YOUR MOM Men's Roller Derby

Only TWO new T Shirts remain in inventory for Your Mom Men's Roller Derby. Both are size large in red. $10 plus shipping while these two last...

Limited inventory and sizes of vintage Your Mom T Shirts and game jerseys. $10 plus shipping while they last (limited sizes). Message us for inventory, sizes and purchasing

Tickets are now available for the Team Mexico tour games in Des Moines. Come on out and cheer them on as they play midwest teams as they prepare for Barcelona in 2018.

Your Mom's Home rink is hosting USA Men's Roller Derby Tryouts this weekend. Come support some of the band!

Help support the recovery of Julius Freezer, the NSO who was injured in the unfortunate incident at the conclusion of the MRDA Championship game.

Click here to support Julius Freezer's Medical Expenses by Jen Moulton On October 16, the final game of the MRDA Championships was held in Texas. Through no fault of his own, an official was injured at the game's conclusion when a fight broke out. At the end of the game, NSOs in the center track are usually completing paperwork, and this was the case at this game...

Your Mom Men's derby would like to congratulate the St Louis Gatekeepers on their victory at the 2016 MRDA championship. As always, the games between our teams are fast and exciting. The gatekeeper travel team and league are a great example of a strong foundation and leadership.

We would also like to congratulate our earlier opponents, Southern Discomfort and Texas Men's derby, on very spirited and fun games. A shout out should also be given to all of the MRDA teams that qualified for the season ending tournament as we are familiar with the discipline it took to make it that far.

Thank you to the MRDA for organizing our championship and a special thank you for the home team Texas Men for hosting all of the teams. The planning and logistics made the event one of the best to date.

Thank you to all of the officials, NSO's and volunteers who dedicated their own time, money and resources in order to make men's roller derby happen. The officiating was sharp all weekend and all of us skaters and fans appreciate everything you do.

Most importantly, Your Mom Men's derby would like to apologize for actions of any of our league members which may have negatively impacted others either physically or emotionally. We hope that the amazing work done by the organizers, volunteers, officials and athletes all weekend long can outshine any dark spots that a few moments of bad decisions can tarnish.

We are especially saddened to hear that during the volatile moments after the game that a volunteer NSO was injured by someone or something. We again apologize for any league member actions which played a part. Our thoughts and prayers are with him or her as they recover.

Your Mom Men's derby is committed to fair play and safe environments for people to enjoy roller skating and gatherings. We are still recovering from the weekend ourselves while at the same time working to understand the moments at the conclusion of the game.

Thank you for being our brothers and sisters in derby, sport and life.

Your Mom Roller Derby

Make America Skate Again

Your Mom's very own Cleveland Stever and Team United's Lolli PopYa got married last night. The dance floor was full of some of the best moves since Electric Boogaloo.

First of all, Your Mom Men's Derby is very thankful for the sport of roller derby and the friends and fans we have met along the way. The sport is a melting pot of people from all demographics and ages which to us makes it the most interesting sport to be a part of.

Over the last few days, many rumors and accusations have been thrown about with regards to our team and the way we build our charter. This is not necessarily new to us but we decided to weigh in due to the misinformation that is being spread. We thought it would be best to open up about us and how we fit within the realm of the MRDA.

From the very beginning, Your Mom Men's derby has been looked at as outsiders in the sport. We did not take the typical arc that new teams take to find success in sports. One of our first games as a team (non sanctioned because it was before we had made the MRDA) was agianst the very powerful St Louis Gatekeepers at their home rink and we came away with a victory. Many of our players were ex champion speed skaters who have grown up on skates. The core knew what "elite performance" looked and felt like and they were able to influence others on the team. The struggle for Your Mom was learning the intricate rules of derby which is still our struggle but we were able to skip the part of learning to skate. This "get rich quick" trajectory that Your Mom had in the beginning was not welcomed by everyone because it appeared that we did not pay the same price that others had in order to be successful (as a side note, the number of hours some players of YMMD have chosen to put into training on skates over the years would be staggering to most, so the price has been paid over a lifetime). We were not invited to the MRDA champs our first year as a team even after some good results so we had to keep on grinding.

