This years 2 Fresh & 2 Furious tournament will be the third time GTA Rollergirls have hosted a rookie tournament. Our first was 2008’s Virgin Suicides Brawl in which 6 team from Ontario participated in a round robin style event. Participating teams were:
Death Row Dames (HCRG, Hamilton)
Bytown Blackhearts (ORD, Ottawa)
Thames Fatales (FCRG, London)
Vicious Dishes (TCRG, Kitchener/Waterloo)
Venus Fly Tramps (TCRG, Kitchener/Waterloo)
Derby Debutantes (GTAR, Toronto)
Its hard to believe these teams were rookies, but everyone had to start somewhere. I remember being out there on the track those first few moment feeling the adrenaline and excitement of playing in front of people and against a team with whom I was unfamiliar, it was awesome. My team the Derby Debutantes played the first two games of the day. Our first game against Tri-City’s Vicious Dishes came down to the last jam. There was a different rule set back then. Both jammers had been sent to the penalty box, so it meant the pivot became the jammer. I was so surprised to be thrown on to the jam line, that I forgot to put my mouthguard in. After the jammer start I was immediately thrown into the sin bin and had to watch as the opposition scored the 3 points they needed to win the game by 1 point. Needless to say, I learned that lesson the hard way, and I will never leave my mouthguard out again.
The final game in that event was a sweaty nail-biter of a bout between Hamilton’s Death Row Dames and Ottawa’s Bytown Blackhearts (FYI: many of those Bytown Blackhearts you now know as the Rideau Valley Roller Girls’ team, The Slaughter Daughters). The Death Row Dames were victorious.
See how fresh your favorite rollergirls and referees looked back in the day in these pictures by Derek Lang here and here.
In 2010 GTAR experienced a sudden influx of keen new skaters. So many people were falling in love with the sport of roller derby that we were able to form a whole new team named The Chrome Mollys. We hosted our second rookie event, the Fresh and the Furious to give them a chance to play. Participating leagues were:
Rollergettes (West End Waywards Rollerskating Association, Toronto)
Ottawa Roller Derby
Sault Roller Derby (Sault Saint Marie)
Queen City Roller Girls (Buffalo, New York)
Chrome Mollys (GTA Rollergirls, Toronto)
Rideau Valley Roller Girls (Ottawa)
Auld Reekie Roller Girls (Edinburgh, Scotland)
The event was a double header. The first game put members of ORD and WEWRA together on a team named Feminine Rage. They challenged members of SRD, QCR and RVRG playing as The Quad Racers. It was a close exciting game that came down to the last jam. The Quad Racers won by one point. The second game was a contest between ORD and ARRG skaters on a team named Shock Wave, and GTA Rollergirls’ new team of rookies, The Chrome Mollys. The Chrome Mollys played a strong game and won.
See Joe Mac’s photos of the first game here and the second game here
In 2011 Roller Derby is bigger than ever before, and so is our rookie tournament. We have 18 participating teams from the following leagues;
Chrome Mollys (GTAR, Toronto)
Belles of the Brawl (BCRG, Brantford)
Border City Brawlers (Windsor)
Capital City Derby Dolls (Ottawa)
Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (ToRD, Toronto)
Durham Region Roller Derby (Durham)
Gold Miners’ Daughters (Timmins)
Kingston Derby Girls (Kingston)
Limestone CrusHers (Kingston)
Ottawa Roller Derby (Ottawa)
Peterborough Roller Derby (Peterborough)
Queen City Roller Girls (Buffalo)
South Simcoe Rebel Rollers (Barrie)
Sault Roller Derby (Sault Ste Marie)
Timmins Roller Derby (Timmins)
Violet Uprising, Killer Queens, Our Ladies of Pain (RCRG, Guelph)
Check out this news feature from Sunday June 26th featuring two teams competing in 2 Fresh and 2 Furious, the Chrome Mollys (with two Debutantes on the roster) and the South Simcoe Rebel Rollers. They played an exhibition game for the people of Seguin Township.
2 Fresh & 2 Furious is certainly going to be a memorable event. You’ll want to be there just so you can say, “I was there when…”. Find out who will be the next generation of roller derby superstars. Get your 15$ advance tickets at BrownPaperTickets.com
