About the League

Concussion Roller Derby (CRD), formerly the Lane County Concussion (LCC), is an open-gender flat track roller derby league in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, playing in both Salem and Eugene/Springfield. CRD is a Men’s Roller Derby Association (MRDA) member league of amateur skaters, playing both competitively and recreationally at the local, regional and international level. Our mission is to promote athleticism, sportsmanship, teamwork, safety, fun, and friendship in our community through playing and propagating the great sport of flat track roller derby.

The Origins of the CRD

CRD was initially founded in Eugene/Springfield, Oregon, where the idea of men’s roller derby first came up in 2009 when male mascots and referees for the Emerald City Roller Derby (ECRD) started discussing it at parties after the women’s bouts. Once many of these early pioneers attended a co-ed scrimmage in Portland, they caught the roller derby bug. This led to the creation of the Lane County Concussion in November of 2009, a catchy alliterative name for the county in which both Eugene and Springfield preside and alluding to the hard blows and collisions which frequent the sport. Among the founding members were JF Kaos (LCC’s first president), Captain Cream Puff, General Nebulous, Han Cholo, and Merby Dick.

After practicing twice per week for over a year and with plenty of help from the ECRD and Cherry City Roller Derby, the Concussion had its first bout in December of 2010 against Portland Men’s Roller Derby. You can watch it, the first men’s roller derby bout in Oregon, here.

The Big O and MRDA

In February 2012, the Concussion teamed up with ECRD to host the first Big O Tournament, an annual roller derby event featuring some of the best teams in the world with three tracks of women’s, junior, and men’s roller derby in Lane County over the course of three days. At the event, it was announced that LCC had been accepted for admission into the Men’s Roller Derby Association, the governing body for men’s roller derby.

The Concussion continued to have an integral role assisting ECRD host The Big O during the tournament’s 10 year tenure, helping it become one of the biggest and most iconic roller derby tournaments in the world. Concussion members even worked along side staff from ESPN to broadcast the tournament, which made The Big O the only regular-season flat track roller derby tournament broadcast on their channels.

MRDA in Oregon

Eugene and Springfield weren’t the only places in Oregon where men wanted to try their hand (or skates) at flat track roller derby. At one point, Oregon’s Willamette Valley was home to three active MRDA leagues; The Concussion would compete with Salem’s Star City Offense and in the Portland Men’s Roller Derby (PMRD) home team season against their Holy Rollin’ Empire, Honey Badgers, and Bone Daddies, as well as against their B-team the Bridgetown Brawlers. PMRD was always a force to be reckoned with, their Bridgetown Menace took home the silver medal at MRDA Championships in both 2017 and 2018, the latter tournament being co-hosted by PMRD and CRD in Salem.

Photo courtesy of Regularman Photography: Website, Facebook, Instagram.

Today, Concussion Roller Derby is proud to have members with histories at all these leagues, as well as many other MRDA, WFTDA and JRDA leagues around Oregon and elsewhere. We became Concussion Roller Derby to honor all of our members as we’ve grown beyond just Lane County, and we’re thrilled to take the track together as opposed to against one another.

CRD Today

Today, Concussion seeks to have fun and build lifelong friendships while scratching its members’ competitive itch, improve in the MRDA standings, and helping members get in their best athletic shape. We do not discriminate based on gender, race, sexual orientation, class, skating style, lack of skating style, or pad stinkiness.

We believe in honesty, sportsmanship, respect, and inclusiveness. Our members from a variety of backgrounds and vary in age from 18 to 75. Though the majority of our skaters live in Springfield/Eugene, Salem, or Portland Oregon, we have also had players commute from Corvallis, Bend, The Dalles and elsewhere. For some of our members, roller derby is their first team sport. Some had never even put on skates before coming to a CRD practice. And, still others grew up playing hockey or hanging around the skating rink.

No matter the background, the members of CRD bond over a love for the sport of flat track roller derby. We are a tight-knit group that is always open to new members. Our doors are open to men, women and non-binary skaters and non-skaters of any ability. Our league would not be possible without the CRD Army of volunteers who help us put on bouts.

If you are interested in getting involved with men’s roller derby in Oregon or getting in shape, do not hesitate to contact the Concussion.