Season 7 Preview

By Tiki TimeBomb

It may be the off-season, but the Terminal City Rollergirls aren’t sitting around playing with our Christmas presents; we’ve been training hard for some excellent pre-season action. Two of our house teams will head south to take on Rat City Rollergirls’ house teams at Seattle’s impressive Key Arena, and our All-Stars have a February bout at home against Everett, WA’s Jet City Bombers. In the middle of all this excitement is the annual Fresh Meat draft, when the four house teams top up their rosters with new blood. Are you ready for Season 7? We are.

On January 19, the Faster Pussycats face off against Derby Liberation Front. Since their inception, Rat City has been one of the top leagues in the world, and once upon a time (in 2006), brand-new, wobbly TCRG skaters appeared as their half time entertainment. Now the Pussycats are going head-to-head with them at their season opener. “The Pussycats have been scrimmaging, running, burpee-ing, and planking our way through the winter months,” says FPC Assistant Captain Andi Struction. “We’re so excited to be playing this fierce team, in front of thousands of rabid derby fans!” The FPC scrimmaged with DLF en route to Alaska last winter, but this will be their first time at a headliner bout.

Faster Pussycats on the bench. Photo by Bob Ayers

A few weeks later, the Bad Reputations will make the trek to face the Sockit Wenches at Rat City’s Season 9 Bout 2 on February 9. If you want to be one of the 5000 fans at these exhilarating bouts, buy tickets now because Rat City events always sell out.

The first date on the All-Stars’ 2013 schedule is February 9, when they will show hometown fans at Surrey’s Central City Arena why they made the greatest rankings jump in Women’s Flat Track Derby Association’s history last season (#23 to #12 in the West Region). This is the All-Stars’ first sanctioned bout of the year, which means it counts toward their divisional ranking, and it’s the first step in their journey toward this year’s playoffs. Jet City, known for their solid players and physical game, finished last season ranked #10 in the West, making this a guaranteed nail-biter. “We lost to them at the Wild West Showdown last year, and are looking forward to another opportunity to play them,” says All-Stars coach Mack the Mouth.

“We’ve set some very ambitious goals for 2013 around the theme ‘Strive for 25’,” says new All-Stars Captain Germaine Koh, formerly known as PLAYER 1. “Shoot for the WFTDA top 25, raise $25,000 to allow us to travel for sanctioned games and divisional playoffs, and improve key fitness markers by 25%.”

Then the All-Stars travel to Wild West Showdown 2013 in Bremerton, WA, March 1-3. There they’ll face Santa Cruz (with whom they are 1-1), Sacramento’s Sac City, and Boise, ID’s Treasure Valley. Tickets for the entire weekend are just $35, and fans can watch heaps of fantastic Northwest derby while supporting the All-Stars. After that, it’s the Big-O tournament in Eugene, OR, May 17-19. And in June, the All-Stars are extremely excited to be hosting the London Rollergirls. This British team shocked the derby world at their Eastern Region playoff debut last year when they upset top Canadian league Montreal Roller Derby, and went on to claim the #4 position. They’re a “strategically smart team,” according to Koh, and a great challenge for the like-minded All-Stars.

All-Stars vs. Vancouver Murder. Photo by Nicolas Charest for Rollergirl.ca

The pre-season games over the next month will be our league’s first bouts under the new WFTDA rules. No more minor penalties? Yes, please! Fans can expect less of the confusing jam-start strategies, such as four blockers taking a knee, and stricter calls on certain penalties such as cutting the track or destroying the pack. Whether you want to master the changes or are new to the game, roller derby rules can be confusing. TCRG All-Star Germaine Koh designed an Intro To Flat-track Roller Derby app, available for free from iTunes. It includes everything from ref signals to rules explanations, and makes a great trackside companion for both skaters and fans.

As always, TCRG’s house team season starts in April. Keep an eye on our Facebook page or sign up for our monthly newsletter (sign up at the top right of this page) to make sure you don’t miss a single moment.