WFTDA Releases June 30 Rankings and 2018 Playoffs and Continental Cups Seeding
It’s one of the most highly anticipated days of the year in roller derby — WFTDA Tournaments seeding day! Today, the WFTDA released the latest rankings of its member leagues, which reflect games played through June 30, 2018 and are used to determine the seeding for the roller derby postseason including WFTDA Playoffs and the new Continental Cups.
The 2018 WFTDA Continental Cups and International Playoffs and Championships tournaments showcase women’s flat track roller derby’s top athletes and teams on the track and on WFTDA.tv, creating some of the most competitive match-ups of the year.
Since the development of the WFTDA, our postseason competitive structure has continued to evolve with our ever-growing global sport. In 2015, WFTDA membership voted to restructure the postseason tournaments to provide a regional competitive structure called Continental Cups while keeping a global competitive structure intact with Playoffs and Championships. 2018 is the inaugural year for the Continental Cups. The WFTDA’s competitive events are hosted around the world with different host leagues and cities each year. Teams are assigned to tournaments using competitive “S-Curve” seeding, a structure that was also approved by WFTDA membership.
Other Important 2018 Postseason Dates
Today – Last day to save on the Pack is Here 4-pack of tickets for both Playoffs locations.
July 23 – WFTDA Championships tickets go on sale
July 31 – WFTDA.tv postseason watch passes go on sale
August 17 – The 2018 WFTDA postseason begins in Kalamazoo, Michigan for our first WFTDA Continental Cup!
November 9 – Championships start in New Orleans!
Seeding the Postseason Brackets
The 2018 postseason is organized using a competitive S-curve seeding system for all brackets. The top four ranked teams automatically received an invitation and top seeding at the International WFTDA Championships. Following this invitation, the next 24 ranked teams were seeded into two Playoffs tournaments. If a team declined their invitation, the next-ranked team was moved into their spot and a team from the Continental Cups was moved up to Playoffs. Once all the Playoffs spots were filled, the next eligible teams were seeded regionally into their respective Continental Cup. If a team declined this invitation, the next eligible team from that region was offered a spot. For information on tournament policy, including the seeding process, read more here.
This year, teams from Australia and New Zealand declined invitations to the North America West Continental Cup citing inability to finance the required international travel. WFTDA is committed to building competitive play support for that region, as well as for South America, with the hope of organizing a Continental Cup in these regions after 2019. In addition to this, teams from North America also declined invitations to the A Coruña tournament and two leagues, V-Town Derby Dames and Wasatch Roller Derby, did not meet the four sanctioned games requirement necessary to be invited to tournaments, which allowed several teams under the usual rankings cut off for Continental Cups room in the bracket to compete.
2018 WFTDA Continental Cups
The WFTDA Continental Cups are member-league run and provide a regional, bracketed competition structure based on WFTDA Rankings. The system is flexible enough to scale up as roller derby grows and changes around the world. The WFTDA will add or remove regional Cups as needed and will set up a bracket structure for each that best reflects the rankings spread of each region.
The regions are currently North America East, North America West, Europe, Central/South America, Asia Pacific, and Africa.
In 2018, WFTDA Continental Cups will be held in the following three locations:
North America East Cup: August 17-19, 2018, Kalamazoo, Michigan. Hosted by Kalamazoo Derby Darlins.
North America West Cup: August 24-26, 2018, Omaha, Nebraska. Hosted by Omaha Rollergirls.
European Cup: October 27-28, 2018, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Hosted by Birmingham Blitz Dames.
Regions without a Cup are assigned to the closest region: Asia Pacific to the North America West Cup, South America to the North America East Cup, and Africa to the European Cup. In 2018, the North America Cups are 12-team brackets and the European Cup is an 8-team bracket.
Tickets for the North America East and North America West WFTDA Continental Cups are now on sale. Tickets for the European Continental Cup will go on sale shortly. For more information on Continental Cups visit WFTDA.com/Cups.
