Last season we celebrated a decade of derby at Jet City. During the season we experienced a lot of exciting match ups, new players shined, and the Bombers moved up 14 spots in the rankings to finish 44 in WFTDA.  It was also a year that we looked at our past; our strengths as a league and reflected on ways that we can bring you, our fans, more exciting and competitive roller derby in the next decade to come!

At the beginning of our tenth season we started a year long strategic planning process that looked at a new direction for our league.  During this process we discovered some common themes related to our vision for the future.

One of the first themes that became clear is that we wanted to promote an inclusive environment.  We realized that the term “rollergirls” is limiting and does not represent all of the members of our league; including our officials, volunteers, and our fans!   So I am excited to announce that Jet City Roller Derby (previously Jet City Rollergirls) will be our official new league name.  Out of this decision we have created a new vision statement to help guide us toward our future:

Jet City Roller Derby’s vision is to be the ultimate destination for competitive roller derby in Washington State.  We will lead the growth of the sport by providing training, promoting athleticism, and building community for athletes, officials, fans and volunteers.

Next, we wanted to increase the competitiveness and skill across the league in order to build exciting matchups for our fans.  As we have witnessed the growth and evolution of our sport from its humble beginnings to the internationally organized sport that it is today, we are transitioning our league structure to be more reflective of current roller derby teams in our organization (WFTDA).  Rather than compete against each other, JCRD will be competing against teams locally, in our region and beyond! For Season 11 we will be making a gradual transition to introduce our new league teams and give everyone an opportunity to see their favorite home teams one last time!

We are excited for all these changes and how we can improve the skater and fan experience.  Look out for big things from us this season as we announce these changes to support our vision, and be sure to get your tickets for the January bout where we will be revealing our new Jet City Roller Derby logo and two new league teams!

Without further ado, I would like to welcome you to Jet City Roller Derby’s Season 11, a new era for Jet City.