2011-2012 Season Schedule
Get ready for a season eight with the Minnesota RollerGirls - Minnesota’s original roller derby league.The fall bouts will feature your favorite four home teams and the winter/spring months will feature the All-Star bouts.
Saturday, October 15
Saturday, November 19
Saturday, December 17
Saturday, January 21 (home team championship)
Saturday, February 4
Saturday, February 18 with Minnesota Swarm
Saturday, March 3
Saturday, March 31
Saturday, June 16
News
Tournament Preview: MNRG goes for broke - the 2011 Championships preview
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Next weekend, your MNRG All-Stars ascend to Denver, CO to take on the world’s best teams. This year, Minnesota’s smart, dynamic play whipped them past Madison, broke them through Detroit’s physical pack, and brought them inches from a win against the Windy City Rollers at the North Central tournament finals.
What does 2nd-place mean for our players? Well, the fact is that the WFTDA (the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association) tournament structure is simultaneously forgiving and harsh. Four tournaments have already been played, and the outcomes of those tournaments determine entrance into the WFTDA Championship. There are no wild-cards, and no one is voted into the final tournament. Teams that place first, second, or third in Regionals are invited to the tournament. That’s it. And that means we’re in.
The Championship structure is a tiered bracket. The first four bouts will be second-place teams taking on the third-place counterparts from a different region. In our case, the MNRG All-Stars (North Central - 2nd) have been slotted to play the Charm City Roller Girls (East - 3rd).
The winner of that bout goes on to play the first-place team of yet another region. The winner of MNRG/Charm goes on to play the South Central champion in the quarter-final; that’s the Texecutioners of Austin, TX. We’ll talk about those teams in just a moment, but…the victor of the quarter-final will then enter the final four. Saturday evening, the four semi-finalists will play for the right to compete for roller derby’s highest award - the Hydra trophy - at the finals on Sunday. A loss means they play for third. In either case, a semifinalist team will play two very aggressive, smart bouts of roller derby over the course of 24 hours.
This is a grueling tournament for both winners and losers. Of the twelve teams competing, four will play a bout and get knocked out on Day One. Another four will be sent out in the quarter-finals. The tournament is designed to crown the Queens of the Track, so only the top four teams continue playing. That adds some fire to the bellies of the contestants; no one wants to be one-and-done.
Let’s return to Minnesota’s road to the Hydra. The MNRG opens the tournament against Baltimore’s Charm City at 3pm CST. We last played Charm at the 2010 tournament and got wiped out 249 - 128. Minnesota will be putting out a team that has several significant changes from last year. Naughty Kitty and rookie Hurtrude Stein were added to the defensive lineup up front; Trudy walled well at the 2011 regional tournament, while Kitty’s physicality and size allowed us to take on teams who tended towards aggressive play. That additional forward presence will be extremely useful in play with Vue, Tiki, Diamond, Scarmen, and Second Hand Smoke against the likes of the charged-up Charm City defense. Charm plays hard and has a tendency to lose blockers on illegal hits. Last year, we did not rise above that play; this year, we have been playing exceedingly clean.
As to the jammer line, MEDUSA’s irrepressible agility will be a welcome addition to the MNRG jammer rotation. ‘Dusa will join L’exi, Harmony, Juke Boxx, Psycho, Venus…and indeed, most of the rest of the MNRG roster. Our tendency towards jammer/blockers keeps our packs able to play at fast speeds as well as slow. However, Charm hit us last year with Just Carol and IM Pain, and just creamed us. Both will be returning to the jammer line; it is likely that we will also see CC Bang Bang (formerly of the Oly Rollers) put on the star.
It’s important to note two other changes from the 2010 bout; both Venus Thightrap and Vuedoo Prodigy could not compete at last year’s match against Charm City. Venus had gotten injured in the course of the North Central 2010 tournament, while Vuedoo Prodigy went down minutes before the Charm/MNRG bout began. Vue and Venus are two of our finest; having them as part of the roster will open up our choices in the back of the pack and in terms of who can skate at speed should Charm start playing the speed game.
