May 17th-18th the Fairbanks Rollergirls hosted teams from Whitehorse and across the state in Alaska’s first roller derby tournament. United We Roll kicked off at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks, Alaska, Friday, May 17th with multiple seeding bouts. At the end of the night the six teams were ranked: #1 Orange Crush (Anchorage); #2 Yukon Rollergirls (Whitehorse); #3 Juneau Rollergirls; #4 Fairbanks Raven Rebels; #5 Denali Destroyer Dolls (Wasilla); #6:  Fairbanks Gold Diggers.

Saturday afternoon the tournament got rolling as the Fairbanks Raven Rebels defeated Denali and Juneau defeated the Gold Diggers; The Rebels went on to beat #1 seed Orange Crush as Yukon defeated Juneau.  Final bout of the night was won by Yukon as they defeated the Rebels 179 to 120.

The Yukon Rollergirls were thrilled to be part of this event. Yukon Captains Bonanza Babe and The Fighting Mongoose stated, “With this tournament Fairbanks is bringing derby in the north to a whole new level. This has been a fantastic opportunity. We are so happy to be part of it.”  Rebel Co-Captain SaBOBtage said, “Fairbanks is now on the roller derby map. The showing of skating and sportswomanship at the United We Roll tournament shows that Roller Derby is a great sport."

A portion of the proceeds for the tournament will go to United Way of the Tanana Valley. The Fairbanks Rollergirls will kick off their next season in September. For more information go to fairbanksrollergirls.org.