Women's Flat Track Derby Association

Women's Flat Track Derby Association

WFTDA logo
Sport	Roller Derby
Founded	2004
Country(ies)	Australia  Canada  Finland  Germany  Sweden  United Kingdom  United States
Most recent champion(s)	Gotham Girls Roller Derby (New York City)
Most titles	Gotham with three
Official website	WFTDA.com

The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is an association of women's flat track roller derby leagues around the world. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Coalition (ULC)^[1] but was renamed in November 2005.^[1][2] It is registered in Raleigh, North Carolina^[3] as a 501(c)(6) business league organization, which is a type of non-profit organization. According to its mission statement, the organization "promotes and fosters the sport of women's flat track roller derby by facilitating the development of athletic ability, sportsmanship, and goodwill among member leagues" and its governing philosophy is "by the skaters, for the skaters" — the primary owners, managers, and operators of each member league and of the association are women skaters, although this does not preclude any particular business structure (leagues don't have to be legally incorporated or internally egalitarian). The mission statement also says WFTDA sets "standards for rules, seasons, and safety, and determining guidelines for the national and international athletic competitions of member leagues" and says "all member leagues have a voice in the decision-making process, and agree to comply with WFTDA policies."^[4]

History [edit]

2004 [edit]

In its first year, the ULC was an informal electronic message board through which established leagues compared notes in order to prepare for interleague play, and it was also used to exchange information to help new leagues that were just getting started.

2005 [edit]

The ULC evolved into a more formal organization in July 2005, when representatives of 20 leagues met in Chicago to discuss establishing a governing body for women's flat-track roller derby. At the meeting, a voting system was established, as was a set of goals and a timeline was established for facilitating interleague play. Among these goals was the production of a standard track design and standard game rules. The design and rules which were settled upon and distributed later that year.

In November 2005, the ULC voted to change its name to the Women's Flat Track Derby Association.^[4]

2006 [edit]

In early 2006, a track design and rules were published on the organization's fledgling web site. By that time, the organization had grown to 30 leagues, a cap decided upon at the July 2005 meeting.^[1][5]

Induction of new member leagues was postponed until revised membership requirements could be discussed at the next face-to-face meeting, scheduled for the end of May. However, in February 2006, soon after the initial requirements were published and following the fragmentation of several leagues, a "multi-league per city" clause was added to the membership requirements. Although throughout early and mid-2006 the clause was listed as a requirement for membership, WFTDA's web site was later updated to state that the policy is "unofficial". WFTDA also claims the policy is intended to uphold goodwill between members — by excluding leagues not likely to find favor with established members — as well as to prevent rival leagues in the same city from being privy to each other's "proprietary information."^[6]

Following the May 2006 meeting, a press release was issued to promote the organization and publicize the meeting.^[5] The June statement covered the following points:

• Representatives of the "30 founding leagues" met to discuss rules, business structure, skill standards, rankings and future tournaments.
• 30 more leagues were slated to be inducted in late summer^[7] 2006, bringing the total membership to 60.
• Version Two of the WFTDA Flat Track Derby Standardized Rules for Interleague Play was announced as forthcoming in late summer, 2006.
• Changes to the member league divisions were announced (see table below).
• A 2007 tournament schedule was announced.

In addition, Eastern and Western divisions, delineated by the Mississippi River, were announced. Thus, each member league is either Eastern or Western, and Division 1, 2 or 3.

In September 2006, new membership was reopened.^[4]

2007 [edit]

By late August 2007, WFTDA membership was up to forty-three leagues.^[8][9] On August 15, 2007, WFTDA announced it had struck a deal with the MavTV network to record, edit and broadcast the 2007 Eastern Regional Tournament as a weekly series of 12 one-hour episodes (one episode per bout).^[10]

In mid-2007, WFTDA's Web site was updated to reflect changes in the requirements for placement in the three divisions: it is now based on seniority, as measured by readiness for inter-league play and the number of seasons completed while a WFTDA member (see table below).^[11]

In September 2007, WFTDA was admitted to USA Roller Sports (USARS) as a Class V member — a national amateur roller skating organization — and a WFTDA delegate joined the USARS Board of Directors.^[12]

2008 [edit]

In February 2008, WFTDA announced that leagues from Canada would be eligible for membership.^[13]

In June 2008, the WFTDA Rules Committee created a Question and Answer forum to "provide definitive and final answers about the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association Standard Rules.

In July 2008, WFTDA began a referee certification program.^[14]

In September 2008, WFTDA had grown to 60 leagues, and the official WFTDA magazine fiveonfive began publication.

