Wisconsin United Roller Derby

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Wisconsin United Roller Derby
Metro areaMadison, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
CountryUnited States
Founded2009
TeamsTravel Team
Wisconsin United Roller Derby
Wisconsin Men's Roller Derby (retired)
Milwaukee Blitzdkrieg (retired)
Home Teams
Great Lakes Pirates (retired)
Half Barrel Heroes (retired)
Mad Men (retired)
Track type(s)Flat
VenueRollaero Skate Center
Fast Forward Skate Center
AffiliationsMRDA
Org. type501(c)(3) NPO
Websitewww.mensderbywi.com

Wisconsin United Roller Derby (WURD) is an all-gender flat-track roller derby league based in Madison, Wisconsin. The league was originally formed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2009 as the first all-men's league in Wisconsin and previously used the names Milwaukee Schlitzkrieg, Milwaukee Blitzdkrieg, and Wisconsin Men's Roller Derby before rebranding as Wisconsin United Roller Derby in August 2019.

History[]

In May 2009, a few Milwaukee skaters, the core of what would become the Milwaukee Schlitzkrieg, the first men's roller derby team in Wisconsin, traveled to Duluth, near the Minnesota border, for a mixer event with the Twin Cities Terrors.

Milwaukee Blitzdkrieg[]

Milwaukee Blitzdkrieg logo 2014-04-13 12-46.jpg

In June 2010, copyright issues necessitated a name change, and the Blitzdkrieg was born. Thanks to the Paper Valley Roller Girls hosting a double-header event, the team was able to play its first full game, having performed only in expo games until that point. The Terrors once again travelled to play, taking another victory over the Blitzdkrieg in Appleton, Wisconsin.

The next two years were a long, slow, uphill battle. The team faced challenges in finding practice space, recruiting new members, training, and gaining exposure. But hard work and perseverance began to pay off, as new members came through the door and the city started to take notice. New strategies were tested, modified, and sometimes discarded, training plans developed, and the team traveled extensively throughout the Midwest, learning from mistakes and continually growing stronger.

December 2012 was a turning point, as the team’s application to the Men's Roller Derby Association (MRDA) was unanimously approved by the member leagues, officially making the Blitzdkrieg a nationally ranked team.[1] By the end of 2013 they were ranked 29 in the MRDA 2013 End of Season Rankings.[2]

In January 2014, for the first time, the Blitzdkrieg had built up the numbers to form two home teams, Half Barrel Heroes and Great Lakes Pirates. This gave the team the ability to more easily produce events, and allows more skating time for all players, furthering their development.

Wisconsin Men's Roller Derby[]

WMRD logo small.jpg

In 2016, the Blitzdkrieg were joined by a new group of skaters in Madison, WI known locally as Mad Men Roller Derby and decided to rebrand as Wisconsin Men's Roller Derby (WMRD). The league played as Wisconsin Men's Roller Derby for the 2017 and 2018 MRDA seasons. At the conclusion of the 2018 season, several key players decided to retire from roller derby and the league chose to go on hiatus from MRDA. The league remained active and played a series of non-sanctioned bouts in 2019 to focus on rebuilding and gaining experience.

Wisconsin United Roller Derby[]

In the summer of 2019, the league decided to change its name to better recognize the contributions of women and non-binary members.

Media[]

2018
March 11, 2018: Mad Men were featured in an article in the Wisconsin State Journal.[3]
2014
March 7, 2014: Milwaukee Blitzdkrieg were interviewed live by of the Fox 6[4] morning show, .

March 18, 2014: Milwaukee Blitzdkrieg were featured in an article on OnMilwaukee.com[5]

April 25, 2014: A bit of a history on the Milwaukee Blitzdkrieg in Express Milwaukee.com.[6]

2011
January 4, 2011: Milwaukee Blitzdkrieg members were interviewed for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.[7]

Home teams[]

Great Lakes Pirates logo
Great Lakes Pirates
Half Barrel Heroes logo
Half Barrel Heroes

In 2014, for the first time, home teams were established - the Great Lakes Pirates and the Half Barrel Heroes. On March 29, 2014 the Milwaukee Blitzdkrieg held their first ever home team bout. The Great Lakes Pirates took the first win, with a score of 338-101 over the Half Barrel Heroes.

