Dallas, TX

By Shelly Shankya

Knee-down starts, double-whistles, and one-minute penalties: both Philly Roller Derby (#3) and Rat City Rollergirls (#4) used these strategies the last time they played each other in March 2011, four years ago. While they’ve each seen various changes and incarnations of roller derby in their tenure as leagues, they met up for a spot at the 2015 International WFTDA Championships in the hotly contested game for third place.

Photo by Duane Baker

From the first whistle, Rat City put Philly on the defensive, scoring the first points, and maintaining a strong, positive attitude. Captain Lacey Ramon gave high-fives to all skaters on the track, and smiles shone on each of the Rat City skaters’ face as the team went on an early 28-1 point run over their Philly rivals. Philly, on the other hand, had few blockers on the track with which to share high fives, as all but one of the skaters were in the penalty box. This early penalty trouble made point scoring difficult, as Rat City blockers M. Jensen and Leanne Evans stifled even the swiftest of Philly skaters, including jammer VanEssa “V-Diva” Sites.

“We’re a new team this year,” Lacey Ramon said. “We spent the entire season re-building, and we’ve got 10 new skaters on our all-star roster, eight of which played this weekend. We’ve trained hard, and the changes to the game doesn't matter; what matters is the changes we’ve made to our team.”

Philly came within eight points of Rat City after jammer Xena for Rat City and Herrmann Monster for Philly shared a 9-point exchange; Xena used the shared time on the track to burn penalty time in the box for her blockers. This tactic re-appeared in the final jam of the first period, only this time it was in Philly’s favor. Jammer V-Diva forced Xena to the outside of the track and tried to pull her around the track to the front of the pack. Play came to a literal halt as Xena refused to follow V-Diva, and the Philly jammer stood, hands on her hips, at the apex between turns one and two. By the time the clock wound down, all blockers were released from the penalty box. The point spread at half was 22 points in favor of Rat City: 87-65.

Photo by Donalee Eiri

Coming off of the half, Rat City used the momentum they gained in those opening jams to continue rolling through the rest of the game. Pack speed was swifter than other games during the tournament, yet the skaters failed to show fatigue; the speed showed similarities to previous years’ play tactics. The incorporation of near-stopped blocking made the speed look even more impressive. Rat City began incorporating star passes to alleviate not receiving lead jammer status and to stop the point scoring potential from Philly. Jammers for the ladies in teal did not use the star pass tactic during the game’s entirety.

“We watched their footage and we watched their game play to prepare for this game,” Ramon said. “I think we were an unknown for them because of our relatively new roster.”

Coming down to the last jams of the game, Philly mounted a comeback due to two jammer penalties from veteran Kayla Gaska; having V-Diva on the track didn’t hurt, either, as she scored 13 points, bringing the point differential to 30. With only :27 left on the clock, Philly used their remaining timeout and official review for a two-minute break, and the team fielded V-Diva for a back-to-back jam. Kayla Gaska came out of the penalty box and made it through the pack, though, virtually neutralizing the power jam opportunity. The game ended with tears on both sides of the penalty box: Philly for the end of their season and Rat City for the win that secured their spot at Championships in November.

“We’ve been preparing for a chance at Champs for the entire season, and now we’ve got an extra two months,” Ramon said. “We’re ready.”

Rat City Roller Girls (#4) gain one seed to end at #3. Philly Roller Derby (#3) drop one seed and exit the tournament at #4.

FINAL SCORE

Rat City Roller Girls (#4) 178
Philly Roller Derby (#3) 154