After the first year of not being invited to champs, we have been able to rattle off three straight MRDA titles in a row followed by a second place finish last year. Through that period, we have been able to produce FROM Des Moines, Iowa six players on Team USA. We have placed an additional three players on Team USA who did not live in Des Moines but were traveling back and forth to practices in order to play with YMMD. Our core group of skaters has been the same throughout all of the way up until this year when we had a number of players retire at the end of 2015. We are proud of what we have built and of the great players who have came from our organization.

The MRDA is the organization that governs our play. We as a team play other MRDA (and sometimes WFTDA, the female derby organization) teams throughout the season in order to have fun, compete and learn a bit more through experience. The MRDA / WFTDA governs that play and we follow the rules as laid out by them. The MRDA has considered numerous times the charter policies for the MRDA organization and based on the number of teams currently involved, they have chosen the current system as the best one for us to play under.

The MRDA does not dictate the number of practices a team must have. YMMD may practice year round which might not be common for other teams but we may only practice once a week. YMMD may sometime choose to practice 5 times in a week or twice in one day...the point is the MRDA does not govern what that has to look like. In Des Moines we are fortunate that we have the World Champion Des Moines Derby Brats and our sister league Team United to share practice time with. Because of the unique set of life circumstances that many of the members of YMMD have, we have a very special way for "scheduled" training. We meet nearly every month for weekend training camps. These are Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday evening and Sunday morning sessions that are super intense and brutal on our bodies. This works best for us because many of us have traveling jobs, kids or other mitigating circumstances which prevent us from all being at practice at the same time. In this way, we guarantee we will get the best work in and all be on the same page when the time comes. We all practice beyond this when we can make it but this is our expectation for the players of YMMD. This keeps the majority of the people who aspire to play with us from joining because our camps are where people go from the charter to the roster.

The MRDA does not dictate the practice requirements that a team must enforce in order to allow a skater to compete. The practice requirement within all sports have always been all over the place and men's roller derby is no different. We see post from Mass Maelstrom on what they require, we talk to friends who tell us what they have with the Shock Exchange or the Outcast, we even saw a post from the World Champions St Louis Gatekeepers that they have no practice attendance requirements but instead a buddy system. It seams to work great for them in both league growth and success on the track. YMMD is not legalistic with our requirements for practice. We understand life happens and many of us are responsible for more people than just ourselves. We do expect a commitment to our training camps but even then sometimes (players having babies, coaching WFTDA events, etc..), life happens. We will be having our next training camp in September (after just finishing up our August camp) which will point us towards the MRDA championships in the right direction. We are expecting a full house as now is the time to sharpen up and to earn a spot on the roster.

Because of a large number of skaters retiring, because it was a world cup year and because of a bit of bad timing, Your Mom ran into a few hiccups with our game schedule in 2016. We had signed up to play at ECDX and Rolling Along The River as our tournaments because of the hiatus of our annual trip to the Spring Roll tournament. We were also working with a handful of teams to be the featured games at RollerCon. When the dates came out for ECDX and Rolling Along The River, they ended up being on the same weekend. Our team voted to stay with ROTR because it was a minimum 3 games instead of 2 and it was a easy drive weekend where we would likely fly to ECDX. Later, maybe 3 or 4 weeks before the ROTR event, they were forced to cancel due to too many teams withdrawing from the event. The TCT players were super awesome and agreed to play us that weekend so we at least had one MRDA game under our belt. We were working on playing the new men's team from Argentina and Southern Discomfort at RollerCon but Southern Discomfort had to back out due to not enough players making the trip to Las Vegas. We reached out to our friends at Bridgetown but they were unable to make the event as well so we lost our RollerCon games. The TCT decided that they would have a smaller event called PUTC and invited us again. They had a few more teams back out but they did manage to find sanctioned games for us versus the terrors again as well as the Bisman Bombers.

In spite of our troubles, YMMD is currently ranked second in the MRDA with our lone loss this ranking period coming from and at the St Louis Gatekeepers, the reigning World Champions. We have wins over the number three ranked Texas Outlaws and number 8 ranked Magic City Misfits as well as two wins against the 2015 MRDA 9th palce finisher the Twin City Terrors. Our 2 victories versus the terrors were both at a higher point to point variance than either of the games which the Terrors played the Gatekeepers or the Outlaws at Brewhaha if wanting to use triangulation (YMMD 12.9 and 9.3, GK 7.3,TX 7.7). For those not familiar, in 2015, the Southern Discomfort team used their games from the 2014 champs in order to get their minimum games, to get ranked and to qualify for the 2015 MRDA Championship and not one word or whisper was said about their lack of strength of schedule or using the preceding years championship games to qualify. We agree that Southern Discomfort deserved to be at the 2015 champs and they played really well but we don't understand why all of the sudden it is an issue now? Is it because it involves Your Mom? It should also be noted that our biggest rival and near neighbor, the St Louis Gatekeepers refuse to play us in non tournament play because they do not agree with our league policies.