Date Great Lakes Pirates Half Barrel Heroes
2015
Feb 28 110 202
Apr 11 161 163
May 09 321 66
2014
Mar 29 338 101
Apr 27 258 202
May 17 288 157

Charter team[]

Interleague seasons[]

Date Opponent Tournament Sanction Blitzdkrieg/WMRD/WURD Opposing Team
2020
Feb 8 CFDD Muncie Missfits n/a 331 97
2019
Nov 9 n/a 189 164
Oct 12 n/a 136 193
Sep 28 Omaha Roller Derby n/a 148 205
Jun 22 Cedar Rapids RollerGirls n/a 265 92
Apr 7 Udder Chaos 2019 n/a 87 357
Mar 16 St. Louis B-Keepers n/a 13 358
Mar 16 Twin Cities Terrors n/a 19 483
2018
Jul 21 MRDA 81 246
Jun 3 2018 Midwest BrewHaHa MRDA 120 208
Jun 2 2018 Midwest BrewHaHa MRDA 222 228
Jun 1 2018 Midwest BrewHaHa MRDA 246 171
May 19 Udder Chaos 2018 MRDA 120 220
Feb 10 Brewcity Bruisers Battlestars n/a 311 149
2017
Jul 23 Rolling Along The River MRDA 222 137
Jul 22 Rolling Along The River MRDA 226 113
May 20 MRDA 39 350
May 20 MRDA 97 337
Apr 15 MRDA 166 153
2016
Jun 25 MRDA 125 192
Jun 5 2016 Midwest BrewHaHa MRDA 155 216
Jun 4 2016 Midwest BrewHaHa MRDA 119 215
Jun 3 2016 Midwest BrewHaHa MRDA 121 270
Mar 19 MRDA 247 142
Jan 9 FCRD: Valley Vixens n/a 257 121
2015
Jun 28 Midwest DerbyFest MRDA 128 262
Jun 28 Midwest DerbyFest MRDA 113 239
Jun 27 Harm City Roller Derby Midwest DerbyFest MRDA 292 92
Jun 26 Midwest DerbyFest 129 262
Jun 20 Mad Rollin' Dolls 160 279
Jun 7 Midwest BrewHaHa MRDA 186 318
Jun 6 Cleveland Guardians Midwest BrewHaHa 393 94
Jun 5 Midwest BrewHaHa MRDA 136 244
May 23 MRDA 141 243
Apr 28 Quad Squad 178 235
2014
Aug 30 MRDA 85 270
Aug 30 MRDA 88 178
Jul 19 MRDA 279 77
Jun 29 Midwest DerbyFest 137 163
Jun 29 Midwest DerbyFest 110 68
Jun 29 Midwest DerbyFest 103 45
Jun 27 Midwest DerbyFest MRDA 188 214
Jun 01 Midwest BrewHaHa MRDA 113 318
May 31 Midwest BrewHaHa MRDA 125 429
May 30 Midwest BrewHaHa MRDA 259 127
2013
Aug 24 88 253
Aug 24 166 180
Jul 20 Green Bay Smackers Border Battle MRDA 170 117
Jul 20 Border Battle MRDA 116 235
Jun 22 Green Bay Smackers MRDA 246 99
May 19 2013 Spring Roll MRDA 93 218
May 19 Your Mom Men's Derby 2013 Spring Roll MRDA 23 447
May 17 Harm City Roller Derby 2013 Spring Roll MRDA 67 327
Apr 14 MRDA 229 242
Mar 23 325 180
Feb 23 255 310
2012
Sep 1 Rolling Along the River 164 182
Sep 1 Rolling Along the River 61 284
Aug 11 Green Bay Smackers 92 174
Jun 23 60 222
Jun 16 29 311
2011
Dec 3 164 138
Mar 20 65 198
2010
Oct 23 Rolling Along the River 23 155
Oct 23 Rolling Along the River 21 125
Oct 23 Rolling Along the River 29 117
Jun 26 22 127

Stats provided by Flat Track Stats[8]

MRDA rankings[]

Season Ranking Championship
2013 29[2] DNQ
2014 24[9] DNQ
2015 27[10] DNQ
2016
2017 35[11] DNQ
2018 31[12] DNQ
2019 hiatus[13] DNQ

Notes[]

  1. ^ "MRDA Goes International With Its Six New Members". MRDA. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "MRDA Releases End of Season Rankings and 2013 Champs Seeding". MRDA. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  3. ^ Kalk Derby, Samara. "Men's derby on a roll in Madison". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  4. ^ Bee, Trisha. "Did you know Milwaukee had a men's roller derby team?". WITI | Fox 6 Milwaukee. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  5. ^ Mueller, Matt. "Milwaukee Blitzdkrieg slams men's roller derby onto the local map". OnMilwaukee.com. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  6. ^ "Roller Derby Isn't Just for Women Anymore". Express Milwaukee.com. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  7. ^ Richards, Erin (January 4, 2011). "Roller derby not just for women anymore". Milwaukee Journal. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  8. ^ "Flat Track Stats - Milwaukee Blitzdkrieg". FlatTrackStats.com. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  9. ^ "MRDA Announces the Fall Ranking and the Seeding for the 2014 Championships". Men's Roller Derby Association. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  10. ^ "MRDA 2015 Spring Rankings". Men's Roller Derby Association. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  11. ^ "MRDA 2018 Winter Rankings". Men's Roller Derby Association. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  12. ^ "MRDA 2018 Winter Rankings". Men's Roller Derby Association. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  13. ^ "MRDA June 2019 Rankings and Qualifiers Announcements". Men's Roller Derby Association. Retrieved September 9, 2019.

External links[]

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