We’ve got some catching up to do here at KC Derby Digest—life happens, as you know—but things in the world of Kansas City roller derby are certainly heating up, and Fountain City Roller Derby‘s 2023 season is a big part of the reason why.

Tonight is Game 2 of their already white-hot 2023 season, and this evening’s match-ups will probably be the ones to watch for the rest of the year.

The Shotgun Sheilas and Deadly Sirens both currently sit at 1-0 on the season, whereas the Royal Pains and Lovely Lethals are at 0-1 thus far, and therein lies the appeal: Someone’s going to lose who hasn’t, and someone’s going to win who hasn’t. It’s going to be a very interesting night on the track.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. at Olahrama, formerly known as B&D Skate Center, in Independence. First whistle is at 6:30. All the details are in the graphic above.

There’s much more to come here at KC Derby Digest. Stay tuned for more information on the coming season and for some amazing photo albums as well.

Saturday night, the Shotgun Sheilas‘ seemingly unstoppable dynasty notched another championship win at B&D Skate Center and made a little history in the progress.

1. They became the first-ever five-time Fountain City Roller Derby champions, having taken home the trophy in 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, and now 2022.
2. They became the first team in league history to three-peat.

Truly, there’s not much more you can say about a team that went undefeated again and brought home their fifth championship with such extraordinary dispatch. We’ve seen some pretty impressive teams over the last 12 years or so, and history will certainly judge these Shotgun Sheilas among the best of the best.

Congratulations to Coach Wyatt and the entire coaching staff of the Sheilas for putting together such a formidable squad. Congrats are due, of course, to the Sheilas themselves for their incredible tenacity and hard work coming back from the plague of the 21st century to take home yet another trophy.

And as always, congratulations go out to the entire Fountain City Roller Derby organization for yet another fantastic season. You’re a big part of the reason we do what we do here at KC Derby Digest, and you’ve provided derby fans in Kansas City with some of the best flat-track action around for many years now.

We look forward to your all-gender season kick-off on July 30 and can’t wait to see you trackside again!

KC Derby Digest’s Featured Skater for the month of April is Triple Threat of The Royal Pains!

Name: Triple Threat
Teams: The Royal Pains, The Untouchables
Number: 2-13
Positions: jammer, blocker, pivot
Seasons with FCRD: 3

How did you originally come to be involved with Fountain City?

“I was at a family night open skate at Landmark skate center, where Devil Doll and Frisky Business were there working on skills. So I, an outgoing 16-year-old, started talking to them. That then led to them inviting me to a private Lovely Lethals practice, and I was hooked from there!”

Tell us the origin of your derby name.

“I was sitting with my grandma one day talking about derby, and I had mentioned that I hadn’t thought of a name yet. I told her that I didn’t really know what I wanted to be called. I had a small list at the time, but I didn’t love any of them. Somehow she came up with Triple Threat. It was not until later that I understood that it had another meaning in derby.”

Roller derby changes every life it touches. How has it changed yours?

“We play for fun, but in return, it gives us so much more than we could ever think of—leadership, sportsmanship, and even how to react when you lose a game. Everybody says that failure is more important than success. I’ve learned that whenever I face failure, it just lights a fire inside me to improve and do better next time.”

What sets you apart in roller derby?

“I would have to say my willingness to help and teach others! Some people will say it’s my arrogance that sets me apart, but really I just get very competitive. In the end, I am really just here to have fun. Winning is just a bonus.”

What makes Triple Threat tick? What keeps you going in this crazy love we call roller derby?

“What keeps me going is trying to help my team and league-mates not give up and show them that, while sometimes the work is hard, it’s not as hard when you have a friend to help get you through it.”

---

To see more of Triple Threat and all the players of Fountain City Roller Derby, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and check out our full photo albums on Smugmug.

Our Featured Skater for the month of December is
Mel Malice of the Kansas City Roller Warriors,
also known as Pearl Jam of Fountain City Roller Derby!

Name: Mel Malice / Pearl Jam
Team: Dreadnought Dorothys, Shotgun Sheilas
Number: 318
Position: Jammer, occasional pivot and blocker
Seasons with KCRW: 4
Seasons with FCRD: 1

---

How did you originally get involved with roller derby in Kansas City?

