Category Archives: News

The 2023 Fountain City Roller Derby House Championship Preview

This Saturday night… we may see something we’ve never seen before.

First, some stats.

Current Standings

Deadly Sirens 3-0
Shotgun Sheilas 2-1
Lovely Lethals 1-2
Royal Pains 0-3

We’ve seen the numbers fall just perfectly like this a few times in the past, but never have we seen these numbers with the Deadly Sirens on top.

And you know what? They’re probably going to stay that way—but we won’t know until this Saturday night when the Sirens take on the Shotgun Sheilas, who are making their tenth consecutive championship appearance.

Yes, tenth—something that is unprecedented and unmatched in the annals of Kansas City roller derby. No other team, in this league or any other in this town, has made 10 consecutive championship appearances. That’s something that can’t be taken away no matter who wins this weekend.

By the Numbers

Deadly Sirens, 3-0
Points scored: 223
Points allowed: 126
Point differential: +97

Shotgun Sheilas, 2-1
Points scored: 208
Points allowed: 162
Point differential: +46

Lovely Lethals, 1-2
Points scored: 164
Points allowed: 224
Point differential: -60

Royal Pains, 0-3
Points scored: 140
Points allowed: 223
Point differential: -83

This would seem to be a run-of-the-mill championship bout: The two teams with the best records and the best point differentials are facing off for the trophy, and the best team will win. Right?

We tend to follow the numbers, but to be fair, that’s led to predictive disaster a fair number of times in the past, like when the Lovely Lethals upset the Sheilas in 2016, the Susans upset the Dorothys in 2017, and the Vixens threw everyone for a loop in 2019 when they took down the Knockouts in the upset of the century.

On one hand, the Sirens soundly defeated the Sheilas in their only match-up earlier this year, final score 58-35. On the other, if we know anything about the Shotgun Sheilas and their history, we know you’d be a fool to count them out completely. So we don’t.

But.

Truthfully, this is just the Sirens’ year. It’s going to happen. We’re predicting a Deadly Sirens win by a margin of 12 points—and that, my fellow derby fans, will complete the set. The Sirens will bring home their first-ever Fountain City Roller Derby house championship and bring a welcome end to one of the most bewildering dry spells in Kansas City roller derby history.

No one seems to know why a Sirens squad that’s traditionally been packed with talent can never seem to notch enough wins to make the magic happen, but this year, they finally have everything going for them—and we couldn’t be more thrilled. The only thing left is to do it. It’s going to be one hell of a championship game.

So join us trackside this Saturday night for the final house game of the season. The Royal Pains and Lovely Lethals will kick the night off with the annual grudge match, and then it’s go time: The Sirens and the Sheilas face off for all the marbles. As always, we can’t wait to see how this one shakes out, and we wish all of these teams nothing but the best of luck as they show us all, once again, what they’re made of.


The Kansas City Roller Warriors Mini Home Team Season

This Sunday night at Skate City West, the Kansas City Roller Warriors are finally back to a regular schedule in what they’re calling their Mini Home Team Season.

And as D’Nouncer Duane put it on draft night, “It is the dawn of a new era.” Because, my fellow derby fans and enthusiasts, you are witnessing just that.

If you haven’t heard the news, the Kansas City Roller Warriors are making history by not only redrafting all the teams but also creating new house teams altogether.

You read that right. Our hometown teams, the Dreadnought Dorothys, the Victory Vixens, the Black Eye Susans, and the Knockouts have seen their last games. That could be the biggest news in the history of the league, apart from when the teams were first formed to begin with. As you’ve probably guessed, we’re not sure how to feel about it, but first, let’s take a look at what’s ahead.

The 2023 Season

When the pandemic hit, the first things to shut down were sports and recreation leagues. No one knew what to expect; some even speculated we’d be back in action in only a few weeks. That… isn’t quite what happened, and in the meantime, a lot of people put a lot of thought into what’s important and what they wanted to do moving forward.

