Hey folks! The 2009 WFTDA National Tournament is THIS WEEKEND! Check out the WCR preview on Derby News Network now, as well as the other team previews, and if you can't get to Philly, check in there all weekend to follow the tournament action on the liveblogs and videocasts. We'll have a tournament preview later this week, but meanwhile, enjoy this interview with O.G. Windy City Roller and vet All-Star Athena DeCrime

Loco Chanel: You've been on the All-Star team since the 2006 Dust Devil, and as the announcers like to say, "a five year veteran". This year marks your third trip to Nationals and the team is coming in as a #1 seed. How would you compare each season?

Athena DeCrime: Having been around for so long, it's been amazing to watch the evolution of the sport. It's grown from something that happened on a somewhat insular level in separate cities to a national movement. Windy City's growth has followed that evolution-- we first skated on a non-regulation track and then jumped into the national scene with a bunch of adolescent know-it-all swagger.

Going to Dust Devil '06 was like going off to college- we found out really quickly how many things we did not know. Each subsequent season has held so many lessons in part because the sport is constantly evolving, but also because we've had a relatively stable team core and therefore haven't had to reinvent the wheel each year, leaving room for growth and progress. A lot of effort goes into keeping up with the changes in the sport and making sure our game play reflects that.

I know you and the rest of the team have your eyes on the big prize in Philly in November, but you'll need to beat either Kansas City or Denver advance to the top 4. Either opponent will be a team you haven't seen this season. What are your thoughts going into that first game?

I haven't gotten to watch KC very closely this season, so I'm excited to see what they're bringing to Nationals. Thanks to DNN, I've been able to see a couple of Denver's bouts. [Total aside, I think DNN's boutcasts are partly responsible for how much the sport has been able to grow nationally.] Denver has a distinctive style of play that's been successful for them thus far this year, so KC's main challenge will be to still play their own game while defending against such a unified plan of action.

Last year, you spent a good part of July and August at "roller derby summer camp" and some of this got caught on film. Can you tell us more about that experience?

You know, having a similar build and facial structure to an SNL actress resulted in a summer I'll never forget.

During "roller derby summer camp" you had the opportunity to skate on a banked track and also have arts & crafts sessions with top players from all over the country who were also in attendance. It must have been really fun and inspiring to spend time skating with so many kickass skaters. Who were your favorites? What were your takeaways from that part of the experience?

One of the best things about derby camp, aside from the sheer once-in-a-lifetimeness of it all was the reinforcement of the community aspect of roller derby. Flat track skaters from Detroit, Atlanta, and Grand Rapids got to skate with banked track skaters from LA and Texas and it was still the same derby family environment I'm used to at home.

Skating on a banked track was a blast; although I'm proud to be part of the flat-track part of roller derby's history, it was thrilling to be able to play on the type of track on which derby was born.

The derby community is full of passionate, driven individuals and it's inspiring to be a part of that.