Roller Derby In France

There was a storm brewing in the Atlantic as Team Canada flew into Nantes, France for the 2014 Super Brawl recently held Feb. 15, but it wasn’t what you might think.

Fourteen elite roller derby athletes had been chosen to represent our great nation and they had flown through the night for a chance to show the world what Canadians are made of.

Three of those 14 skaters were TCRG’s own Evada Peron, Kim Janna, and Kim Mackenzie.

Team England and Team France kicked off the one-day event. Local fans filled the bleachers and roared their approval as their wily French jammers slipped past the English defense.

Under the stadium lights, framed by the flags from all three nations, the French team threw themselves into the battle and for the first 15 minutes the score went back and forth between the two teams.

Despite a strong start, however, Team England’s tight pack work soon ground down the French offense and, with a couple of power jams to help them out, the English score crept further upwards. Final score 385-54.

Next was the grudge match. Team England and Team Canada had last met at the Blood and Thunder World Cup in 2011, where the Canadians pulled out the win that qualified them to play in the finals against Team USA. With the next world cup on the horizon for December 2014, both teams were looking to test the other.

The game started off well for the Canadian team, holding the English scoreless as the blocking pack kept the pace to a crawl. The first period saw both teams exhibit strong teamwork and aggressive jamming as the score inched ahead with neither pulling out a significant lead.

However, the last few minutes saw the Canadian blockers heading to the box, which set the pace for the second period. With fewer and fewer bodies on the track, the English team were able to take advantage of their greater numbers and run away with the points.

Despite some impressive micro-pack blocking from the Canadian team, they were not able to stop the bleeding and the game ended with a 259-145 win for Team England.

After a disappointing game against Team England, the Canadians were itching to prove themselves against the French. But when the first whistle blew, it seemed like they had underestimated the local team.

It took the Canadian team the first 10 minutes to find a way to contain the explosive speed of the French jammers, who were successfully blasting through the pack and stealing lead.

With some new pack formations and stronger bracing, they finally managed to slow the French down and allow their Canadian jammers to rack up the points. Final score 460-96.

The 2014 Team Canada Super Brawl Roster:

Chasing Amy (Montreal Roller Derby)

Demanda Lashing (Montreal Roller Derby)

Evada Peron (Terminal City Rollergirls)

Georgia W. Tush (Montreal Roller Derby)

Heavy Flo (Philly Rollergirls)

Kim Janna (Terminal City Rollergirls)

KonichiWOW (Windy City Rollers)

Mackenzie (Terminal City Rollergirls)

Maya Mangleyou (Boston Derby Dames)

Nasher the Smasher (Toronto Roller Derby)

Sarah Hipel (Texas Rollergirls)

Smack Daddy (Montreal Roller Derby)

Surgical Strike (Montreal Roller Derby)

USS DenterHerPrize (Detroit Derby Girls)

Special thanks to Terminal City member Lulodemon for sending this over.

For more info visit http://www.terminalcityrollergirls.com/