As you may remember, the 2019-20 season promised big things—chief among them more than a half-dozen returning veterans from years past that old school fans like myself could only dream of seeing on the flat track again.

We even saw Annie Maul in black and yellow.

But the pandemic changed a lot of things. Some players who may have been on the fence about continuing to skate perhaps saw an opportunity for a clean break. Others decided to mix it up a little more and joined Fountain City Roller Derby since that league began playing quite a bit earlier than KCRW did. Any way you cut it, the Roller Warriors found themselves with far fewer available players than before the world ended, which explains not only the delay in restarting house team competition but also the decision to rebrand with three new house teams.

The Teams

Our new Kansas City Roller Warriors house teams are named after well-known Kansas City locales, and they are the Strawberry Hellions, the 18th & Vines, and the Midtown Misfits.

We couldn’t be more thrilled with the thought and creative design that went into these new teams, their names, and their mascots. Big picture, the whole thing frankly couldn’t be more perfect. When Dead Girl Derby changed its name to Fountain City Roller Derby at the end of the 2014 season, they did so to better tie the league to its beloved hometown. It was a brilliant move.

And although saying goodbye to the four house teams we’ve loved and cheered on for more than a decade isn’t easy, we’re equally excited about how these new house team names will reflect where they’re from and represent Kansas City at least as well as their predecessors did.

Some Final Thoughts

The Glitter Mafia will live on in our hearts. “Black Eye or Die” will forever be a trackside battle cry in Kansas City. The Vixens made us love the red, white, and blue in a way we never thought possible. The Dorothys’ six-year championship streak may never be duplicated.

The memories we’ve shared with this league since we discovered it in late 2009 are practically endless. We watched in awe every season as the Dreadnought Dorothys steamrolled team after team, taking home trophy after trophy, seemingly impervious to the skill and tenacity of the teams with whom they shared the track.

We celebrated with the Victory Vixens in 2012 as they became the first non-Dorothys Rink of Fire champions in league history.

We held our breath as the Black Eye Susans captured their first Rink of Fire title the following year in one hell of a nailbiter that featured the very first overtime jam we’d ever seen.

And the Knockouts completed the set as they won their first Rink of Fire championship the year after that, something that would’ve been practically unthinkable just a few short seasons earlier.

We mourned alongside our Roller Warrior friends in 2016 at the untimely passing of the legendary Coach Ice, who (among many other things) helped lead our All Star team to the national title in 2007.

We cheered again for the red, white, and blue in 2015 and 2016 as the Vixens became the first team since the Dorothys to win back-to-back championships.

In 2017, the 3-3 Susans defeated the 6-0 Dorothys in one of the most shocking upsets in Rink of Fire history up to that point.

Not to be outdone, the 2019 Vixens topped even that as they entered the Rink of Fire with a dismal 2-4 record and soundly defeated the 6-0 Knockouts in an outcome no one could have seen coming, no matter what they tell you.

For all the years, all the cheers, all the tears, and everything else we shared with these four house teams: Thank you.

Thank you for the endless talent, dedication, patience, and commitment it took to keep this incredible labor of love afloat all these years, and thank you, as always, for the opportunity you’ve afforded us to join you in promoting and enjoying the Greatest Sport in the World… in the greatest city in the world for it.

We will miss the Ruby Reds, the stars and stripes, the Ladies in Teal, and the Black & Yellow, certainly—but we also look forward to a future in which a new generation of Roller Warriors action takes the track and makes new memories for a new generation of roller derby fans… right alongside the old ones.

Onward and upward, Roller Warriors. We can’t wait to see what you’ve got for us next.

Welcome back.

Thank You, Coach Wyatt

This weekend, as the Shotgun Sheilas captured their fifth Fountain City Roller Derby house championship, the legendary Coach Wyatt announced she would be stepping down as head coach of the Black & Grey.

