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Friday, November 11, 2011

Broomfield (Denver),CO

Ziv Kruger for WomenTalkSports.com

The Denver Roller Dolls host the 5^th annual WFTDA Championship Tournament

Twelve teams from four WFTDA (Women’s Flat Track Derby Association WFTDA.com) regions will compete for “The Hydra” (the WFTDA’s first place trophy) this weekend at the magnificent 1^st Bank Center in Broomfield,CO.

The first jam (WFTDA bouts are comprised of a series of plays called jams which may last no longer than two minutes each) of the “Continental Divide and Conquer” tournament (http://www.continentaldivideandconquer.com/) is scheduled for sometime around 2:00 pm MST between the Minnesota Rollergirls of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN and Charm City Roller Girls of Baltimore, MD.

WFTDA leagues are arranged in four regions (not limited to the United States).  In order to qualify for the Championship tournament, each of the hopefuls must first rank in the top ten of their respective region.  The top three finishers of each regional tournament are then invited to compete for the national trophy – and this year’s class is a showcase of first time participants, and former champions.

Prior to the WFTDA’s organization, Tucson Roller Derby hosted the first national championship tourney in 2006 named “Dust Devil” – and the all but predetermined winners (The Texas Rollergirls of Austin, TX) earned their trophy by destroying all contenders.

In 2007, the Texas Rollergirls hosted the first WFTDA championship tournament known as “The Texas Shootout”, and Kansas City, MO’s Roller Warriors shocked the flat track roller derby universe by coming in as the fourth seed from the Western region (only four seeds from each of two regions – East and West – competed in 2007) and claiming the first WFTDA national trophy.

Subsequent champions include the Gotham Girls (New York, NY 2008); the Oly Rollers (Olympia, WA 2009); and the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls (Denver, CO 2010).

The structure of the Championships is as follows:

Second and third seeded teams from each of the four regions play each other for the right to challenge one of the four “first seeds”.  Regional affiliation and seeding is indicated by each team below.  (West, South Central, North Central, East)

According to the posted schedule, today’s bouts (listed in MST) feature:

2:00pm – Bout 1:

(NC/#2) Minnesota RollerGirls (Minneapolis/St.Paul,MN) vs.

(E/#3) Charm City Roller Girls (Baltimore, MD)

3:45pm – Bout 2:

(W/#2) Rocky Mountain (Rollergirls Denver,CO) vs.

(SC/#3) Nashville Rollergirls (Nashville, TN)

5:30pm – Bout 3:

(SC/#2) Kansas City Roller Warriors (Kansas City,MO) vs.

(W/#3) Rose City Rollers (Portland,OR)

7:15pm – Bout 4:

(E/#2) Philly Roller Girls (Philaderphia,PA) vs.

(NC/#3) Naptown Roller Girls (Indianapolis,IN)

The bouts will be webcast "live" on WFTDA.com

Waiting in the wings will be the Oly Rollergirls (Olympia, WA); Texas Rollergirls (Austin,TX); Windy City Rollers (Chicago, IL); and Gotham Girls (New York, NY). ZK

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• 2011 WFTDA Championships

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