Boulder County Roller Derby (BCRD) is a women's flat track
roller derby
Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States.
Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...
league based in
Longmont, Colorado
The City of Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder and north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.
Longmont ...
. Founded in 2011 as the Boulder County Bombers, Boulder County is a member of the
Women's Flat Track Derby Association
The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is the international governing body for the sport of women's flat track roller derby, and association of leagues around the world. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Co ...
(WFTDA).
League History
The league was founded in mid-2011 by Courtney MacArthur,
known as "Bev O'Lution" (and also as "Super Cali 'Agilistic' Expialidocious"),
[Bashing into Boulder]
, ''Boulder Weekly'', September 8, 2011 a former skater with the
Rocky Mountain Rollergirls
Rocky Mountain Roller Derby (RMRD) is a flat-track roller derby league based in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 2004, Rocky Mountain is a founding member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), and has qualified for WFTDA Playoffs every ...
who had moved to nearby
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...
.
The first practice attracted 35 potential skaters,
and by 2013 the league had around 100 members, and was also launching a
junior roller derby
Junior roller derby is the sport of roller derby, modified for children and adolescents up to 18 years of age. The sport is played in both modified-contact, known as "positional blocking," and full-contact approaches, to facilitate safety across m ...
program.
[Pam Mellskog,]
Boulder County Bombers bond couple in fresh ways
, ''Longmont Times-Call
The ''Longmont Daily Times-Call'', known under different combinations of these names, is a daily newspaper published for Longmont, Colorado, United States. It carries local, regional, national and world news and republishes most of its stories from ...
'', August 23, 2013
In 2012, MacArthur's husband, J.D. Hemminger, joined the league as its coach, utilising approaches learned from
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
.
The following year, the Bombers won the Colorado Cup tournament. MacArthur and Hemminger left Colorado in 2014.
Currently, the head coach for Boulder County Roller Derby is John Leboeuf-Little, known as Papa Whiskey. He coaches the charter team, the All Stars, and the B level team, the Bombshells. His assistant coach is Matthew Williams, also known as Lord Voldematt. A C level travel team, the Screaming Mimis, was added in 2017. The Screaming Mimis and home teams are coached by Sydney Cooper Mortensen and Kaylee Hart, also known as Catastrophoebe and Bash Tag, respectively.
BCRD has three home teams who bout against each other during the season. The original two home teams are the Shrap Nellies and Daisy Nukes. The Night Witches were added to the home team ranks in 2017.
The league's junior roller derby team, the Bottle Rockets, play by the JRDA ruleset.
League Structure
Travel Teams
* All-Stars (A)
* Bombshells (B)
* Screaming Mimis (C)
Home Teams
* Shrap Nellies
* Daisy Nukes
* Night Witches
Junior Team
* Bottle Rockets
WFTDA competition
Boulder County was accepted as a member of the
Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice
The Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice is the program affiliate of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). In operation from 2009 until early 2019, the Apprentice Program served to onboard new member leagues into the WFTDA. ...
Program in July 2012,
[WFTDA Accepts 35 Apprentice Leagues]
", WFTDA, 16 July 2012 and it became a full WFTDA member in September 2013.
Boulder County first qualified for WFTDA Playoffs in 2014, as the sixth seed at the
Division 2 tournament in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. There they lost their opening game to
Rideau Valley Roller Girls, followed by a narrow loss to
Demolition City Roller Derby
Demolition City Roller Derby (DCRD) is a women's flat-track roller derby league in Evansville, Indiana, and is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
History and organization
DCRD became Evansville's first flat-track rolle ...
, before defeating
Grand Raggidy Roller Girls
Grand Raggidy Roller Derby is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 2005, the league is a founding member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
History
The league was founded as "Gra ...
244–172 to claim ninth place.
In 2015, Boulder County returned to Division 2 Playoffs as the seventh seed in Detroit, where they dropped their first two games to
Bear City Roller Derby
Bear City Roller Derby (BCRD) is a flat track roller derby league based in Berlin. Founded in 2008, Bear City is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
History
The league was founded as the Berlin Bombshells, although it n ...
and
Wasatch Roller Derby
Wasatch Roller Derby (WRD) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Founded in 2008, Wasatch is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
History and organization
Originally emerging from the ...
, before beating the
Brewcity Bruisers
The Brewcity Bruisers is a women's flat-track roller derby league based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 2005, the league played their tenth season in 2016. The Bruisers are a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
History ...
232–147 to again finish in ninth place.
In 2016, Boulder County returned again to Division 2 Playoffs, this time as the eighth seed in Wichita. Boulder County opened with a 162–82 win over ninth-seeded
Chicago Outfit Roller Derby
Chicago Outfit Roller Derby (commonly referred to as The Outfit) was a women's flat-track roller derby league based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 2007, the Chicago Outfit was a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
In 20 ...
, but then lost in the quarterfinals to
Jet City Rollergirls
Jet City Roller Derby (JCRD) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Everett, Washington. Founded in 2006, Jet City is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
History
Jet City was founded as Jet City Rollergirl ...
175–160. Boulder County then narrowly beat the
Kansas City Roller Warriors
The Kansas City Roller Warriors (KCRW) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Kansas City, Kansas that was founded in 2004. The members of the league are split into four home teams that play within the league and two travel teams th ...
201–200,
and
Houston Roller Derby
Houston Roller Derby (HRD) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Houston, Texas. HRD was founded in early 2004, and is a founding member league of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
History
Originally formed in earl ...
184–181 to win fifth place - and in defeating second-seeded Houston became the lowest-ranked team to defeat a two seed in WFTDA Playoff history.
Rankings
References
{{Colorado Sports
Roller derby leagues established in 2011
Roller derby leagues in Colorado
Longmont, Colorado
2011 establishments in Colorado