We caught up with Coach Wyatt after Saturday night’s game to get her thoughts on derby retirement, the 2022 season, and coming back from COVID after two years on the sidelines:


“Coming out of COVID, I was worried. I didn’t know what derby looked like after two-plus years away. But the second we had our roster, the hard work began for the Sheilas.

From the vets down to the newbies, everyone bought into the team and trusted each other. Aneeda Hurtcha has always been our rock, our leader, and together, we all built something that I think is pretty special. They fought for, and earned, this championship.

Saying I’m proud of the Sheilas (and to be a Sheila) is an understatement—not just this roster, but all that came before. I’ve been a Sheila a long time, and I give credit to roller derby for much of the life that I have. It’s bittersweet, but I couldn’t have scripted it better, going out on a three-peat.”

Coach Wyatt

A Thank-You

There’s really no way to properly and completely thank someone like Coach Wyatt for everything she’s brought to the league, but we can sure try.

Many people these days don’t even realize she was originally a Deadly Siren waaaay back in 2011 before KC Derby Digest was even born. Her derby name was Attorney Outlaw.

We were there, we just weren’t taking pictures in those days.

The Sirens even faced off against the Lethals for the trophy that year, although the Lethals came out on top.

In the years that followed—beginning in 2012, under Coach Wyatt’s leadership—the Shotgun Sheilas would play in the championship game every single season there was one with no exceptions:

  • 2012 vs. Lovely Lethals (Sheilas win)
  • 2013 vs. Royal Pains (Sheilas lose)
  • 2014 vs. Royal Pains (Sheilas win)
  • 2015 vs. Royal Pains (Sheilas lose)
  • 2016 vs. Lovely Lethals (Sheilas lose)
  • 2017 vs. Royal Pains (Sheilas lose)
  • 2018 vs. Deadly Sirens (Sheilas win)
  • 2019 vs. Deadly Sirens (Sheilas win)
  • 2020 — no champion (COVID)
  • 2021 — no champion (COVID)
  • 2022 vs. Lovely Lethals (Sheilas win)

That’s leadership. That’s dedication. That’s a commitment to excellence you can’t buy.

And that’s who Coach Wyatt is to this league: one of the most beloved and well-respected players and coaches to ever take the track in Kansas City—a go-getter who’s gone and gotten, simple as that.

Taking nothing away from their incredible skaters and assistant coaches, I think we can all agree that the Shotgun Sheilas owe their dynasty in great part to the unmatched talents and relentless pursuit of perfection Coach Wyatt has demonstrated over the last decade.

We will certainly miss her intensity and laser focus trackside, but we look forward to cheering on the Sheilas (and all the Fountain City teams) right next to her in the stands in the coming seasons.

Thank you, Coach.

For absolutely everything.

The Fountain City Roller Derby 2022 Season

Click to see the Facebook event page

This weekend, Kansas City roller derby fans, is what we’ve all been waiting for — the return of roller derby after a long, long delay.

Saturday night, February 26, Fountain City Roller Derby kicks off the 2022 season with their first scheduled bout in more than two years. As always, B&D Skate Center is the place. Doors open at 6:00 p.m., and the first whistle is promptly at 6:30.

Ushering in the return to the flat track are two match-ups featuring perennial, old-school rivals from way back in the day when the league was still called Dead Girl Derby.

To begin, multi-year FCRD champions the Shotgun Sheilas face off against the Deadly Sirens in a rematch of the 2019 championship bout that saw the Sheilas add another trophy to their collection. The Sirens will no doubt be back hungrier than ever, as they remain the only team in Fountain City to have never taken home the championship.

Later, the Royal Pains and the Lovely Lethals square off in their season opener to add another chapter to a very long history of epic battles between these two indomitable squads. The league simply couldn’t have chosen a better way to bring us back to the sport of roller derby than this weekend’s event.