As for the current whispers involving YMMD and transfergate, We feel like many people are pointing fingers without telling the whole story. Yes, Your Mom Men's Derby has players who commute to play for us. This is not a "new" revelation as we have had commuting players for a handful of years. When we first came into the sport, the MCM were known as a team of jam skaters who came together to play roller derby together. Many of them lived in the same place but not all as many traveled from other parts and it was accepted by everyone that it was who the Misfits were. The commuting player objection only came about when people were upset about Your Mom and the players who had joined. Many people ask to join Your Mom every year and we have policies of our own just like other teams have policies. They may not be the same but we can assure you that many people who want to play for YMMD can not make the commitments we have set in place.

We did not do an in depth investigative report but through conversation and travels we can share a bit about what we know of other MRDA top teams.

After winning the MRDA championship in 2016, the Gatekeepers have added a minimum of three players from other teams to the league. One blocker from the Texas Outlaws (who recently spoke about playing for the Outlaws in the last lost the Gatekeepers had to Texas) and one of the best skaters from Race City now live in St Louis and play for the Gatekeepers. They also welcomed at least one from their northern neighbor Capital City Hooligan to the organization. Much conversation has been brought up about cannibalizing other MRDA teams and we are certain that those teams felt the loss of those players. It may feel OK because they moved to play in St Louis (culture? work? chasing titles?) but what about the player who can't afford to move but also wants to play under a different culture or at a higher level. Just because it doesn't feel right to us or match our model does not make it wrong.

We have discussed that Your Mom does have commuting players on our charter and has for a few years. These players come to training camps and do not simply show up for games as others would suggest. Even the new players to YMMD for the 2016 charter will have two games under their belts before champs with the team (People have erroneously said that they are simply showing up to champs) as we have two game left on our schedule in September.
The Texas Outlaws are a combination of two past MRDA teams (actual cannibalization of top ranked teams) which joined to form one super team. Many of these players come from hours away to be a part of the Texas men's squad. We love our brothers on the Outlaws and we love the One Team motto. We are saddened that when one of our own moved to Austin, he transferred to become an Outlaw but we love him and the Outlaws just the same.
The New York Shock Exchange represent one of the most densely populated areas in the country. In spite of this, they have players who live in Mexico and California, who left teams to commute from New Jersey and up state New York as well as players who have left new teams in smaller places to move to the big apple to do life and to continue playing derby. This NYSE team was the apple of the Gatekeepers and others in the MRDA's eye after playing them so close at Sibling Rivalry yet nothing has been said about the league policies in place for the Shock Exchange. We love the passion, team work and leadership the NYSE bring to the MRDA and we look forward to playing the new look Mega Shock.
The Puget Sound Outcast would in our opinion mirror Your Mom in style and substance. We love the model that Mo Sanders has been for the sport and the youth programs in Seattle are second to none but in a close race with Des Moines. Some of the most epic men's derby games in history have involved the Outcast and Your Mom. The Outcast have been known to have players commuting from not just neighboring states like Oregon, but even a handful of players from across the border in Canada. Currently one of our good friends and leaders of the Argentinian team is headed to Puget to play with the Outcast. The sudden surprise announcement from a Puget player about new YMMD "transfers" was shocking because according to the players, they were not members of the Outcast at all this season. Our love for the Outcast continues and we are excited to see them continue to grow in the future.
Our best friends from across the pond deserve to be at every event because they are always the most fun (and they are really good at derby). We have no idea of where the different players who represent Southern Discomfort come from and we really don't care (apparently nor does the rest of the MRDA). We love that they are raising the bar in Europe for every team and that they teach along the way instead of bull rushing through the competition. We are certain of one character who is not from the mother land and that is Mr Ferieux, one of the most feared jammers (now blocker) in all of the land. He is the French ambassador to Southern Discomfort and he is accepted throughout the league as part of the team. He has played for his home team in France during the regular season until making the jump to SDRD for MRDA champs in the past.
The Bridgetown Menace have been slowly doing work in the northwest and it looks like they have surprises coming for all of us at the upcoming championships with the recent win at New York. These guys may be the most fun derby team on the mainland and it is always a good time when they are around. We did note a recent commuting player on their roster that we have not heard many whispers about. One of the top players from Puget seams to have left in the middle of the season and he is now playing for Bridgetown. We are not sure what kind of damage that might do to their neighbors in Seattle but it certainly looks like it has shaken things up in a good way for Bridgetown.
We discussed earlier the jam skating legends that make up the Magic City Misfits. They have had a number of players retire or move on as well but with the sister league of New Jax doing so well, hopefully the rebuilding will not take long and the junior leagues in Florida are killing it.
The Terrors of Minnesota have had huge fall out this season with work and retirement but they are making efforts to keep improving. We noticed a new face or two on their squad from some of their neighboring teams in the Dakotas so they may have reloaded a bit.
Our old teammate Brett has done wonders with his team in San Diego. By great in-house coaching and using some of the players from the neighboring Mexico league, they have jumped up quickly to become a powerhouse. We am excited to see how they continue to grow in the future.

