Calgary Roller Derby Wins 2019 WFTDA Continental Cup – North America West
The 2019 WFTDA Continental Cup – North America West kicked of the tournament season in Orem, Utah, August 9-11. Hosted by the Happy Valley Derby Darlins (who also played as the #5 Seed team), the tournament featured 12 teams from the western side of the United States and Canada, as well as eastern parts of Australia (read more about Continental Cup region assignments). Calgary Roller Derby (Seed #1) took home the gold, while Sun State Roller Derby (Seed #3) came in Second Place, and E-Ville Roller Derby (Seed #3) came in Third.
The North America West Continental Cup was three days of fast action, grueling walls, and leaping jammers. It boasted super close games, and big wins (that never seemed like blowouts if you ignored the scoreboard). Although in most cases the higher-seeded team won—in some cases quite decisively—every game was intense and exciting.
On Friday, Team United Women’s Roller Derby (Seed #8) and North Star Roller Derby (Seed #9) kicked the weekend off with a nail biter. The final score was 179-161 with the win going to Team United. On Saturday, one of the closest scoring games also featured North Star, this time coming out victorious against Red Stick Roller Derby (Seed #11) with a final score of 220-209.
Happy Valley Derby Darlins are the true embodiment of Team Roller Derby. They are cheering for all the competing teams, officials, medics, announcers, and even “table people” aka the dias. They even made up a special cheer for Dilli Gaf’s 400th game this morning. 🥰 #Talk2Wftda
— Eff Bomb (@effffbomb) August 11, 2019
Happy Valley and Adelaide Roller Derby (Seed #10) were the only teams to upset a higher-seeded team. Happy Valley won against Seed #4 Rocky Mountain Rollergirls (150-155) on Friday night after they also beat V-Town Roller Derby (Seed #12) in their first game of the tournament (212-82). Rocky had led the entire game and it wasn’t until the last two minutes that Happy Valley overtook Rocky. Adelaide won their first game of the tournament against Seed #7 Jet City Roller Derby (118-183).
Third Place was taken by E-Ville Roller Derby (Seed #3) with their win over Happy Valley (222-132). At halftime, the game was very close but E-Ville quickly pulled ahead of Happy Valley in the second and went home with the bronze medal.
The championship game on Sunday between Calgary Roller Derby (Seed #1) and Sun State Roller Derby (Seed #2) was the epitome of Continental Cup edge-of-your-seat gameplay. In the last minutes of the game, Sun State, who had the shortest bench of all of the teams, came oh-so-close to upsetting #1 Seed Calgary. However, a Sun State jammer penalty in the final minute gave Kris Myass enough space to wait out the clock and clinch the gold medal for Calgary with a two-point win (159-157).
Calgary’s Kris Myass, also a member of Team Indigenous, was named Tournament MVP. Tournament MVPs are recognized for their work off the track as leaders in the sport as well as their impact on their community.
Three people correctly predicted the outcome of 15/16 games in the 2019 WFTDA Bracket Challenge by Derby on Toast and sponsored by WFTDA.tv, and Yelmet was randomly selected as the winner. All three will receive a WFTDA.tv 2019 Full Postseason Bundle (to include all archives), and Yelmet will be entered to win two VIP tickets to 2019 International Championships in Montréal.
Congratulations to all the participating teams, and thanks to all the officials, announcers, photographers, and other volunteers who made the weekend a success. Special thanks to Happy Valley Derby Darlins for being amazing hosts.
Video archives are currently available at wftda.tv and on the WFTDA Twitch channel. Learn more about accessing the 2019 tournament archives.
The 2019 Cups continue this weekend, August 23-25, with the 2019 WFTDA Contintental Cup – North America East in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA, hosted by Dutchland Derby Rollers. Visit the tournament website for tickets and other info, or buy your wftda.tv watch pass if you can’t attend in person.
Tournament Results
First Place – Calgary Roller Derby
Second Place – Sun State Roller Derby
Third Place – E-Ville Roller Derby
Fourth Place – Happy Valley Derby Darlins
Final Bracket
