Dallas, TX

by Shelly Shankya

The battle for seventh began with Stockholm Roller Derby of Stockholm, Sweden (#5) taking an early lead against the Sun State Roller Girls of Brisbane, Australia (#7). The fully international game – the fourth of the tournament – featured swift blocking and powerful jamming from the two teams, yet both teams dropped a seeding position at the game’s conclusion.

Photo by David Houghton

With Stockholm jammers picking up lead status in the first five jams, Sun State had major ground to regain, and the opportunity came when Stockholm jammer Mad Maloony committed a track cut, giving Jambi the chance at a power jam. Her point accrual was made that much more substantial by the blocking offense of the Sun State Swarm, headed by captain Rose Ruin. The footing that Jambi gained for Australia, however, was lost in the preceding jam when Lady Killer back-blocked Swedish blocker Blow Me, sending Lil’ Slinky on a power jam that resulted in 20 points.

“I love skating,” Lil’ Slinky said. “I’ve been skating since I was a small child, and I’ve been doing roller derby for three years. My father is a hockey coach, so that’s why I started skating. All of us in the north of Sweden love to skate. I didn’t think skating these three days would be as difficult as it was. It took a lot of endurance.”

Sun State jammed eight different skaters during the first half, showcasing the depth of their bench, while Stockholm stuck to a strict three-jammer rotation, indicating their reliance on the jammers’ endurance. And while Sun State inched closer to the women in blue – at one point getting to within 7 points, 63-70 – Stockholm refused to waiver despite multiple blocker penalties. Jammer endurance and reliance payed off for Stockholm, as a 51-1 point run put Stockholm securely back in the lead going into half. Sun State trailed by 57 points, 121-64. The teams were lopsided on penalties for the half, however; Stockholm had 24, and Sun State had only 16.

“We spread our penalties out on too few skaters,” Slinky said. “It took a lot for us to skate because we had to keep putting skaters with penalties on the track. In one game yesterday, Thunder played for maybe 15-minutes straight, and that is hard to do.”

Photo by Duane Baker

Blocker penalties continued to be a problem for Stockholm Roller Derby as the game progressed in the second period, and jamming became even more of a practice in endurance as Panika De Hex went down in the sixth jam, leaving the heavy lifting to Mad Maloony and Lil’ Slinky for Stockholm. Maloony went to the penalty box for two straight jams, once on a forearm and once on a track cut, leaving Sun State jammer SX and Jambi to score 23 points. But for Stockholm the game was about maintaining the lead they created in the first period. The closest Sun State creeped was a 46-point differential in the middle of the half when Jambi completed an apex jump that took Stockholm by surprise.

Panika De Hex came back to the track after leaving for an injury, which gave the two jammers from Stockholm a brief respite. At the same time that Panika came back, blocker CrackHer fouled out with 6:53 left in the game, taking the 11-person Stockholm bench down to 10. From that point on, the exchange between the two teams was for a few points, here and there, though neither team took a large advantage throughout the remaining minutes.

“Coming into this tournament playing Rat City Rollers (#4) was our biggest focus, and our loss to them brought us greater focus and inspiration as the weekend went on. We’re glad we got to play so many new teams,” Slinky said.

Stockholm fell two seeding positions, from #5 to #7.

Sun State fell one seeding position, from #7 to #8.

FINAL SCORE

Stockholm Roller Derby 210
Sun State Roller Girls 146