IN THE BEGINNING ....
In 2006, there was only one all-male team playing under the standardized rules of the WFTDA—Pioneer Valley's Dirty Dozen. After meeting some of the Dirty Dozen players at a Philly Roller Girls bout, Charm City's head referee Justice Feelgood Marshall got disturbingly excited about the idea of being able to play the game instead of just yell at people from the infield, and Charm City invited Pioneer Valley to come down to Baltimore and play a 15-minute exhibition against the Charm City ref squad during the halftime of their first championship bout on September 16, 2006.
This was technically a co-ed bout, as the Charm City refs played with two female refs on their team (Craftabitch and future CCRG star Deathany) while PVRD played all-male. It wasn't the prettiest or cleanest bout ever played, but it was a crowd-pleaser, with the Charm City refs barely squeaking out a 33-30 win.
After that exhibition, Justice decided that once was not enough, and started rounding up Charm City's support staff, fans, friends, and significant others in an effort to form a real all-men's team in Baltimore. While it was slow going in the beginning, the Harm City Homicide was eventually born in the spring of 2007, and played its first public bout in Northhampton, Massachusetts against Pioneer Valley on September 8, 2007. The less experienced Homicide gave the home team a bit of a scare, leading 30-26 at halftime of the 40 minute bout, but endurance troubles—and PVRD's indomitable jammer Dr. Spankenstein—would sink the Homicide in their debut, with Pioneer Valley taking the win 100-67.
Homicide's next public appearance as a team would be a month later in October 2007, as they had their home debut against the New York Shock Exchange, brother league of Gotham Girls Roller Derby, in a 20 minute expo at halftime of the 2007 Charm City championship. The Shock Exchange dominated in that battle, 97-14, but the response of the Baltimore crowd showed that it was more than ready to welcome the boys into the derby family.
Since then, members of Harm City Homicide have participated with Pioneer Valley, New York and the most recent addition to the male derby scene—Connecticut's Death Quads—in a number of regional expo events that have increased the visibility of dudes in derby. In October 2007, HCH, PVRD and NYSE played in a mixup scrimmage during the intermissions of Providence Roller Derby's championship bout. In February 2008, the same teams got together in Baltimore to play for 20 minutes before Charm City vs. Ohio (this was a derby first, as it represented the first time that men's teams had shared a floor with WFTDA teams during an interleague bout.) And in March 2008, the Death Quads debuted their founding members, jumping in the mix in a 30 minute bout in Connecticut before Providence vs. Connecticut.
In April 2008, Harm City partnered with Pioneer Valley and New York to form the Men's Derby Coalition, a loose federation dedicated to helping men's leagues organize all across the country and raising awareness about men's flat-track roller derby. (It turns out that there ARE balls in derby after all!)
Homicide's next scheduled bout is a rematch against the New York Shock Exchange on June 29, 2008 in what will be another men's derby milestone—the very first full-length, 60 minute men's bout played under WFTDA rules. Will the Homicide become the first team to shock the currently undefeated boys from the Big Apple? Come up to Kendall Park, New Jersey on June 29 and find out!
Harm City Homicide would like to thank the many women's leagues who have supported our efforts to play the game we love—Charm City Roller Girls, DC Rollergirls, Connecticut Rollergirls, Gotham Girls Roller Derby, Providence Roller Derby, New Jersey Dirty Dames, Duke City Derby, West Texas Roller Dollz, Cincinnati Roller Girls, and more.