We don't know much about what goes on with other MRDA teams but we do see instances where many of them...especially those at the top build their teams with players who were trained or were integral parts of other leagues.

The most important thing to consider is that everyone at this point pays to play roller derby. There is not a single person who has been given money or any added benefit to play for YMMD or any other team that we are aware of. The players decide if and when they are going to put their head and body at risk in a very collision contact sport. The players decide if they are going to take off work hours to get to training or the next game. The players decide if they can afford to spend money on the next event or the needed equipment. Right now the player is responsible for everything yet some feel it should be our right to tell them where they can play and with who? What about the guy in Alaska who can't get a full team and if he could would they all be able to travel the amount it would take to be top level? What about the guy in Mexico, Italy, Netherlands, Australia who has no MRDA team around? What about the guy who has started a league from the bottom but many of the players want to experience the sport more as a drinking league than that of a world class event? What about the guy who may only have a year, maybe two left in his body and he wants to have a chance to play at the highest level of the sport?

If the argument is that it is killing other leagues than all leagues should stop accepting players who ever played for another league...even if they agree to move to that city. That would assure every league of never losing a player unless they agree to quit the sport. If the argument is that the distance is the main concern, then how would you come up with a fair metric? New York City is SUPER populated yet they are using players from Mexico, California, Upstate New York and New Jersey. Even though many of those places are not too close and some are very close, imagine the 150 mile radius you could make around New York City or Philadelphia. Imagine the same radius in Fargo or Des Moines. Miles are not the issue, population is the issue. If Your Mom would be limited to only those in the city (we also have the Sioux City Kornstalkers in our state) than based on our metro population of around 700,000 people, they would need 4 teams in the St Louis Gatekeeper area and they would need 10 teams in the Dallas Outlaw area. Without even leaving the metro areas the population differences are drastic and allow so many more players to draw from. When Seattle loses a player, they should be able to draw from one of the other five teams that they should have based on population comparatively. If the argument is to move the last date to set the charter up earlier in the year, that sounds reasonable. It does not fix many of the issues that people are whispering about but it does help a take away some of the surprise.
We are sorry this was so long but we hope it gives you a bit more information into who we are and where we fit into the MRDA.

YOUR MOM needs you! Yes you! This is a CALL TO ACTION!

Your Mom is currently looking for a few brave souls who would like a chance to play with some great guys and be on one of the most consistent and successful Men's Roller Derby teams in the world. We have obscene plans for our team in 2016 so we need people ready to skate, hit, play together as one, go outside of your comfort zone and to see some cool places with quality people. If you think that is you, message us so we can invite you to our training space in West Des Moines.

Great athlete!

Gatorade | Abby Wambach | Forget Me Abby Wambach is the greatest American soccer player to ever step on the pitch. Pushing the sport forward, while championing the fight for equal rights, her i...

Your Mom Men's Roller Derby would like to thank all of the officials, staff, spectators, coaches and athletes who spent there weekend at our home rink, Skate West, helping some of the best skaters in the world chase their dreams. Good luck Team USA and we hope Your Mom has a few players wearing the stars and stripes in Canada.