London Brawling debuts at East Region Playoffs

by Shelly Shankya

London Rollergirls, #10 in the East, have done more than travel “over the pond” to make it to Nightmare on 95, WFTDA’s 2011 East Region Playoffs slated for Sept. 16-19. They were the first European league to become a full member WFTDA league, and the first to qualify for the WFTDA Playoffs.

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“We became Apprentice members of WFTDA in November of 2009 and graduated to full membership in June 2010, but we've been around since April 2006,” Fox Sake, London Rollergirls’ league director, said.

To prepare for bracketed play, London recently hosted the Anarchy in the UK tournament in summer 2011, hosting teams from across Europe, as well as few teams from the United States.

“Hosting Anarchy in the UK was invaluable in teaching us how to handle playing two very tough games in one day, and we've been working hard on our fitness since then,” Sake said. “We know what we're in for, and we're as ready as we'll ever be!”

Currently 0-4 in WFTDA-sanctioned play, London recognizes the challenges that await them in Baltimore, Md. However, the team remains resilient, and hopes to come away from the tournament having learned from other teams in the region.

“We are just excited to be here!” Sake said. “This has been a goal for us for so long that just getting to playoffs feels like such a massive achievement. We're incredibly proud to continue to blaze the trail for the UK and European leagues. We get very few games against teams at or above our level, so getting to play four games this weekend is super exciting in itself. We know we'll learn a lot.”

London’s first game at the tournament is against Carolina Rollergirls, #7 in the East. While London hasn’t been successful with WFTDA-sanctioned play yet, the team anticipates keeping things close.

“We think it will be tight,” Sake said. “It's hard to judge as Carolina's 2011 schedule has been so different from ours, so we really have little idea of how it will go, but we think we can give them a very good game.”

Play for London starts early on Sept. 16, but that doesn’t mark the start of their journey to Nightmare on 95. It’s the culmination of what they’ve set as a goal for several years.

“Our team flew out on Monday, (Sept.) 12th to give us plenty of time to adjust to the time zone difference and also to play a little warm-up game or two with some friends,” Sake said. “Fundraising has been pretty much nonstop since we found out we made it in! We've been running boot camps almost every weekend. We have also had some very generous donations from other UK leagues. Some skaters from other UK leagues are even flying out to support us!”