“[At work], I was trained for my initial role by a super bad-ass lady by the name of Brenda Peters. She had skated for the Knockouts for many seasons and told me about roller derby. I went to one of the games, screamed my head off cheering, and decided in about 10 seconds that I had to do this sport. Within two weeks, I bought a starter set of gear and signed up for the very next Warriors in Training. It was love at first sight.”

---

Tell us the origins of your derby names.

“An old high school friend used to call MelMal, which is a nickname born from combining the first three letters of my first and last name at the time. It stuck for a decade, so when I joined derby, I wanted my name to be a nod to it. Mel Malice was born!

When I joined FCRD, I needed to choose a different name. So I took my middle name, Pearl, and the position I most often play, a jammer, and a good music band to make Pearl Jam my name over in that league! It works very well for when I have to go to the box. I hear my middle name and I know I’m in trouble!!”

---

Roller derby changes every life it touches. How has it changed yours?

“It taught me how to take my space in life, how to be unapologetic. In life, you will come across tough walls. You can either quit or move mountains — your choice. Success takes work, and falling is necessary, so get used to picking yourself up. But know that nothing is truly done alone, and that your chosen family will be there for you. Roller derby is a family.”

---

What sets you apart in roller derby?

“I joke that I shit rainbows, but I honestly think my attitude does. I laugh at my own failures, and I come to practice hungry. I want to lift up the women around me, and love getting beat to heck by them.”

---

What makes Mel Malice/Pearl Jam tick? At the end of the day, what keeps you going in this crazy love we call roller derby?

“Nothing makes me more angry than watching people give up, either on themselves, on each other, or on the hard work it takes to compete. But the thing that keeps me going is how much love and encouragement we have for each other. My journey and someone else’s are going to be different, but I love watching my teammates and leaguemates do amazing things. And winning.”

---

To see more of Mel Malice/Pearl Jam and all of Kansas City roller derby in action, visit our photo albums on Smugmug, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram.

Time to get on the stick again, derby fans. This Saturday night, the Kansas City Roller Warriors return to Memorial Hall for Game 2 of their 2019-2020 season.

Click for the Facebook event page

The 2019 Rink of Fire champions, the Victory Vixens, take on a resurgent Dreadnought Dorothys squad that’s clearly hungry for a championship run in the new season. Later, the Black Eye Susans face off against a Knockouts team that was upset in last year’s Rink of Fire and is looking to start the year strong.

This kind of early-season action is the stuff roller derby dreams are made of, so get there early and don’t miss a moment!

---

Doors open at Memorial Hall at 5:00 Saturday evening. The first bout begins at 6:00. As always, adult tickets are $15 at the door, and kids ages 6-12 are $10 each. Twelve-ounce beers will be available for $2 until 6:00, and the beneficiary of this month’s 50/50 raffle is the KC Anti-Violence Project.

Join us at Memorial Hall Saturday night for Game 2 of KCRW’s 15th season of derby madness, fans! We’ll see you there!

Derby fans, do we have some news for you!

This coming season, in 2020, we will be joining the Capital City Crushers of Topeka for all their home bouts and events!

We’ll be shooting and reporting on their games (schedule and weather permitting), just like we do for KCRW and Fountain City, and we’ll be including them in Featured Skater articles, our monthly player profiles that get you, the derby fan, up close and personal with some of the best players in the area.

Capital City will be announcing their 2020 schedule soon, and we’ll let you know the moment they do.

You might be thinking, wait. Isn’t this “KC” Derby Digest? Topeka isn’t exactly KC, is it?

Well, neither is St. Joseph, Atchison, or Kirksville, but that didn’t stop us from covering the action when the Blacksnake Rollergirls, the Missouri River Rollers, or the NEMO ViQueens took the track, did it?

And that’s another thing — we’re going to be branching out in the coming seasons. New year, new decade, new KC Derby Digest, am I right? We’re going to be bringing you more flat track action, covering more events, and hopefully even traveling and covering some tournaments in the region, whenever possible.

The roller derby leagues in Kansas City and beyond continue to up their respective games, and we’d be doing them (and you, the fans) a disservice if we didn’t do the same. So buckle up — as we head into our ninth season covering The Greatest Sport in the World, things are only getting better. We hope you’ll join us.