Report from the Corners of the Internet.
Edition 4: Men’s Roller Derby Association (MRDA)
In 2007, Penn Jersey RD added one of the first male teams in the country, the Hooligans.
In 2007, the Men of Roller Derby decide to organize into the Men’s Derby Coalition. With permission, they use a gender neutral version of the WFTDA’s rule set. Becoming the MRDA in 2011, the rule set in 2014 becomes renamed to the rules of Flat Track Derby. Also in 2014 MRDA release what is still the best, in my humble opinion, gender policy.
“Policy Language:
MRDA, pursuant to its mission of promoting men’s roller derby, does not and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. MRDA does not and will not differentiate between members who identify male and those who identify as a nonbinary gender (including but not limited to genderqueer, transmasculine, transfeminine, and agender) and does not and will not set minimum standards of masculinity for its membership or interfere with the privacy of its members for the purposes of charter eligibility. These activities include, but are not limited to, membership eligibility, disbursement of resources, and eligibility for office. MRDA is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all skaters, officials, volunteers, and fans.
Process:
In the event a MRDA member allegedly violates the Non-Discrimination Policy, notice must be given to MRDA Member Relations with details of the complaint. MRDA Member Relations will investigate and take appropriate actions.”
MRDA Non-Discrimination Policy
Up until October 2019, the two organizations had a partnership to train, certify and share officials. MRDA still uses the WFTDI policies in the aftermath. There are far fewer leagues, many are a travel team with satellite players, some are still affiliated with a WFTDA league. The two organizations use the exact same set of rules, have international membership and technically could have gotten recognition as counterparts rather than the creation of a separate rule set but do not. For more details, I recommend Punchy’s February 2023 blog post under sources.
While WFTDA ranking can be a pool of triple digits, the MRDA has under 50 teams.
In 2020 WFTDA was poised to roll out an open gender division but was unable.
“The Men’s Roller Derby Association was founded as an incarnation of the MDC legacy. With the passionate people at the helm of MRDA, we continue to promote roller derby through resource sharing.
But now – we are focused on developing more benefits to leagues who become members. Such benefits include: umbrella insurance coverage, insurance reciprocity with WFTDA, and the ability to compete in the annual MRDA playoffs (North American and European) and Championship tournament.”- from website
The 2023 MRDA Western Hemisphere Cup went down October 21-22, streamed through twitch by the Pittsburgh Undead media team. Videos also available on their Youtube.
Lane County Concussion had a short roster as mentioned in their first bout of the weekend. They were able to finish their Saturday bout against Denver Ground Control who took home the cup after an exciting match up against the St. Louis Gatekeepers.
Congratulations to Denver Ground Control the 2023 MRDA Western Hemisphere Cup winners. The 2024 MRDA Champs is set for England probably in October of the year. The above bracket does have the scores.
April 2, 2010” Although men’s bouts have been happening since the start of derby’s modern revival, and random teams having been popping up all over the place (including Western Canada), for the first time an organized league has been formed. The Men’s Derby Coalition (MDC) (featuring teams in Baltimore, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts) kicked off play on March 27th, 2010. (The Derby News Network provides a great season preview.)”