Jet City Roller Derby would like to congratulate their all-star Bombers for an outstanding performance in the D2 Playoffs in Pittsburgh. The Bombers took home the 6th place trophy and will start the 2018 season ranked higher than when they entered the playoffs. Read a Full recap of the playoff tournament here
Bombers took D2 with energy and determination. They hit the track hard, and hit other teams harder. They won two of four game that weekend. Their final game was a rematch against Oklahoma for 7th place in the Tournament for this year. the JCRG Bombers rolled out with the 7th place spot locked down for the 2015 D2 WFTD tournament.
With strong performance in the playoffs the Bombers had established themselves as a D1 Team. The highlight of the season was playing a sanctioned bout with Rat City (Seattle) for the first time. The teams had scrimmaged, but had never had a game that would go on their records. The Bombers provided a great challenge to the stronger Rat team trading leads in the first period, but eventually losing the lead in the second. In June when the playoff rankings were sorted out the Bombers found their work had earned them a spot in a D1 tournament in Charleston, West Virginia. Travels were difficult and the team was delayed in Washington, DC. They would be unable to make their first game at 8:00 AM, as they would still be in the air. WFTDA shuffled the cards and the Bombers were given a 10:00 game. The team landed at 8:30 and rushed to the hotel and then to the venue. The Bombers lost their first two bouts, but were able to win their final bout.
This is the year that WFTDA moved to a more complex system that created Divison 1 (teams ranked 1-40) and Division 2 (teams ranked 41-60) and would allow the strongest teams in derby to qualify for National/Championships. The new system used science and math to determine the best teams based on performance and did not consider geography. Under this new system five of the top 12 teams in the sport represented former west region. Under the old system two of those teams would have stayed home as only the best three teams from each region earned a place at Championships. With no playoff games at the end of 2012 the Bombers lacked the points required to qualify for a Division 1 tournament. They were invited to the first ever Division 2 tournament in Des Moines, Iowa. The Bombers were prepared to dominate their tournament and that they did, winning all three games, the tournament trophy and a ticket to the big show in Milwaukie. The Bombers would go on to beat the Santa Cruz Boardwalk Bombshells by 1 point for the first ever D2 International Championship Title.
This season was the wildest season in Bomber history. Establishing themselves as a true derby contender that distant teams were interested in playing; invitations rolled in. In 2011 the Bombers played 15 regular season games. The team travel to California, Nashville, Baltimore and to their second Regional Tournament, this time in Portland. The Bombers would beat Tucson in the first round and then lose to Olympia, Bay Area, and Sacred, finishing the season as the # 8 team in the West.
The Bombers began this season with many fresh faces. The team was able to take advantage of a new event called the “BIG O” hosted by the Emerald City Roller girls of Eugene, Oregon. The team won two and lost one game on the weekend. The next month they would go on to play in their third WILD WEST, winning all three games. The Bombers would have three more games during the regular season and would be ranked in the top 25 on DNNs power rankings for the first time. As the invitations rolled out for what would be the last Western Regionals the Bombers would find them selves in the number 11 spot and without an invitation to the tournament. After the top 10 teams had all accepted their invitations a group of skaters that had been providing the bulk of the strength for the number 10 team Arizona would, in what would become know as “Transfergate” transfer to OLY, leaving the Tent City Terrors with a team that would be beaten in all three of their games, each by more than 100 points. Without making a post-season tournament, the Bombers chose to participate in the annual Spudtown Knockdown in Boise, Idaho. With this double elimination tournament, the team ended up playing 4 full-length bouts in one day, with the last 2 bouts being back-to-back.
With the heart of the team unchanged and a little infusion of new blood, the Bombers were set to prove themselves during the 2010 season. The team was focused on proving to the leagues in the western region that we deserved a place in the top 10 and an invitation to the regional tournament. As a new team the greatest challenge was to find teams willing to play them. The Bombers were lucky as a neighboring league Slaughter County hosted the first ever WILD WEST SHOWDOWN in Bremerton, Wa. Their first game in front of the community of skaters that they needed to impress was an 11 point loss to Duke (Albuquerque) a team that had been near the top of the sport in the previous few years. During the rest of the regular season the Bombers went on to play sanctioned games against Pacific (Oahu), Slaughter County, Arch Rival (St. Louis) and Tucson. Winning all these games provided enough evidence that the Bombers deserved a place in the top 10 in the west and a ticket to Sacramento, California for the 2010 Western Regionals. The first team they would face was the Sacred City Derby girls, and the Bombers prevailed, advancing to face the number two seed Rocky Mountain. The Bombers lost the game against Rocky and the following game against Denver. In the fourth game they faced Tucson, the team they had bested at home during their last regular season game. The Bombers won the final game and finished as the # 7 team in the west.
As the team entered its third season the league completed its requirements and was officially recognized by WFTDA. The team was now faced with the challenge of securing games with other WFTDA teams in order to prove their skill and earn the votes of the other leagues in their region. This is what was needed to be invited to the regional playoffs. Bellingham and Lava City (Bend, OR) were the first to accept the request. Between these bouts the Bombers played Rat City’s Reign of Terror in the Showare Center in a friendly and lost by two points. The Bombers beat a feisty Rainy City team out of Centralia and Dockyard Derby Dames out of Tacoma. Over the course of the 2009 summer the team lost members after each bout; some to transfers others moving out of state.
The team consisting of the same members from the fall of 2007 continued to work hard and found them selves heading to Seattle to participate in Rat City’s “Rust Riot”. This tournament was held in the hangers at Magnuson Park. Luck was not on the side of the Bombers and they were placed in a first round of the single elimination tournament with the up and coming OLY Rollers. As described in the write up on the now defunct DNN someone had to be the first to face the Buzz Saw that were the OLY ROLLERS. Later that spring the Bombers went on a trip to Idaho to face Lilac City Roller Girls and earn their first win as a team. The team would travel again to Idaho to play Treasure Valley in Boise for its second win that season.
The team formed in September of 2007. Initial tryouts were held and the league followed a 3-7 rule that Rat City had used at the time. There could be no more than 7 and no fewer than 3 players from each of the league’s four home teams. One month after forming, the stage was set to play their first game. The young team would face a group of skaters from Sacramento, California that would go on to become one of their biggest rivals. The bout was held at Edmonds Community College and was the first event for the league outside their home rink at the Everett Skate Deck. The Bombers lost by a substantial margin, but the seed was planted and the team was determined to prove it’s worth.
