Ottawa Valley Roller Derby
Ottawa Valley Roller Derby is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded as Rideau Valley Roller Girls in 2008, as of January 2018 the league consists of eight teams: three home teams, two travel teams who compete against teams from other leagues, a men's team, a junior team, and an all-gender travel team, and is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association. History. Originally known as the "Bytown Blackhearts", the league hosted their first bout in Ottawa in January 2009 against the Sexpos of  Montreal Roller Derby. In June 2011, Rideau Valley hosted the first Canadian Women's Roller Derby Association East Tournament, losing in the final to the Forest City Derby Girls. By late 2011, Rideau Valley bouts were attracting up to and over 1,000 fans per game. In January 2011, Rideau Valley was accepted as an apprentice member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association. Rideau Valley skater Soul Rekker was selected to skate for Team Canada at the 2011 Roller Derby World Cup in December 2011, and she was later joined by league-mate Semi Precious. Originally known as "Rideau  Valley Roller Girls", in April 2017, the league announced it was rebranding as Rideau Valley Roller Derby in an effort to put the emphasis more on the sport and to better respect its members. At the end of 2017, Rideau Valley featured the Vixens A-team and Sirens B-team, and three home teams, the Slaughter Daughters, Riot Squad and Prime Sinisters. In January 2018 Rideau Valley and another Ottawa league, Capital City Derby Dolls, announced a merger and rebrand on Facebook as Ottawa Valley Roller Derby. WFTDA competition. Rideau Valley gained full membership in the WFTDA in June 2012 , and are represented in WFTDA competition by their charter all-star team, the Rideau Valley Vixens. 2012 was the final year that the WFTDA used geographical regions for organizing rankings, and initially Rideau Valley was placed in the East Region. In August 2014, Rideau Valley became the first team from outside the United States to take first place at a WFTDA Playoff tournament, when they defeated Bear City Roller Derby of Berlin at the Division 2 Playoff in Kitchener-Waterloo. Rideau Valley then played for the Division 2 Championship in Nashville, Tennessee on November 2, 2014, losing to the Detroit  Derby Girls. In 2015, Rideau Valley was the tenth seed at the Division 1 Playoff in Dallas, but lost their three games to Sun State Roller Girls, Stockholm Roller Derby and Ohio Roller Girls and finished in tenth place.