Ashamed to say that only at the last minute did I have an idea this was happening. Had I known, I would gladly have parted with €23 for a weekend WFTDA.tv pass- and that was before Dublin Roller Derby (going into the games as underdogs and invited only due to dropouts) began blowing away the rule book by taking down one by one “stronger”, “better” teams. I followed the first game avidly on Twitter until the twitterer seemingly had a stroke and began posting the wrong scores then no scores. Thank god for East Coast Cyclones teamie Touchy Feely who had splashed out on the pass and kept us updated with Facebook posts and pics!! Suggestion for next time: one pass, East Coast Cyclones viewing party. With booze. And pizza.
Over the course of the weekend starting Friday, number 1 seed Auld Reekie Roller Girls were the first to fall 200-183 (what an upset!), followed by No Coast Roller Girls seeded 9 166-165 (no nails left), followed by 12 seed Naptown Roller Derby 161-158 (doing it on purpose now). Three for three, through to fight for a Championship place! And these games were nailbiters, absolutely to the wire, every jam fought for. The Championship Bracket saw DRD take on French buddies and number 3 seed Paris Rollergirls, with the Parisians emerging victorious 259-152. Last game was the so-called Consolation game, against Naptown once again but unfortunately the Dubs earlier win was not to be repeated and Girls in Blue went down 215-144 to achieve 4th place in the playoff. Freaking awesome for a league that went in as the last ranked seed.
Unbelievable stuff and according to Feely as the eyes, so much sweet stuff- strategies, moves, creativity and sheer heart. Now we know these girls can skate: they are the elite of Irish roller derby- I’m not fit to skate in the shadows of their C team- but holy shi—ite, this was truly amazing. And they did it all themselves. Everything. Shame on our poxy government who don’t recognise the sporting prowess and dedication of everyone involved in Irish roller derby. Our sport receives zero funding and support but with roller derby gaining more and followers and “mainstream” interest, hopefully we’ll see this change over the coming years, and still be skating to reap any benefits. But then again, if Irish women’s soccer is anything to go by- and those girls supposedly have the FAI at their backs (a rich, bloated man-club), we probably shouldn’t be holding our breath. Like DRD, we’ll keep doing it for ourselves. And we’ll do it well.
Tonight we recruit for Freshmeat. We’ll have some great stories to tell of Dublin Roller Derby heroics in Murica!
Pic Credit- Touchy Feely #268
EAST COAST CYCLONES ROLLER DERBY 