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Innsbruck, Austria, may be a world away from Hollister, but that did not stop Berglind Burrows and her daughter, Madison Burrows, from traveling 6,000 miles earlier this month to compete in the prestigious 2025 Roller Derby World Cup for the Icelandic team.
“It feels great to be on the world stage,” Madison said, “particularly coming from such a small city in California. We were out there with all these huge, well-known teams. And there we were with little old Iceland, giving it our all.”
Teams from 48 countries participated in the World Cup, which began on July 3. The Icelandic team played in games on three of the four days of the competition, scoring wins against India’s Team Desi on the first day and Team Taiwan on the third. The team’s loss to Team Switzerland on the second day eliminated Iceland from playing in the last round.
By day a mild-mannered real estate agent, Berglind, who was born in Iceland, regularly competes with the Faultline Derby Devilz under her skater name, which is “Ice” Madison, aka “Maddie Massacre.” She joined the Devilz three years ago when she turned 18 and qualified for the Icelandic team by way of her mother’s lineage.
The Icelandic team scouted Berglind and Madison in February during the third visit the Devilz made to the country to compete.
“Our playing there was kind of our tryout,” Berglind said, “because we could not come back to Iceland for the regular tryouts. They have a very small pool of players to pull from, so they took both of us.”
Berglind had played for Iceland once before, in the 2018 World Cup held in Manchester, England. The team did not do well, coming in at 36th out of 38 teams. Berglind was a natural fit for her home country’s team. Madison, however, did not understand the Icelandic language and struggled a bit with the coaching.
“They were yelling at me,” Madison said, “And I would have to constantly say, ‘I do not understand what you’re telling me to do.’ Sometimes I would just play along.”
Berglind and Madison Burrows. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Team Iceland. Photo by Roller Lens (David Luys). 
Madison Burrows. Photo by Roller Lens (David Luys). 
Berglind Burrows. Photo by Roller Lens (David Luys). 
Madison Burrows. Photo by Roller Lens (David Luys). 
Innsbruck 2025 World Cup ID Passes. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Berglind and Madison Burrows. Photo courtesy of the Burrows family.
The World Cup, which Team USA won, was held in a spacious arena built for the 1965 Winter Olympics, an older building that, unfortunately, lacked sufficient air conditioning.
“They were in a heat wave,” Madison said. “There were thousands of people there and six different tracks going all the time. It was over 90 degrees inside for our first game. People would say, ‘Well, you’re from California. You’re used to it.’”
Despite the heat, the Icelandic team won that first game, played against Team Desi on July 3, by a remarkable score of 452-82.
“Even though we beat them by a lot,” Madison said, “It was still a fun, heavy-hitting game. They were good. They were knocking me all over the place.”
The next day, it was the team’s turn to be on the wrong side of a lopsided game, losing 308-80 against the much tougher Team Switzerland. Madison described it as “probably one of the toughest games I’ve ever played.”
“They were heavy hitters,” she said. “I’m the one who scores the points, and I had a hard time getting around them. I was constantly getting knocked down. They’d hit me out, pull me back, hit me out, pull me back. It was difficult.”
The third game, on July 5 against Team Taiwan, was played outside the main arena in an area with no air conditioning and brought the Icelanders back to form with a 369-69 win. Berglind attributed the team’s success to its rigorous training.
“Our team has a lot of players who are together all the time,” she said. “I feel like Team Taiwan really doesn’t play that often because they were kind of scattered.”
Berglind said she and Madison were the only mother-daughter competitors at the event, and their special bond proved to be an asset on the track.
“We kind of think alike,” she said. I know where she’s going to go, so if I’m blocking for her, I can clear for her. And if you play together a lot of the time, it’s going to make you play better on a team.”
Madison said that the connection between them was even noticed by the announcer at the game, who said it looked like the two women could read each other’s minds.
“And we really do,” she said. “When she’s blocking for me, she’ll hit people out of my way so that I can get through. And it’s nice having my mom out there because if anybody’s picking on me she’ll go and take them out.”
Even though the team finished close to the bottom again, coming in 39th out of 48 teams, Berglind said it was an honor to be part of such an important event and to represent Hollister as the head coach of the Derby Devilz.
Madison said that, for her, one of the biggest thrills was being able to watch the high-ranking teams up close and even meet some of the players.
“I got to see Team USA,” she said, “which is crazy. I don’t really think anyone had a chance against them. The goal is to one day skate with them, and they deserved their win, for sure.”
Visit the Faultline Derby Devilz website for information on joining the team or to purchase tickets for the upcoming Skate Happy Roller Derby event on July 27.
Photos of the Icelandic team at the Roller Derby can be found on the Flickr account of David Luys, AKA Roller Lens, including the matches against Team Desi, Team Switzerland and Team Taiwan.
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