Join our Mailing List!
Please click the link below to sign up for your community paper mailing list. Stay up to date with all the events going on in your community as well as the latest news.Sign Up Today!
Players have seen league grow to new heights
By Bill Knust
Most of the veterans of the Kansas City Roller Warriors league cannot believe the growth the league has shown. Not only has the league grown in size, it has also grown in speed, skill, technique and ranking.
After upsetting the No. 1-ranked Rat City Rollergirls of Seattle 89-85 at the Texas Shootout in Austin, Texas, the Roller Warriors were named national champions, and have held the No. 1 national ranking since October 2007.
It is tough for many league veterans to believe they have come this far. It was not that long ago they were a ragtag bunch, and Shawnie Nix has the tapes to prove it. The menacing blocker known as Patti Wackin has been a fixture with the league from the beginning.
“I still have the videos of when we first started,” Nix said. “To go back and look at those videos of where we are now and where we first started, it makes me feel good. It makes me feel good to be able to represent the girls in this league so well on a national level. It makes you want to do good, and not let them down.”
The league is made up of four teams, the defending champion Dreadnaught Dorothys, the Black-Eye Susans, The Knockouts and Victory Vixens, and is affiliated with the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. The WFTDA’s top teams are comprised from 36 Class A leagues. Each league creates its own all-star team, and those teams compete in national competitions.
The local league has gotten so much attention it has started to get players who have moved to the area just to compete. Rebekah Allen (Ivana Clobber) moved from Boston for a chance to make the all-star team. When she earned a spot this year with the squad, she said it was a special moment.
“It’s a dream come true for me,” Allen said. “I moved here from Boston with the hopes of making this team. To have been accepted into this league, finding a home team and then being able to try out for the all-stars is a dream come true for me. Being rostered for an all-star game is just unbelievable. It is just beyond my greatest expectations. I wanted to see how far I could go.”
To make the all-star team for KCRW, the players must go through a tryout process.
“Anybody who tried out, or anyone who didn’t try out but attended all the practices, can vote,” Jennifer Pych (Bruz-Her) said. “The top 20 vote-getters make the team. It is the most skilled players (making the team). People know who the most skilled players are.”
Pych is the captain of the KCRW all-stars. She is also the captain of the Dreadnaught Dorothys.
Now, the league has reached the point where it is a bit pickier on the type of player it allows to participate.
“It used to be where anyone that was interested could come out and skate,” Kristin McFarland (Eclipse) said. “We have to cap the league now because we don’t have enough room. Plus, to have girls that don’t know how to skate on the track with girls who do know how to skate can be really dangerous.”
McFarland said she is glad to have seen the league grow to a place where it can be more selective, but it is also tough to make the cuts.
“It is also kind of heartbreaking because a lot of us, if we had tried out for the league today, might not have made it,” McFarland said. “It is a little bit harder to get in now. When we first started, everyone was accepted and they would teach you. It is bittersweet because we want to be all inclusive, but we can’t.”
The tryout process is opened to anyone who is interested.
“We have tryouts once a year. What happens is they will come to a few practices and there is a clinic,” McFarland said. “The captains, who are already chosen for the next year, they are there watching and working with the girls. Then those girls who are trying out have to take a scrimmage eligibility test. If they pass they are in the league, and we put them in a draft.”
The next Try Out Skate Clinic is not until 10 a.m. on October 12 at Winnwood Skate Center. Official tryouts are Jan. 4, 2009, beginning at 9 a.m. at Winnwood.
For more information check out the league’s Web site http://kcrollerwarriors.com.
Sports writer Bill Knust can be reached at 389-6605 or billknust@npgco.com.
printable version
e-mail this story
After upsetting the No. 1-ranked Rat City Rollergirls of Seattle 89-85 at the Texas Shootout in Austin, Texas, the Roller Warriors were named national champions, and have held the No. 1 national ranking since October 2007.
It is tough for many league veterans to believe they have come this far. It was not that long ago they were a ragtag bunch, and Shawnie Nix has the tapes to prove it. The menacing blocker known as Patti Wackin has been a fixture with the league from the beginning.
“I still have the videos of when we first started,” Nix said. “To go back and look at those videos of where we are now and where we first started, it makes me feel good. It makes me feel good to be able to represent the girls in this league so well on a national level. It makes you want to do good, and not let them down.”
The league is made up of four teams, the defending champion Dreadnaught Dorothys, the Black-Eye Susans, The Knockouts and Victory Vixens, and is affiliated with the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. The WFTDA’s top teams are comprised from 36 Class A leagues. Each league creates its own all-star team, and those teams compete in national competitions.
The local league has gotten so much attention it has started to get players who have moved to the area just to compete. Rebekah Allen (Ivana Clobber) moved from Boston for a chance to make the all-star team. When she earned a spot this year with the squad, she said it was a special moment.
“It’s a dream come true for me,” Allen said. “I moved here from Boston with the hopes of making this team. To have been accepted into this league, finding a home team and then being able to try out for the all-stars is a dream come true for me. Being rostered for an all-star game is just unbelievable. It is just beyond my greatest expectations. I wanted to see how far I could go.”
To make the all-star team for KCRW, the players must go through a tryout process.
“Anybody who tried out, or anyone who didn’t try out but attended all the practices, can vote,” Jennifer Pych (Bruz-Her) said. “The top 20 vote-getters make the team. It is the most skilled players (making the team). People know who the most skilled players are.”
Pych is the captain of the KCRW all-stars. She is also the captain of the Dreadnaught Dorothys.
Now, the league has reached the point where it is a bit pickier on the type of player it allows to participate.
“It used to be where anyone that was interested could come out and skate,” Kristin McFarland (Eclipse) said. “We have to cap the league now because we don’t have enough room. Plus, to have girls that don’t know how to skate on the track with girls who do know how to skate can be really dangerous.”
McFarland said she is glad to have seen the league grow to a place where it can be more selective, but it is also tough to make the cuts.
“It is also kind of heartbreaking because a lot of us, if we had tried out for the league today, might not have made it,” McFarland said. “It is a little bit harder to get in now. When we first started, everyone was accepted and they would teach you. It is bittersweet because we want to be all inclusive, but we can’t.”
The tryout process is opened to anyone who is interested.
“We have tryouts once a year. What happens is they will come to a few practices and there is a clinic,” McFarland said. “The captains, who are already chosen for the next year, they are there watching and working with the girls. Then those girls who are trying out have to take a scrimmage eligibility test. If they pass they are in the league, and we put them in a draft.”
The next Try Out Skate Clinic is not until 10 a.m. on October 12 at Winnwood Skate Center. Official tryouts are Jan. 4, 2009, beginning at 9 a.m. at Winnwood.
For more information check out the league’s Web site http://kcrollerwarriors.com.
Sports writer Bill Knust can be reached at 389-6605 or billknust@npgco.com.