Carolina Rollergirls bounce back to claim 5th place in Eastern regionals
DORTON ARENA/ RALEIGH—Your (our) Carolina Rollergirls put on a great show this weekend, playing host to the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association’s Eastern Regional tournament at Dorton Arena in Raleigh. The home team, unfortunately, was upset in the opening round Friday night by Boston, which cost them any chance to advance to the nationals in November. They bounced back Saturday to drub the team from Virginia, and on Sunday grabbed 5th place (out of 10 teams) with a convincing win over the Providence, Rhode Island club.
“What happened Friday was a big surprise to us,” said Pink Slip, the skater a.k.a. Laura Slipsky, a Raleigh graphic designer. “After that, I think we all realized we had to pull together and do what we always do — do what we practice — and play our own game.”
Boston, meanwhile, proved to be the cinderella team of the tournament. The Derby Dames upset Charm City (Baltimore) to finish third, behind Philadelphia and New York — top three advance to the nationals, scheduled for November in Philly. (Correction: An earlier version of this, based on my misreading of the WFTDA website, said Boston was the regional champion. h/t: Hydra.)
This was your correspondent’s first time at an R’girls event — the first time, actually, that I’ve seen roller derby since the olden days on New York TV, where the tracks were banked, the villains dirty, the stars clean as snow white, and it was all, ah, predetermined. (Fixed.) But there’s nothing fake — other than the skaters’ names — about these new flat-track events. The women still skate hard, and they battle for position as before, but the officiating — at least in the two games I saw — is excellent, which means you win based on speed, strength, strategy and effort. In other words, it’s a helluva sport, fast and gritty, and it’s a lot of fun to watch. Regular-season games at Dorton draw an average of 1,400 fans, I’m told. Continue reading »
