roller Derby
- Lehigh Valley Roller Derby
- Twin State Derby
and
- Anchor City Rollers
