In 2004, Kansas City roller derby consisted of a couple of rink rats skating in a parking lot. In the past three years, though, that small band of bruising women has revived the retro sport, making their four-team roller derby league a major sports draw that fills Hale Arena with thousands of screaming fans.
Now, after just three seasons of sharpening their skates in local play, the Kansas City Roller Warriors are national champions.
The Warriors first matched up against teams from across the country in February 2006, when the traveling squad took eighth place out of 23 teams at the first national competition for the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. Earlier this year, the Warriors improved to a fourth-place finish at a showdown among teams in the Western region. This weekend, as the Kansas City crew headed to Austin, Texas, for the national championship – the Texas Shootout – it ranked fifth in the nation.
Team captain Jennifer Pych – also known as Bruz Her – says the atmosphere at the national tournament was a mix of rebel camaraderie and cutthroat competition. “We’re all friends off the track, but on the track it’s all business,” she says.
Sure, Kansas City has been climbing the national ladder for the past two years, but the Warriors were still considered underdogs, Pych says. That didn’t change their killer instinct, though. “Our expectation was to win,” Pych says. “We came to win.”
The Warriors were one of the first teams to take to the track, facing off against the Gotham Girls from New York City in the first bout Saturday morning. Though the team from the Big Apple was seeded first in the East, Kansas City blasted past the East Coast favorites with a rash of points at the start of the second half. Pych says the Gotham Girls staged a comeback, but not enough to avoid a 116-101 defeat at the hands of the Warriors.
On Sunday morning, Kansas City laced up against the Carolina Rollergirls. Pych says the Warriors had always wanted to take on the skaters from Raleigh, and the bout lived up to expectations. The Warriors jumped out to an early lead, but the Rollergirls stormed back in the final minutes. After a nail-biting conclusion, Kansas City came out on top, 116-108.
With the final bout scheduled for 7 p.m., the Roller Warriors had Sunday afternoon to scout their competition. Pych says the Warriors had a leg up by being the team with the most rest between bouts. Even she had time to sack out on an arena couch, listening to music, before the team reconvened for a final strategy session.
“Our plan going in was just to play our game,” Pych says. “’Poise and control,’ that’s what we were saying. And “refuse to lose.” That was another motto.”
On the track, it took all the Warriors' tenacity to put down Seattle’s Rat City Rollergirls, the top club in the West. Through the entire match, neither team could pull away.
“They’d get up 10 points on us, and we’d come back,” Pych says. “Then we’d go up 15 points on them, and they’d come back. It was just really intense. It was a battle.”
And it all came down to the final minute. As the whistle blew on the final jam, the Warriors had an 89-85 edge. All they had to do was make sure the Rat City jammer was held back by the pack of Warriors.
“All we knew was that they couldn’t score on us,” Pych says of the final seconds. “I was not going to let her score on us.”
She didn’t. When the clock ticked to zero, the Warriors had held their lead and the entire team rushed the track. Pych says the celebration drew tears of joy from more than one of the badass athletes. With their trophies in tow – wrought-iron silhouettes of a rollergirl leaning on an outline of the state of Texas – the Warriors showered up and hit the bars.
Driving to the Dallas airport this morning, Pych said the achievement was still ringing in their ears and the roller derby girls were planning more festivities back home in Kansas City.
“Until next year, we’re the national champions, we’re number one,” she says. “It’s the Year of the Warrior.”
The team plans a Celebration Skate Party from 8 to 10 p.m. on Tuesday at the Winnwood Skate Center, 4426 Northeast Winn Road. It's free to get in and $4.50 to rent skates. And stay tuned for the league’s awards banquet on October 13. – Carolyn Szczepanski
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Great work by KCRW, hard-fought and well-earned victories. Hope to see you play at next year's western regionals.
Poobah
SCRG
this was the most amazing bout in the new history of women's flat track derby! Everyone that witnessed this bout can testify that no one deserves this more than Kansas City's Roller Warriors.
I believe this is the time for the arena, the sponsors, the media and the fans to get on board and help this league grow. Get KCRW a sport cort, a permanent home for our bouts and publicity!
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE - UNITE!
That game was amazing! I feel very lucky to have been there to watch so many great bouts of derby. The Kansas League should be very proud of themselves!!
Elle McFierce
www.HoustonRollerDerby.com
A definite high point of the weekend was seeing KC win in the end. They played with poise and determinatin and it showed. Congrats KC!
One of the most amazing moments in my life. KCRW is amazing!!!! It was truly an honor to skate and battle it out with you fine ladies.
I LOVE KCRW!! I look forward to tonight's skating party, and is the awards banquet open to fans; if so, how much does it cost,and where is it? And I'll see you all at the Extreme Women's Sports challenge!
OH MY GOD!!!!! I have NEVER been so proud!!! Standing by the floor for the last half of the Championship game, beating my tamborine because my voice was COMPLETELY gone, was AMAZING!!!!!
I LOVE KCRW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kansas City Roller Warrior Fans/Sponsors:
I have seen some exciting sports events in my life, but the derby final between Seattle and KC is the topper! Even this Saturday's Oklahoma vs Texas football game will seem a little bland after watching the Derby games in Austin. (and this from a lifelong OU football fan?)
Let's get these champions a vinyl floor like Austin and Seattle have (and other major roller derby teams). Cost: About $10,000, but... it would help reduce injuries and help make our team even better!
Ya got to love Derby!
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