Helsinki Roller Derby 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

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Founded in 2009, the league currently consists of three travel teams who compete against teams from other leagues. Helsinki Roller Derby 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). As of 2010, the league's skaters included Annabel Apocalipstick, Estrogeena Davis, Renée Hellweger and Bananaspit. Eleven of their skaters were selected for Team Finland at the 2011

Roller Derby World Cup The Roller Derby World Cup is an international women's roller derby tournament formerly organized by ''Blood & Thunder magazine'', and currently organized by the Roller Derby World Cup Committee. Teams of amateur skaters from around the world ...

WFTDA competition

The league was accepted into 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 2011, and it became a full member of the WFTDA in September 2012.WFTDA Adds Four New Members
", WFTDA, 7 September 2012 In September 2011, Helsinki competed in the Battle of the Nordic Light, the first roller derby tournament in Scandinavia. During 2013, Helsinki played in the first Suomi Cup of roller derby, taking second place in the tournament after losing narrowly to

Kallio Rolling Rainbow Kallio Rolling Rainbow (KRR) is a flat track roller derby league based in Helsinki, Finland.They welcome anyone regardless of age, gender or body type. Their fundamental value is to accept people exactly as they are and to celebrate the existenc ...

in the final.Jouni Munukka,
Roller Derby on naisten anarkistinen kontaktilaji
, ''

Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...

'', 4 November 2013 In 2015, Helsinki qualified for the WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs for the first time, traveling to

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

for the tournament in October, where they finished seventh by defeating

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

Queen City Roller Girls Queen City Roller Derby or QCRD, is the flat-track roller derby league based in Buffalo, New York. Founded as Queen City Roller Derby in 2006, the league is scheduled to play its fourteenth season in 2020. QCRD is a member of the Women's Flat ...

, 274-199. In 2016, Helsinki returned to Division 1 Playoffs, entering the Madison tournament as the sixth seed, and finishing in sixth place. As the fifth seed at the 2017 Division 1 Playoff in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

, Helsinki won their opening game against

Charm City Roller Girls Charm City Roller Derby (CCRD), is a flat track roller derby league in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 2005, Charm City is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). History and league structure The league was established in ...

308-144, but then lost their quarterfinal against the host Crime City Rollers 215-170. Helsinki finished their weekend with a consolation bracket victory over Calgary Roller Derby Association, 365-107. In 2018, Helsinki competed at the WFTDA Playoff in

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

, Spain, finishing their weekend in the consolation round with a 208-172 loss to

2×4 Roller Derby 2x4 Roller Derby (also ''Dos por cuatro'': ) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Founded in 2010, the league consists of three teams that play against each other: Bully Chicks, Cowgirls From Hell and Blo ...

Rankings

* ''CR = consolation round''

References

{{WFTDA Division 1 Roller derby leagues in Finland Roller derby leagues established in 2009 Sports competitions in Helsinki Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 1 Women's sport in Finland 2009 establishments in Finland Women's sports leagues in Finland