Masks are mandatory at B&D this Saturday night. Admission for adults 18 and over is $15 each, and anyone 17 and under enters free when accompanied by an adult guardian.

As always, KC Derby Digest will be there covering all the action. You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Smugmug, our official photo album.

We simply can’t wait to see you all trackside as Fountain City kicks off the 2022 season!

Do you believe in derby miracles?

Once or twice in a lifetime, if you’re especially lucky, a sports team comes along that defies incredible odds to take home all the marbles… and a little piece of forever.

No one expected the 1969 New York Mets, who had lost 101 games only two years prior, to take the World Series against the heavily-favored Baltimore Orioles — but they did, four games to one. They called them the Amazin’ Mets.

In the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, the U.S. men’s hockey team took a roster full of amateurs and upset the Soviet Union, the four-time defending gold medalists, in a medal-round game that would become known as the Miracle on Ice. Team USA would go on to defeat Finland for the gold.

And this weekend at Memorial Hall, the 2-4 Victory Vixens soundly defeated the 6-0 Knockouts to take home the Tim Warder Trophy and cement their place in Kansas City roller derby history as the ultimate unstoppable underdogs.

vixens.jpg

We’ve never seen anything like it, and neither have you. In the long and storied history of the Kansas City Roller Warriors, a 2-4 team has never even gone to the Rink of Fire, let alone taken home the win. The 2017 Susans won the championship on a 3-3 record — an incredible feat on its own — but that’s as close as we’ve come to the insanity that gripped Memorial Hall Saturday night.

No matter what they tell you, no one could have predicted a team that didn’t even win a bout until May would take home the trophy and all the bragging rights in the world just two and a half months later.

The Victory Vixens have overcome the most incredible odds we’ve ever seen on the flat track at home, and we congratulate them on their tenacity, their resilience, and their championship attitude.

vixens2.jpg

Many thanks to the entire Kansas City Roller Warriors organization for one of the most entertaining seasons in recent memory, and thank you for allowing us to be a part of it once again. We look forward to sharing the track with you for many years to come!

Knockouts remain undefeated, Vixens notch first victory of the season

Last weekend’s bouts at Memorial Hall gave Kansas City roller derby fans more to cheer about, and while one of the evening’s games ended a bit predictably, one certainly didn’t, keeping things fresh as the march to the Rink of Fire continues.

It’s never a good idea to count anyone out, but the way this season has progressed so far, almost no one expects the Knockouts to start dropping games now. This year’s Black Eye Susans are pretty scrappy and formidable, but the Glitter Mafia has been pretty unstoppable, bringing home five wins in five games by an average of 54 points per game. Last Saturday night was no exception as they took the win over the Susans 205-134 in the second bout of the evening.

The real story, of course, was the resurgent Victory Vixens who, up to this point in the season, hadn’t brought home a win all year. It wasn’t for a lack of trying — they even gave the Knockouts a solid run for their money in Game 2 back in February — but somehow, victory managed to elude these Vixens consistently until Game 5 two Saturdays ago when they pulled out a stunner against a Dreadnought Dorothys team many people were expecting to make a Rink of Fire appearance again this year.

They may still; both they and the Susans sit at 2-3 on the season, and they don’t face each other again for the rest of the year, so depending on what happens next month in Game 6, the league may have to do some number crunching to determine which team makes a championship run alongside the Knockouts.

With that in mind, the Vixens’ 147-140 win over the Dorothys last weekend may have marked a turning point in the season for more than just the Red, White, and Blue.

Regardless of where the teams land, it was nice to celebrate a win with the Vixens.

vixens.jpg


Current Standings

Knockouts: 5-0
Black Eye Susans: 2-3
Dreadnought Dorothys: 2-3
Victory Vixens: 1-4

KCRW’s next bout is on June 22, and of course, we’ll remind you of that as the date draws near. Stay tuned to KC Derby Digest for more info on the incredible 2019 season!