Understanding National Rankings

What’s all this talk about “National Rankings?”

Much like other sports, various Flat Track Roller Derby organizations keep track of teams and how they perform against each other. Currently, there are 3 main systems that rank Flat Track Roller Derby teams across the country and each system uses different methods. Sometimes at our Dirty South Derby Girls games you’ll see some large gaps between the teams’ scores. These point spreads contribute directly to how the Atlanta Rollergirls are ranked by each of the 3 main systems. Currently, there is no “mercy rule” in the sport of Flat Track Roller Derby to keep higher skilled teams from racking up the points and it’s in the interest of the team to do so for ranking purposes.

Below are the 3 main ranking systems that are most closely watched in the world of Flat Track Roller Derby with some info on each. You can visit the websites listed for more information on each method.

WFTDA
The WFTDA (Women’s Flat Track Derby Association) as an organization determines it’s rankings based on the input of all member leagues quarterly.
For its quarterly rankings, the WFTDA ranks by regions only (see regions here). After the national tournament each year in November or December, the WFTDA releases the official national rankings of the top seven teams in the nation.

For the first quarter of 2010, ARG is in 3rd place in the South Central Region.

More Info: http://www.wftda.com/

flattrackstats.com
This website has 2 main goals. From their site:

“We aim to do two things with this website:

Aggregate WFTDA inter-league bout statistics and present them in a clear, accessible form.
Develop a computerized ranking system that will help skaters and fans interpret the most recent inter-league bout results.”

On April 27th, 2010, ARG was ranked 18th in the nation. These rankings can change on a daily basis.

More Info: http://www.flattrackstats.com

Derby News Network
DNN is the leading source of derby scores and game recaps. From the DNN website:

“DNN Power Rankings are determined by the consensus of Derby News Network principals Gnosis, Justice Feelgood Marshall, and Hurt Reynolds. And by consensus, we mean each of us cooks up our own take on the rankings, then we compare them, marvel at the parts where our conclusions were identical, accuse each other of possible mental disorders where we differ, and eventually find common ground.”

Atlanta is ranked 19th in the April 2010 Power Rankings!

More info: http://www.derbynewsnetwork.com/

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