Resurrection Places Third in National Championship

The Resurrection Roller Girls, one of Sonoma County's top competitive women's flat-track roller derby league, has been named third best in the nation following a rock-solid performance at the USARS National Championship held this past weekend at the Fresno Convention Center.

"Resurrection played a phenomenal game!," championship announcers said. "Defensively, there may not be a more sound team here than RRG . . . RRG functions as a unit. They just owned the track!"

USA Roller Sports is the national governing body of competitive roller sports (inline skating & roller skating) in the United States, and is recognized by the International Roller Sports Federation & the United States Olympic Committee.

In August 2012, USARS held regional roller derby tournaments under a newly-designed rule set geared for qualifying roller derby as a competitive sport in the Olympics.

Though for the past two years, RRG has trained and competed under an entirely different rule set governed by the Women's Flat Track Derby Association, the league jumped at the opportunity to learn the new USARS rules set.

RRG quickly established an enhanced training schedule to ready themselves to compete in the USARS Southwestern Regional Tournament held in September, and it paid off.

RRG took second place at Regionals, earning the league a guaranteed spot in the National Tournament, and accolades from commentators and Officials who characterized one of RRG's winning bouts a "textbook example" of how the USARS' roller derby rule set should be played.

At the National Tournament last weekend, eight teams from five different states battled it out over three days of grueling, bracketed competitive bouts. RRG competed in winning bouts against Birmingham Roller Derby twice, with scores of 224-24, and 165-26; a single loss to the San Diego Starlettes, final score 104-128; and a final, thrilling victory against Port City Roller Girls, that cemented RRG's third place medal with a score of 124-84.

This final match was characterized by announcers as "some of the best derby seen all year!,"  they said.

Founded in February 2011,  the Resurrection Roller Girls has become widely recognized statewide and nationally in less than two years.

Many of their competitive bouts have been broadcast through live-streaming video online on Derby News Network.

With a home training location based at Cal Skate in Rohnert Park, the league participates in bouts at home and away, as well as in regional and national tournaments.

RRG is comprised of two adult women's teams, the Cinderollas and the Combustin' Betties, and a junior team, the Fallin' Angels. The training season runs from February into November each year, and the adult teams practice three nights per week.

The league also offers a Monday night "Back to Track" Basics training program for interested novices and several introductory boot camps. Its first Boot Camp of 2013 will be held January 21-31; registration information can be found at www.resurrectionrollergirls.org.

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