Dual Hitizen leads Team France onto the track at the Roller Derby World Cup. (Donalee Eiri / Photography by D.E.sign.)

This past weekend the city of Toronto hosted the inaugural Roller Derby World Cup. This historic event featured the national teams of thirteen different countries and garnered plenty of media attention worldwide. The USA lived up to their status as overwhelming favorites, coasting past the opposition in every round, including the championship bout versus the host nation.

What does all this have to do with D.C.? The captain of the French national team was none other than D.C. Rollergirls’ Dual Hitizen.

Have you recovered yet from the drive home?

Ten hours is a long time! Especially when it comes after six bouts in four days… but there were four of us in the car, and there were many giggles along the way (and maybe a nap here and there.) Also: chiropractor! Went to see one when I got home and he cracked me back into shape.

So how did you and Team France do at the inaugural Roller Derby World Cup?

We placed 7th and are very proud of what we achieved over the course of the weekend! Our teamwork really improved over time and the blocking performed against Team New Zealand was just a thing of beauty! During the tournament, we faced off against teams such as Canada and England and survived (lost drastically, but let’s focus on the survival part, shall we?). We came out victors against Brazil (twice) and New Zealand. 7 out of 13, for an inaugural World Cup, when France has been playing derby for under 2 years is quite a feat!

Had you met any of your teammates before?

I had gone to France a month prior to the World Cup, to take part in the third and last Team France practice. I was able to meet and play with many of my teammates and that made a big difference, come tournament time. But I have to say, Team France is really easy to fall in love with! They made every effort to make me feel part of the family and I felt integrated right away. It’s as though I’ve known them for years and it was a true honor to be able to captain such a fine team!

How many of your teammates came all the way from France?

Every skater on the team is French and only three of us don’t currently live in France. Router Girl lives in Western Mass and plays with Pioneer Valley Roller Derby and Francey Pants just transferred to Montreal, so I look forward to playing her at Eastern Regionals in September! The rest of the skaters are either from the Paris Rollergirls, Roller Derby Toulouse or Les Petites Morts de Bordeaux.

Do your fellow nationals have a hard time pronouncing your derby name, what with the hard “H” and all?

Well, they mostly called me Dual, but with a stress on the -al, which made it strange at first, but I answer to it now… has a good rhythm to it! But yes, Hitizen did have a tendency to sound like Eat-Ease-Zen.

Where did you grow up? How long have you been a dual citizen, assuming you are one?

I was born a dual citizen. My mother is American and my father is French. I was born in France and lived there for about half my life. I’ve been living in the States for a little under two years now and although I try and pass for totally American, my lack of zombie and American Idol knowledge usually betray me in the end. I spent the rest of my life in places such as Portugal, Indonesia or China. I love living in different countries!

Dual Hitizen, Majority Whip. (James Calder)

When did you join the D.C. Rollergirls and what was your roller skating experience before joining?

I joined DCRG last April; I transferred from Pioneer Valley Roller Derby in Western Mass, where I had been skating since September 2010. Before that, I had not worn roller skates since my first pair of squeaky Fisher Price at age six. Roller blades were the height of cool when I was growing up, so of course, I owned a pair and skated at least, umm… three times a year in them! Not much of a skating background, I must admit, but I’ve always loved sports and have been doing team and contact sports for a very long time.

I understand some DCRG teammates made the road trip to Toronto to come cheer you on?

As we like to say, DCRG runs deep! I was deeply honored to have three of my fellow Whips make the trip to Toronto; namely Stabbygail Adams, Maria Malicia and Frak You. Several other league-mates also made the trip and all in all, there were about seven DCRG skaters at the World Cup. I am quite aware many of them would have made the trip even if I had not been skating, because, come on, it was the first ever Roller Derby World Cup! But when I skated, they were always there, track-side, cheering me on… and I am deeply honored to count them as my friends! My family being in France, it was difficult for them to make the trip so having DCRG there supporting me was very touching and very much appreciated. They also loved embarrassing at the same time, which is only fair!

Overall, how did you feel the event was organized?

I think that for a first event of this caliber it went surprisingly smoothly. The bouts were running on time, the Non Skating Officials and Referees were all awesome and there were even chiropractors on site for skaters and people working the event, which made a world of difference! I had an absolute blast and the event was the epitome of awesome. Sure, some things like the food and the spectator experience could and should be worked on, but overall, I think it was a true success.

Are you looking forward to skating with your Majority Whips teammates in this Saturday’s home bout against reigning champs Scare Force One?

Very much so! It’s funny, in many ways Team France reminded me of the Whips – new team, mostly new skaters, great team work and an amazing spirit and motivation. It really is a big family and it is truly an inspiration to skate with all these great women. I can’t wait to show Scare Force what we’ve got in store for them. It’s going to be a very tough bout, but I always have a blast when skating with the Whips!

What do you think about the talk of roller derby becoming an Olympic sport?

I am having trouble making my mind up on this issue. On the one hand, it would be amazing to see roller derby gain Olympic stature and maybe get a bit more mainstream attention. On the other, I wouldn’t want roller derby to lose it’s soul in the process. Roller derby is not about a business, it is about a big, weird family that is deeply passionate about what it does. Would it be great if we make the Olympics some day? Sure! But it has to be on our terms and to our rhythm. We shouldn’t rush into things or invent new rules because we think it will look better on TV. We do want to please our audience, but that doesn’t necessarily come from changing a couple of rules. What we need to do is make sure roller derby spreads around the world, virus-style! Also, to be eligible for Olympic consideration, the sport has to include both men’s and women’s teams. I, for one, am very much in favor of men’s derby, and support the Men’s Roller Derby Association wholeheartedly, but that is not necessarily a consensus in the derby world.

Are there any other questions you wanted to be asked?

Hmmm… well… my favorite food is chocolate! Other than that… actually, now that I think about it, the World Cup had another benefit–my family and friends in France had never seen a bout and had no real clue what roller derby really was. Sure, they had seen pictures, but as awesome as those are, they still do not completely relay what the sport is all about. This way, my parents, and even my grandparents got to watch me skate! And that is priceless… hurray for live coverage online! As for my most memorable moment of the World Cup, I would have to say that it was facing the New Zealand haka right before our bout against them and reacting to their tribal moves. That is not something I would have ever dreamed of being able to do!

You can see Dual Hitizen and the rest of the D.C. Rollergirls bouting this Saturday, 4pm at the Armory. All the details can be found on their newly redesigned website. For more on the Roller Derby World Cup, check out the official World Cup website and Derby News Network.

Dual Hitizen (second from left) and her French teammates take on Brazil. (Donalee Eiri / Photography by D.E.sign.)