Tournament recap courtesy of Poppa Ganda, Tampa Bay Derby Darlins

Feb. 15-16, 2009: “Sunshine Skate”

Click here to check out photos from the tournament by Dana John Hill.

The Teams

The Gainesville Roller Rebels made a gutsy appearance at their tournament debut. Although they were eliminated in the second round, their never-say-die attitude and their good relationships with the more established leagues are sure to make them a league to watch in the future.

Panama City Roller Derby made a respectable showing in their first appearance at Sunshine Skate, but a difficult schedule stopped them cold in the first night.

The Bradentucky Bombers, being a relatively short distance from Tampa Bay, have enjoyed a great deal of interaction with the better-established Tampa Bay Derby Darlins. This geographical closeness has even allowed some beneficial cross-pollination to happen between the two leagues. Jammer Signal 20, one of the more experienced jammers for the Bombers, is a former member of the Tampa Bay league.

The Greater Jacksonville Rollergirls, also making their Sunshine Skate debut, are a team which formed last year by splintering from SS08’s fourth place New Jax City Rollers, shocked the Sunshine Skate 2009 crowd by pulling an upset in a grudge match versus their original league. It was already apparent that the Jacksonville breakup would have significant repercussions for the NJCR, but such far-reaching consequences couldn’t have been predicted.

Jacksonville/Duval County’s New Jax City Rollers is in a rebuilding phase right now, having lost some of their talent to the secessionist Greater Jacksonville Roller Girls league. Last year’s fourth place participants made a disappointing second appearance to this year’s tournament, most notably suffering a defeat at the hand of the offshoot GJRG. Perhaps, this is an opportunity for NJCR to rebuild itself, and to earn for itself a brand-new image.

Brevard County’s Molly Roger Derby Girls endured a long saga of breakups and makeups with the original Brevard County Derby Girls league, and this drama seems to have put an unfortunate hiccup in their development. However, they are surely on the road to recovery, and the addition of former Tampa Tantrum jammer/blocker Strawberry Shortsk8 to their ranks is certainly a stroke of good luck. The Molly Rogers won Third Place in last year’s Sunshine Skate, and once they re-stabilize as a league, they are sure to be in serious contention for that coveted spot again next year.

The Fort Myers Derby Girls showed up at last year’s Sunshine Skate to participate in an exhibition, whose team rosters were filled through consolidating newer and smaller leagues. This year, they were an official participant in the brackets, and they’ve already made a name for themselves as the “comeback kids” of the tourney. Their persistence, which could rival that of Rocky Balboa, brought them from a 30-point deficit in the third place quarterfinals, to a nail-biting conclusion where victory escaped them by only one point. Exemplary of this stubborn tenacity is jammer Velvet Revolter, who performed impressively in two bouts with an ankle injury sustained in a first-night bout.

The Sintral Florida Derby Demons have made tremendous headway in the past year, elevating themselves from an exhibition team in Sunshine Skate 2008, to an impressive performance as a full-fledged tournament participant this year, ending up in fourth place. Particularly notable for the Sintral team is Six Gun Susie. Even though her team did not manage to crack the top three, her impressive skills, steely resolve and superhuman stamina allowed her to don the jammer’s star more times than any other skater in the tourney (and quite effectively, as well), making her the clear choice for the “Sunshine Skate 2009 Most Valuable Player” award. Rumor has it that Six Gun Susie is actually a robot, but there is no concrete evidence supporting that notion.

The Broward County Derby Grrls, the only team representing Southeast Florida, impressed skaters and spectators alike during their first appearance at this year’s Sunshine Skate with a level of athleticism that is uncommon for such a new team. They’re hard, they’re mean, and they’re hungry, and it brought them a hard-won Third Prize.

As for the Tallahassee Capital Punishment, they are the powerhouse team that they were last year and then some. Tallahassee’s everlasting resolve to improve every dimension of their game has helped to keep their arch rivals in Tampa on their toes. Tallahassee’s reputation as a team that’s as deadly as it is classy has helped it to grow a loyal and rabid fan base. Tallahassee had a large and very vocal cheering section; these people had made a four-hour drive to support their rollergirls. The Tally girls are also enjoying the benefit of having the most stable roster of any Florida league; most of the skaters on this lineup have been there on a constant basis for three years plus. Just as expected, Tallahassee skated straight through to the finals this year, defeating all comers by a wide margin.

Last, but certainly not least, there’s the Tampa Tantrums. The Tampa Bay Derby Darlins are the first league in the state of Florida as well as the best, and time and again, they’ve backed up their reputation. Through their late-2007 induction into WFTDA, they have had the opportunity to face more out-of-state teams, each with its own particular style, and from every one of these encounters, the Tantrums team has not only grown and evolved by learning from its opponents, but has also announced to the world of Roller Derby that Florida is now on the map, and it’s coming up. Even though the Tantrums have recently lost five veteran travel team members, the good reputation of the league has helped to attract new talent and experienced transplants to the league. Two of the notable Tantrums skaters of SS09 are transplants: the nigh-unstoppable Rock*C, winner of SS09’s “Best Jammer” award; came to the Tantrums from Fayetteville, NC’s Rogue Roller Girls, and just one season ago, speedster Little A was a deadly weapon in the Sintral Florida Derby Demons arsenal.

Tampa’s biggest and baddest challengers were, once again, the Tallahassee Capital Punishment, but when all was said and done, it was clear that Tampa is still the baddest team in Florida.

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