Earlier this month our resident roller girl Michelle Sunnyday (aka Sunny Wytha Chansapain – 100% of the Tilted Thunder Rail Birds)  attended the inaugural Derby World Cup. This was a historical event for the derby community with teams from thirteen countries competing for the title of World Champion. We ticketed the event, our Alternative Sports Doer Bob Noxious organized the announcing, and Michelle was there spreading the love to our beloved derby community. Here’s her re-cap:

On December 1st through 3rd, Blood & Thunder Magazine hosted the Roller Derby World Cup. I was lucky enough to be able to attend and serve as an ambassador for Brown Paper Tickets. There were teams from all over the world including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden and USA.

Toronto Roller Derby was the hosting league and the whole event was handled beautifully by the league and their army of volunteers. No one had any idea how well it would be recieved, but attendance exceeded everyone’s expectations with over 2,000 people coming through the doors each day.

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There were so many AMAZING skaters from all of the countries. It was really interesting to see what strategies were popular and being utilized by the different teams. Seeing advanced skating and strategies from relatively new teams was awesome. It will be interesting to see what level of skating there will be at the next World Cup.

I got to meet skaters from all of the teams. Plus, I mingled with fans, sponsors, friends and vendors and got to spend some time with the announcing crew that included our very own Bob Noxious.

Each day, I buzzed like a busy bee all around the venue, talking to people and cheering in the stands! I even met several proud parents of skaters, who were happy to chat (and brag) about their daughters.

The final bout was between Canada and USA. USA took the gold, but Canada put up a heck of a fight. The crowd was so loud and enthusiastic, my ears were ringing all night afterwards. It was truly an exciting moment in roller derby history. I can’t wait for the next one!

Image Courtesy of The Vancouver Sun