When the final whistle blew at Championships in Montreal, no one could have anticipated that we’d soon be going years between WFTDA postseason games. With this extended offseason, still without an end in sight, there is lots of room to look back on the first Championship tournament hosted outside the US and some of the highlight performances of the weekend — including Gotham’s Bonita Apple Bomb’s historic MVP award.
The first black skater to win Champs MVP, and one of the few skater of colour to win MVP (MVP’s Rice Rocket — Texas, 2009 and Whippity Pow — Rocky Mountain, 2009 ), Bonita’s road to that award was long and arduous.
Starting with her rookie season with the Gold Medal winning Gotham Girls All Stars in 2013, she has had a history of performing in big games though. Playing 4 jams off the bench in that first Gold Medal game appearance, Bonita grew that to a mid rotation 16 jam, +5 performance in Gotham’s 2014 come from behind win in Nashville, including that game high 29–0 jam to start the 2nd half for Gotham.
Losing the 2015 season to injury and a long rehab, Bonita returned triumphant in 2016 with another 19 jam, +5 performance in Gotham’s 188–168 Hydra loss to Rose City.
In 2017, she helped ensure Gotham’s medal streak survived, putting up a 17 jam, +30 game alongside 0 penalties. Her +1.8 per jam differential leading all blockers.
2018’s Bronze medal rematch vs Denver saw Bonita finally have a track minus game (-16), but her 2 penalties and bend-but-don’t-break penalty kill jams against Scald Eagle helped Gotham hang on.
Taking on Co-Captaincy with the All Stars in 2018, and holding the Gotham home team Manhattan Mayhem Captaincy, Bonita entered that Montreal Championship with serious hardware and experience — 2 Gold Medals, 2 Silver Medals and 2 Bronze Medals. Alongside Violet Knockout, Bonita is the only remaining All Star from the 2013 Gotham Charter.
Her veteran experience has also meant that each year her role expands, either through adding or increasing roles like pivoting, increasing leadership, and building on the flexibility to change and play across lines — in 2019 she moved from her line with Roxy Dallas and VKO to help anchor a new line with Fast and Luce, new transfer pivot Yeti and Livvie.
One of the most decorated and tenured blockers in WFTDA, Bonita played the 4th most jams (240) for Gotham in 2019 and held down a 13% penalty percentage in her 9th season and 7th on charter. She posted a +40, 23 jam and 3 penalty game in their opener against host Montreal, but the clutch performance came in the biggest game of the year, to that point at least, in the semi final.
Gotham struggled in season 2019 with roster turnover and major injuries. They hit a low point at Thin Air Throwdown, dropping a 71 point loss to VRDL, the team’s first ever loss to the Australians. They needed no extra motivation for their rematch in Montreal.
Bonita delivered again, a 17 jam performance with a +9 track rating in the 6 point win, second only to her line mate Fast and Luce (+23). The win ensured Gotham’s medal streak would live on another year, now sitting at an impressive 10 years before the pandemic break, and the Co-Captain was part of the leadership that returned Gotham back to the Sunday night Hydra bout and back to a silver medal.
Her WFTDA highlight reel from Montreal is a great representation of her skill set — tight, positional blocking with great versatility and communication. She absorbs contact, sucks away any potential space a jammer could use and flips seamlessly between roles on the track while staying calm and in control. She is not a flashy skater, any big hit you see will be with purpose and well timed, but she is a winner — consistently prepared to do what it takes for her team to have success.
Bonita’s MVP win was celebrated by her teammates and league mates, but her trajectory and story is an inspiration to many. The first black skater to win Champs MVP, she’s a clear inspiration to black skaters who are under represented in the sport and who experience racism and white supremacy.
Bonita is also an inspiration to skaters who have faced down serious injury, rehab and return. A lost season didn’t deter her, she came back stronger and continued to build on her skill set.
Veteran skaters rarely win MVP awards, especially blockers, but Bonita’s career has been about getting better every year, adding on greater and greater responsibility and returning her team to medal year in and year out. 2020 would have been her 10th season, and a big season for Gotham who looked to build off of their 2019 Silver Medal performance with a healthy squad. We will never know what that 2020 Gotham team could have achieved, but we can all look back on Bonita’s 2019 MVP win and find inspiration.
Every single jam counts.
This article was made possible with the help of Flat Track Stats, the WFTDA Stats Repo (RIP), the WFTDA Youtube Channel Archive, the WFTDA Sports Information Booklet, and Nate who always answers my emails.
