September 2016 Featured League: Columbia Quadsquad Rollergirls

Formed in 2007, the Columbia QuadSquad Rollergirls formed in Columbia, SC. Both a college and military town, the league reflects the diversity of their hometown, from dedicated long-time skaters to working with the next-generation of derby players with their junior league. Excited to host, and with the experience of hosting a WFTDA tournament earlier in the year, the Columbia QuadSquad Rollergirls are excited to show some southern hospitality to skaters and fan alike at the D1 Playoffs September 9th-11th! Read on to learn more about this month's featured league.

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Where are you located?
Columbia, SC

When was your league formed?
Our league was formed March 17, 2007.

When did you join WFTDA?
March 2012

When did you graduate from the Apprentice Program?
February 2012

How does your season run?
Our season runs from March to September (hopefully that’s Playoffs!).

What are the closest WFTDA leagues to you?
Also in Columbia are the Richland County Regulators. Also nearby are the Low Country High Rollers, Greenville Derby Dames, Soul City Sirens, and Charlotte Rollergirls.

How many skaters/teams do you have?
We have about 40 skaters and 2 teams.

How is your league structured (home teams, travel team, management)?
We have two travel teams, our Allstars and the Miss B-Havers. They are managed by our Training Committee, which assigns coaches to each team.

Who is your biggest rival? And have you had any outstanding, memorable moments when you've played them?
We don’t really have any rivals per se. We have enjoyed playing Steel City these past few years. We first met in our initial post-season appearance in 2013 in Asheville where we were defeated. In 2015, we were leading the almost the entire game, but they came back and won by 35 at the end. When we played this year, we finally were able to win by 63 points. Our next game is sure to be an exciting one.

Do you have any sister/brother/junior leagues you’d like to give a shout out to?
We adore our junior league Columbia QuadSquad Junior Rollers! They keep us on our toes and are the future of derby for sure. We’d also like to give a shout out to the Carolina Wreckingballs, the men’s team in town. BDS!

What are the individual challenges of your city?
Our city is unique in that it is a military town and a college town. This can be challenging when looking for new skaters. We’re in the capital, but Columbia is actually not that big. The good news is that people are always looking for something to do and the community is growing!

What are your biggest training challenges?
Our biggest training challenge is minimal practice time. We only have 3.5 hours per week dedicated to Allstars. Our Head of Training and Allstars Captain, Sour Hour, has worked very hard this season to organize and structure practices effectively. We have also gained some very dedicated coaches this season that are maximizing every minute of practice we have.

How many days a week do you practice? How are your practices divided/organized among your teams/skaters?
Our league practices twice a week. On Sundays, we have an hour of endurance practice, then our Allstars practice for 2 hours, and then the Miss B-Havers practice for 2 hours. On Tuesdays, our Allstars practice 1.5 hours and then we have league practice for 1.5 hours.

Where do you hold your public games?
We have two venues that we use to hold our public games. Usually we use the Columbia National Guard Armory, but we have also used our home rink, Skate Station USA.

Who are some of your star skaters on the track, and why?
We have a very well rounded and versatile team this year. However, our most veteran skater and Allstars Captain Holly Hunter is always ready to play any position we need her to in order to accomplish our goals. Due to teammate injuries and such, she has had to move back and forth from the blocker to jammer position a few times this season, and has been successful at both. Chucktown Bruiser is also a star blocker on the track and is a huge contributor to our defense. We also heavily rely offensively on Poison Violet. Her ability to use her strength to bust through the pack is equal to her ability to juke or jump the apex past a whole wall of opposing blockers. Recruit at Sonic folks!

Who are some “behind the scenes” skaters/members who really help your league run?
We have so many key behind the scenes folks who make our league run smoothly. Owl Gore and Rox Ann Stones have worked tirelessly to make hosting a WFTDA D1 Tournament a reality. We are also very grateful for Will Ryder, our head referee, and Loco Mofo, our Head NSO. We ask a lot of them, and they are always willing to do what they can to get us the staff we need for any event.

With one WFTDA tournament (Southern Discomfort, hosted April 16-17) already under your belt for the year, how is your league preparing to host D1 Playoffs September 9th-11th?
We learned a lot about timelines and organization from hosting Southern Discomfort. We are taking what we learned and fine tuning it to be able to host a great D1 Playoff Tournament.

What are some of your league's biggest accomplishments?
Our biggest accomplishment was becoming a part of the WFTDA in 2012! A lot of people worked really hard for a long time to get us there. We also feel a huge sense of accomplishment every year since then when we have been invited to post-season play.

Your Allstarshave made an impressive jump in rankings this year, earning a spot in the D1 playoffs; what are some of the things you've changed in 2016 to gain the competitive edge?
The return of a solid core of skaters has helped our packs to mesh better in 2016. We have also added key transfer, Erin Carrino, into our jamming rotation. She has progressed rapidly throughout the season and proven herself to be a dependable jammer.

A year ago your league made the leap to a larger facility for practices and games: what kind of work went into making that decision and how has it impacted your league? What was the response from fans?
We actually had our own practice space, but the lease ran out, and we moved back to the rink where it all started. The rink is bigger, and there is more room for drills outside the track, but we loved having our own space. Luckily, we have loyal fans that will follow us anywhere!

What do you anticipate will be challenges of hosting and competing in a tournament on your home turf? What things will be an advantage?
As you all can probably guess, hosting a tournament is a lot of work. It has proven challenging to fill all the jobs with non-charter members. Luckily we have an awesome support staff that is always willing to help. We hope that having our fans at the tournament for support and the fact that we are acclimated to the “Famously Hot” humidity will be an advantage for us.

What can you share about your co-ed junior team, the Columbia Quadquad Junior Rollers? The Columbia QuadSquad Junior Rollers are made up of girls and boys ages 8 to 18. They are some of the most supportive fans we have and are always on the sidelines at our games cheering us on! Their parents are also pretty awesome as well and always willing to help out or lend any skills or resources they may have to the league.

Who are some of your favorite sponsors? We love our sponsors! One of our favorites is Shear Indulgence, which is co-owned by former skater Star Stormer; current Allstar skater Chucktown Bruiser is also a stylist there. Shear Indulgence understands that we have to take our helmets off at some point. They keep our locks styled with the latest colors and cuts.

Do you have a special message for your fans?
To our fans- Thank you so much for your love and support for the past 9 years. We are so excited to bring WFTDA D1 Playoffs to Columbia, SC and hope you enjoy watching high level roller derby at its finest.

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Would your league like to be the WFTDA Featured League of the month? Have you had an extraordinarily successful season that you'd like to share with the wftda.com fans? If you are a full WFTDA member league and have the authorization to speak on behalf of your league, we'd love to hear from you! Or nominate your favorite league and tell us why they should be featured on wftda.com! Please contact webmaster@wftda.com.