Preview: Spring Roll (MRDA Tournament)

By Justice Feelgood Marshall, Last updated Wed May 11 2011 1:20am

FORT WAYNE, IN -- Hot on the heels of reorganizing and rebranding, the Men's Roller Derby Association (formerly the Men's Derby Coalition) joins forces with the Fort Wayne Derby Girls to kick off their 2011 season in earnest with the largest men's event to date in Spring Roll 2011. Last year, the single-day two-track event featured women's bouts on one track and men's on the other; this year, Saturday remains split but action will continue on Sunday with MRDA bouts on both tracks all day long.

DNN will be streaming all bouts from both tracks at Spring Roll on Saturday May 14th and Sunday May 15th. Join us all weekend long for whistle to whistle coverage.

The 2010 MDC season only involved 4 teams, but the numbers nearly triple this year with 11 teams in the organization. All but one (Central Mass Roller Derby, who were a late drop) will be present this weekend to play the three MRDA-sanctioned games required for ranking in the organization. Six teams will qualify to go to the 2011 MRDA championship on October 22 in Old Bethpage, New York; MRDA leagues will vote on an initial ranking following the Spring Roll and will meet again in early September to take the rest of the year's bouts into consideration for the invitation vote.

For most teams, the action this weekend will represent the majority of their MRDA-sanctioned bouts before the tournament ranking; for a few teams, it will represent the entirety of their sanctioned bouts, so all 10 teams have a lot on the line here.

The MRDA's marquee matchup comes on Saturday night at 6pm as the lead-in to Fort Wayne's WFTDA-sanctioned bout against Bleeding Heartland; last year's Spring Roll victors, Puget Sound, will face off against last year's MDC champions, the New York Shock Exchange, in what effectively amounts to something of a title-consolidation match. New York has never lost a game in their 4 year history; Puget Sound has been undefeated since late 2009.

There are plenty of other particularly fascinating first-time matchups this weekend as well: Magic City goes up against Pioneer Valley, Dallas gets a long-awaited crack at New York, and Harm City and Twin Cities battle after just missing each other at last year's Spring Roll. Notable rematches include Puget Sound and St. Louis (who played a 1-point, last-jam classic to finish the men's side of last year's Spring Roll) and Harm City and Dallas (Dallas won by 19 in the 3rd place bout last year). And Magic City vs. Dallas features two teams built on jam-skating backgrounds in what's likely to be a showy, exciting matchup.

Over the jump, rosters and backgrounds of the ten MRDA teams competing in this historic event.