After Baltimore - should we succeed - is Texas. Texas is responsible for reinvigorating the sport of roller derby over eight years ago. They are always good, and this year they took the South Central Championship belt back from Kansas City in a tight match. We’ve never played Texas in sanctioned WFTDA play. This may be the year we meet Grandma Derby on the track…and beat her.
From there? We don’t know. At the semis, we will probably meet either the reigning champions of the tournament - Rocky Mountain - or the Gotham Girls. But here’s what’s most important. We want you to experience this bout any way you can, so here’s what you should know about the upcoming weekend.
Camp Bar. Friday afternoon. Our new sponsor - Camp Bar in Saint Paul - is opening early for drinks and roller derby. Camp’s hosting a viewing party for us. The MNRG/Charm bout begins at 3pm CST…get there early for a good seat. In fact, they’re going to keep at least a few TVs on for the entire tournament. Does that mean they’re a roller derby sports bar this weekend? That sounds pretty good to us. We would love to see you there. Bring signs. Bring body paint. Bring yourself.
Want to host your own party? - As we said, the MNRG/Charm bout takes place at 3pm CST. You can watch online via the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association’s website - http://www.wftda.com - the whole weekend. And if you want to feel like you’re there, there’s an incredible online PPV upgrade option that gives you a beautiful view of the action on the track. Costs $30 for the tournament, and you can watch the archived footage for three months after the bout. What’s more? The thirty bucks helps to support the WFTDA, which is the organization that makes these tournaments happen.
WHAT. You’ve got a meeting? - No worries. Keep your phone handy and get updates via the twitter feeds @mnrg and @mnrgbouts (run by our league’s reporter, embedded with the MNRG fans and players headed to Denver). Of course, we’ll also be updating Facebook with information regarding the tournament.
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE. We have no intention of being a one-and-done team this year. Should Minnesota advance past Charm City, the Texas bout will be on Saturday at 10:30am CST. If we succeed against Olivia Shootin’ John and the Texecutioners of Austin, TX, we play again on Saturday at 6:30pm CST. From there…well, best believe we’ll be keeping you up to date with the news.
For the All-Stars, this is the biggest moment of the year. Many of our players have trained non-stop for this opportunity since 2010. We hope you can join us, whether in body or from across the nation.
And finally…THANK YOU. To all our fans, our families, and our friends. You’ve supported us for years. We’ll do you proud.
Your MNRG All-Stars:
0 Naughty Kitty
H8U Tiki Torture
9 Second Hand Smoke
13 MEDUSA
A18 Juke Boxx
23 Jax Kvaas
28 Scarmen Hellectra
55 Venus Thightrap
69 Vuedoo Prodigy
74 Skullateral Damage
75 Harmony Killerbruise
109 Psycho Novia
113 Rita Rawkus
172 Shiva Shankn
187 L’exi Cuter
711 Ova Achieva
727 Hurtrude Stein
808 Killahertz
850 Moto Fluzzi
1837 Diamond Rough
More News
The 2012 Wheelies
May 08, 2012
A season of surprises, kickass rookies, skaters going above and beyond…and the results are in!
Minnesota shotguns Brewskis, 173-104
April 11, 2012
The All-Stars go 10-0 on the Roy track, defeating Milwaukee’s best and finishing the MNRG’s 8th season on top.
New school defeats old in league-wide battle, 116-80
April 10, 2012
The Minnesota RollerGirls took to the track in a familiar bout on March 31st as the league’s veterans (playing as the “Mayo Clinicians”) attempted to go 2-0 against those newest to roller derby (the “State Fair Foodies”). After falling behind in the first half, the Foodies outscored the veterans 85 to 12 in the second to win the match 116-80.
The Northern Fights final scores
March 31, 2012
The younger skaters take one back on the Vets…and Minnesota makes it ten in a row on the Roy track.
The Northern Fights: the preview
March 29, 2012
The end of the season, the final mixer, and a match against the brilliant Brewcity Bruisers.
