Playoffs & Championships

By Vile Love It

If you’ve been watching the 2015 International WFTDA Playoffs on WFTDA.tv or scouring the archives to find the one game you haven’t watched yet, you might not remember the names Sweet Willy T, A.K. 40oz, Plastic Patrick, or Lightning Slim, but you are likely to recognize their voices. These WFTDA announcers are the ultimate derby geeks. They get to love roller derby out loud to everyone within earshot; all at the same time.

By Brooklyn Defiance
via Derby Central

Helsinki Roller Derby will travel to North America for the third time in 18 months (fourth for those who played for Team Finland during the Blood and Thunder World Cup) to compete in the 2015 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs in Omaha, Oct 2-4. As of last year, Helsinki was grossly under-ranked, as is common for many European teams, at #137 in the WFTDA. In order to remedy that, the team traveled extensively: twice to the U.S., once to Malmö, Sweden, to participate in the inaugural WFTDA European Tournament, and most recently to the UK where they took on London in the first sanctioned game between two D1 European teams.

by Shelly Shankya

It’s been two weeks since the announcement that WFTDA.tv partnered with ESPN3 to broadcast the D1 and D2 Third Place and Championship games on Nov. 8. The rest of tournament season, however, will be given to viewers via WFTDA.tv on a pay-per-view platform.

Brooklyn Defiance
via Derby Central

The 2015 International WFTDA D1 Playoffs in Jacksonville, Florida could potentially end with a showdown between 1 seed London Rollergirls (#4) and 2 seed Denver Roller Derby (#5).

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Over the next six weeks, the top 60 teams in the WFTDA will compete for coveted spots in 2015’s D1 and D2 Championship tournaments in Minneapolis, MN. This year’s Playoffs season includes teams from eight countries around the world, including Australia, Germany, Finland, Sweden and the UK! With more than 100 games between Division 1 and Division 2, there will be a lot of action to cover. To make sure you don’t miss a beat, we’ve put together a handy guide to our tournament coverage.