2018 International WFTDA Playoffs
For the first WFTDA Playoffs weekend, a new and dynamic WFTDA Apprentice league, As Brigantias Roller Derby, will be hosting in their seaside city of A Coruña, Spain. The second Playoffs of the season shift down south when the 2012 International WFTDA Championships hosts, the Atlanta Rollergirls, bring the WFTDA community to Atlanta, Georgia once again.
Playoffs tickets are on sale now, and today is the very last day to save an additional $15 on the Pack is Here 4-pack of three-day tickets.
The Top 4 Teams in the World Are Already Going to Championships
The WFTDA is excited to announce the following top four teams receive a bye directly to the 2018 International WFTDA Championships:
- Victorian Roller Derby League
- Rose City Rollers
- Gotham Girls Roller Derby
- Denver Roller Derby
These four teams will be joining the WFTDA, our hosts Big Easy Rollergirls, and hundreds of derby fans in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 9-11 at the Lakefront Arena.
Tickets to the 2018 International WFTDA Championships go on sale July 23, and our WFTDA.tv postseason watch pass, which includes WFTDA Continental Cups and the International Playoffs and Championships series, goes on sale July 31.
WFTDA International Playoffs
A Coruña, Spain
Aug. 31-Sept. 2
Palacio de los Deportes de la Ciudad Deportiva de Riazor
Hosted by As Brigantias Roller Derby
Buy Tickets
Download Bracket – Letter
Download Bracket – A5
- Arch Rival Roller Derby
- Angel City Derby
- Crime City Rollers
- Rainy City Roller Derby
- Helsinki Roller Derby
- Santa Cruz Derby Girls
- 2×4 Roller Derby
- Philly Roller Derby
- Stockholm Roller Derby
- Sailor City Rollers
- Paris Rollergirls
- Detroit Roller Derby
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Sept. 21-23, 2018
Georgia International Convention Center
Hosted by Atlanta Rollergirls
Buy Tickets
Download Bracket
- Texas Rollergirls
- Montréal Roller Derby
- Jacksonville Roller Derby
- Atlanta Rollergirls
- London Rollergirls
- Sun State Roller Derby
- Bay Area Derby
- Rat City Roller Derby
- Windy City Rollers
- Queen City Roller Girls
- Ann Arbor Derby Dimes
- Bear City Roller Derby
WFTDA Continental Cups
North America East – Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
Aug. 17-19, 2018
Wings Event Center
Hosted by Kalamazoo Derby Darlins
Buy Tickets
Download Bracket
- Boston Roller Derby
- Mad Rollin’ Dolls
- Charlottesville Derby Dames
- Blue Ridge Rollergirls
- Team United Women’s Roller Derby
- Columbia Roller Derby
- Royal City Roller Derby
- Charm City Roller Girls
- North Star Roller Derby
- Dub City Roller Derby
- Ohio Roller Derby
- Grand Raggidy Roller Derby
North America West – Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Aug. 24-26, 2018
Ralston Arena
Hosted by Omaha Rollergirls
Buy Tickets
Download Bracket
- Rocky Mountain Rollergirls
- Canberra Roller Derby League
- Tucson Roller Derby
- Terminal City Rollergirls
- Calgary Roller Derby Association
- E-Ville Roller Derby
- Jet City Roller Derby
- Happy Valley Derby Darlins
- Boulder County Bombers
- No Coast Derby Girls
- Pikes Peak Derby Dames
- Crossroads City Derby
Europe – Birmingham, United Kingdom
Oct. 27-28, 2018
Hosted by Birmingham Blitz Dames
Download Bracket – Letter
Download Bracket – A5
- Kallio Rolling Rainbow
- Dublin Roller Derby
- Dock City Rollers
- Tiger Bay Brawlers
- Central City Roller Derby
- Birmingham Blitz Dames
- Newcastle Roller Girls
- Middlesbrough Roller Derby
The 2018 postseason begins August 17 in Kalamazoo. Brackets for all of the Playoffs and other details about the WFTDA’s biggest events of the year are available at WFTDA Tournament Central.