Aug 4, 2013 | On the Road!
Tournament Preview: Tournament seeds announced: Minnesota heads east for WFTDA glory
The WFTDA (roller derby's governing body) has announced the all-important June worldwide rankings. These rankings determine the brackets for Division 1 tournament play - and Minnesota has been determined to be #17 - #16 after Olympia's Oly Rollers did not play the number of games needed to qualify.
As #16, Minnesota has been seeded into Asheville, NC's tournament. Over the past two years, your All-Stars have been placed in the #2 seed of the old North Central regional tournament. With WFTDA's 2012 change to a worldwide ranking system, this means that the MNRG will be fighting against a field of teams from across the nation to enter the WFTDA world championship in Milwaukee.
Minnesota's road
As fourth-seed, Minnesota must win one game to enter into the tournament’s semi-finals. Their opponents will be #18 - Steel City of Pittsburgh.
Should Minnesota advance: the MNRG would then enter the semi-finals. Assuming no surprises for the semis, the four entrants into the fight for trips to Milwaukee will be:
- #1 Gotham Girls (New York City, NY)
- #9 Rocky Mountain (Denver, CO)
- #10 Windy City (Chicago, IL)
- #17 Minnesota
Of these four storied teams, only three may enter the WFTDA championships. These four teams are perennial entrants into the WFTDA championships. Two are world Champions; the other two have jostled for position in the upper Midwest for years. In other world sports, this sort of situation is called a "bracket of death." And Minnesota is in the unusual spot of never having officially beaten any of the other three teams.
Minnesota's likely first opponent will be the 2011 and 2012 world champions, the Gotham Girls. There's no team more difficult to play, but there's no greater chance for glory than taking down a team that has been undefeated for over two years.
Should Minnesota emerge victorious against Gotham: Minnesota would have a shot at the Asheville tournament title with a trip to Milwaukee assured.
Should Minnesota lose against Gotham: Things get interesting quickly. To make it to the championships, the MNRG would need to take the third-place spot. The third-place bout is played by the two losers of the semis. On the opposite side of the semis would be Rocky Mountain and Windy City.
That's right. To advance, Minnesota must either defeat Denver's Rocky Mountain Roller Girls (a team that defeated Minnesota by 100 points in May) or finally, decisively win against our Midwest rivals for the past four years - Chicago's Windy City. No counting errors, no "ties."
Your part
We want you there in the crowd. If you're joining us, here's what you need to know:
The place: Asheville, NC’s US Cellular Arena
The date: September 20th - 22nd (first MNRG bout vs Steel City at 2pm EDT)
Nearby hotel: Fairfield Inn and Suites
Your social media rally point: The Aquaman Army - use this for planning, car pools, and body-painting skullduggery!
Watch this space for more updates. See you in North Carolina!