Updated at 9:53 p.m. on Thursday, June 13
The sports gods haven’t been on Denver’s side this year, but the light may still shine upon one squad (it’s not the Rockies).
Denver Roller Derby’s Mile High Club (the A-Team) and Bruising Altitude (the B-Team) are heading to the Women's Flat Track Derby Association Regional Championship this weekend in Mesa, Arizona.
The tournament is making its first comeback since the pandemic.
How the two teams do will determine whether they make it to the Global Championships in November.
“We’re excited to compete …This year feels so much more real and competitive and a lot of teams are really bringing it. We’re ready to do the exact same thing,” said Amber Cotten, or Smashalotapus, of Mile High Club (MHC).
"Our team is gelling really well," added MHC Captain Lisa LeFever, better known as Glittoris. "Everyone's enjoying each other. Everyone's improving and getting better and our strategies are coming along.”
Roller derby 101, for those not in the know
Roller derby is a contact sport where two teams meet on an oval track.
The teams consist of one jammer and four blockers.
Competing in two-minute scrimmages called jams, the goal is for the jammers to break out of the pack of blockers and lap their opponents. Each blocker the jammer laps equals a point, and it’s the blocker's job to stop that from happening.
Blockers simultaneously play offense by helping their jammer break out of the pack and defense by stopping the opposing jammer. You can tell who the jammers are by the star typically worn on their helmet.
WFTDA Championships, or Champs, have been on pause since the start of the pandemic.
And Denver Roller Derby is no stranger to champs.
The squad, previously named the Denver Roller Dolls, has been one of the top in the world ever since it started in 2005.
Alongside Rocky Mountain Roller Derby, Denver Roller Derby has consistently ranked within WFTDA’s top 10 since 2008.
The last time the team placed was in 2012 (they nabbed third).
They’re ready to add more medals to their belt.
“This is the first legit championship since Covid,” said Jennifer Dean, A.K.A Miss Tea Maven. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had an actual legit competition … It’s going to be a lot of pressure for a lot of teams because it’s anyone’s game now. It’s been five years, so everything's changed. Anyone can lose and anyone can win.”
The derby landscape has changed tremendously with Covid, Miss Tea Maven said — that includes her own career.
She started roller derby in New York with the also winning Gotham Roller Derby team but she said people have retired or joined new squads in the past few years. The shake-ups may prove to be a factor.
Maven said Champs this year can go a few ways.
Here’s how the tournament works.
There are five regions: North America-Northeast, Europe, Oceania, North America-West and North America-South. Denver is in the North America-West regionals.
Each region hosts a regional and is allotted a certain number of bids to Champs. Northeast, West and Europe have three; the rest have two.
Glittoris said that’s based on the competitiveness coming out of each region.
So far, three regionals have occurred and these are the teams heading to Champs.
For the Northeast: Arch Rival Roller Derby from St. Louis, Missouri; Montréal Roller Derby from Montréal, Canada; and Gotham Roller Derby from New York.
For Europe: Crime City Rollers from Malmö, Sweden; Roller Derby Toulouse from Toulouse, France; and Nantes Roller Derby from Nantes, France.
And for Oceania: Victorian Roller Derby League from Melbourne and Adelaide Roller Derby from Adelaide.
For the first time, B-Teams are joining the fray. B-Teams are the secondary teams within squads, including Denver Roller Derby's Bruising Altitude.
Out of 12 regional teams, MHC is seeded second and Bruising Altitude is seeded seventh.
Bruising starts the competition off on Friday, June 14, against California Derby Galaxy Supernovas A.
Whoever wins that bout goes on to face MHC.
Glittoris said it does suck to end up facing their peers in MHC’s first round but it’s a fun entryway into the competition.
However, Glit and the squad agree their biggest competition are the Rose City Wheels of Justice from Portland and the Angel City Hollywood Scarlets from Los Angeles. Rose City has placed in the top three of Champs consistently since 2014.
“I’m hoping we can surprise Rose and kick their fucking a***s,” Maven laughed — but in all seriousness.
The squad will have their chance to do it this weekend, and possibly in November.
Regional Championships will be streamed via Twitch at this link. Regional Champs start Friday, June 14, and end on Sunday. You can check the bracket listing here.
But Denverites can continue supporting the Derby squads in the city by visiting Rollerdome. That's where many teams play out, including Denver Roller Derby, Rocky Mountain Roller Derby and the Colorado Shiners Roller Derby, the state’s first BIPOC-only team.
All the squads regularly host tournaments and one-off matches. Glit said Denver Roller Derby’s next big event will be the Thin Air Throwdown from Sept. 13-15. Rose City and Angel City will be there, making it an interesting potential preview into Champs.
Folks can check all of the team’s social media pages for events to come.
For now, root for the (winning) home teams this weekend.
“Go Avs. Go Nuggets but we are another winning team in Denver,” said Taryn Allen, who simply goes by Taryn. “I think roller derby’s a great sport to get into in general and Denver (Roller Derby) is a solid team that works really hard to be where we’re at. We’re ready to come home with that medal.”
Editor's Note: Photo captions in this story previously misidentified the Denver Roller Derby's practice space. It is the Rollerdome.
