Rough and tumble: The Rose City Rollers league offers one of the more unique local sports options. Bouts are scheduled throughout the year, and the league continues to reach new fans. Photo © John Rudoff, M.D.
In less than two weeks’ time, the thundering rumble of the roller derby will slam back into the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
On Jan. 19 at 5:45 p.m., the Heartless Heathers will take on the Guns N Rollers in the first official bout of the Rose City Rollers intra-league season. The matchup will be immediately followed by a second full-length bout between the High Rollers and the Break Neck Betties. It will be a night of raffles, drummers, T-shirt cannons and just a little good old-fashioned violence.
For the unfamiliar, the Rose City Rollers league is made up of six adult competitive teams, along with one competitive team for teens and several noncompetitive squads and training programs. There are currently four in-home teams competing over the course of the derby season, with two travel teams: the Wheels of Justice for national-level competitions and the Axles of Annihilation, the Rose City b-team that competes against teams across the Northwest. The league has been in business since 2004 and is a founding member of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association.
Last year, the High Rollers rode a four-match winning streak to close out the regular season only to lose to the Break Neck Betties by five points in the season championship. The High Rollers have finished at the top of the standings over the last three seasons in number of games won, but the Betties have beaten them for the home season championship the last two years running.
Rose City finished up 2012 with the Wheels of Justice taking fourth place in the WFTDA West Region playoffs—one spot short of competing in the national championships. It was the third year in a row that Rose City has placed fourth or better in the regional playoffs, including a 2011 run to the championships, where they were knocked out in the first round by the Kansas City Roller Warriors in a close 143-135 bout.
This month will also see the first game of the year for the junior league Rosebuds on Jan. 26. The RCR junior league is home to the Death Scar Derby Dolls, Undead Avengers, Little Red Riveters and Rainbow Bites. Last year saw the first junior league home team championships, as the Death Scar Derby Dolls barely took down the Little Red Riveters for first place with a final score of 115–106.
The derby season is nigh upon us, so grab your favorite guy or gal and prepare yourself for a fresh helping of flat track intensity in 2013.