ST. PAUL (WJON News) -- A Minnesota sports league is celebrating 20 years of bringing fast action, hard hits, and fun to the Roy Wilkins Auditorium.  Minnesota Roller Derby (MNRD) first took to the flat track in 2004 and held their first bout at Roy Wilkins in 2005.

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PHOTO couresty of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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PHOTO couresty of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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MNRD is a skater-owned flat-track roller derby league originally founded as Minnesota RollerGirls by the Donnelly sisters. Public Relations Manager and skater, Val Kyrie says it’s incredible to be celebrating 20 years:

"To have a league around that long, especially being skater-owned, skater run, and it's all volunteer, you know like I said we don't get paid for it, is a huge milestone."

PHOTO couresty of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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Kyrie says there is not a better venue in the country for their sport than Roy Wilkins Auditorium and they are blessed to have a relationship with it for the last two decades.  She says the production value at the auditorium is outstanding with lights, music, and a halftime dance party

PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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Kyrie says they do everything for the love of the sport and they couldn’t do any of it without their great fans:

"It's really just kind of amazing to me right because we're a very grassroots sport in general, our league is very grassroots and so to see us have that much popularity and bring that much entertainment value to the general public that they keep coming back again and again and introducing others that come back again and again is just fantastic."

PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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MNRD has grown over the 20 years by adding the Windchill recreation program as a way to introduce new skaters to the sport and in 2018 added a junior roller derby program called the Minnesota Frostbite. MNRD has four teams in the league the Bodies of Water, Maul Rats, Roller Vortex, and Wednesday Warnings.

PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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They host bouts between from October through March, and there is also the Travel Season that runs from April through July so Kyrie says there is really no offseason.

MNRD’s next bout takes place on February 8th. You can tune into WJON on Saturday at 7:35 a.m. after the news to hear our full conversation with Val Kyrie about Minnesota Roller Derby.

PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
PHOTO courtesy of Ron Wilbur and Minnesota Roller Derby
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