In November 2008, a flyer was published announcing that for 2009, WFTDA member leagues would be divided into four regions, rather than two: West, South Central, North Central, and East.^[15] Each region has a tournament scheduled, followed by a national championship:

• September 11–13, 2009: Eastern Regionals in Raleigh, NC
• September 18–20, 2009: North Central Regionals in St. Paul, MN
• September 25–27, 2009: South Central Regionals in Atlanta, GA
• October 2–4, 2009: Western Regionals in Denver, CO
• November 6–8, 2009: Nationals in Philadelphia, PA

2009 [edit]

In January 2009, Montreal Roller Derby became the first Canadian league admitted as a member. The league was WFTDA's 66th member, and was placed in the East region.^[16][17]

Also in January, the WFTDA announced it would stop accepting applications for new membership from February until July, so that it could concentrate on internal restructuring in order to, among other things, "grow the scope" of the organization.^[18]

In April 2009 the WFTDA published revised rules, WFTDA Rules 4.0. The revised rule-set became effective for all WFTDA sanctioned bouts on June 1, 2009.^[19]

In May 2009, the first officially sanctioned international WFTDA bout was played between Montreal Roller Derby and Harrisburg Area Roller Derby at the Olympic Skating Center in Enola, PA.

In July 2009, the WFTDA announced its new apprentice program for aspiring member leagues that replaced its traditional membership application process. The program is designed to act as a "WFTDA 101" tutorial, and will match new leagues with an established WFTDA mentor, who will guide the apprentice through the processes and requirements necessary to becoming a full member. Upon completion of the program, apprentice leagues will have the knowledge (and the recommendations) needed to apply for full WFTDA membership.

In November 2009 the WFTDA opened for worldwide membership and the London Rollergirls became the first league outside North America to join as apprentice members.^[20]

2010 [edit]

In June 2010, the WFTDA announced the first round of Apprentice league graduates, and formed two new regions outside of the United States. (Leagues in those regions will compete in the closest US region until they develop more fully.)^[21]

2012 [edit]

In March 2012, Bear City Roller Derby from Berlin, Germany became the WFTDA's first full member league in continental Europe.^[22]

Championship tournaments [edit]

Each WFTDA region holds a tournament in September or October: the Eastern, North Central, South Central and Western Regional Tournaments. The top three leagues in each tournament qualify for the WFTDA Championships, held in November. The winner of the Championships is awarded the Hydra Trophy. Together, the four qualifying tournaments and Championships are termed the "Big 5".^[23]

List of winners of WFTDA Championship Tournaments:^[24]

1. 2006 - Texas Rollergirls Texecutioners - 2006 Dust Devil
2. 2007 - Kansas City Roller Warriors All Stars - Texas Shootout 2007
3. 2008 - Gotham Girls Roller Derby All-Stars - Northwest Knockdown
4. 2009 - Oly Rollers Cosa Nostra Donnas - Declaration of Derby
5. 2010 - Rocky Mountain Rollergirls 5280 Fight Club - Uproar on the Lakeshore
6. 2011 - Gotham Girls Roller Derby All-Stars - Continental Divide and Conquer
7. 2012 - Gotham Girls Roller Derby All-Stars - Grits and Glory

WFTDA league divisions [edit]

Member leagues [edit]

As of December 3, 2012, 172 leagues are WFTDA members:^[16]

Apprentice Leagues [edit]

As of December 2012, 95 leagues are enrolled in WFTDA's Apprentice Program:^[26]

Many roller derby leagues that are not WFTDA members use the WFTDA rules.^{[citation needed]}

Former members [edit]

• Orange County Roller Girls - Orange County, CA (January 2008–March 2009)^[27][28]
• East Texas Bombers - Tyler, TX (November 2005-July 2009)^[29]
• Salt City Derby Girls - Salt Lake City, UT (March 2011)^[30]
• Gem City Rollergirls - Dayton, OH (July 2007-November 2010) - became an Apprentice member^[31]
• Rollergirls of Southern Indiana

Rankings [edit]

Member teams unranked at this time:

• Black Rose Rollers
• Central City Roller Girls
• Charlottesville Derby Dames
• Cheyenne Capidolls
• Circle City Derby Girls
• Classic City Rollergirls
• Crime City Rollers
• Derby Revolution of Bakersfield
• Diamond State Roller Girls
• Gainesville Roller Rebels
• Gent Go Go Rollergirls
• Glasgow Roller Derby
• Glass City Rollers
• Green Country Roller Girls
• Helsinki Roller Derby
• Lilac City Roller Girls
• Lincolnshire Bombers Roller Girls
• Little Steel Derby Girls
• Magnolia Roller Vixens
• Mason-Dixon Roller Vixens
• Mississippi Valley Mayhem
• Rainy City Roller Dolls
• Royal Windsor Rollergirls
• Sick Town Derby Dames
• SoCal Derby
• Stockholm Roller Derby

Notes [edit]

External links [edit]

• WFTDA web site
• fiveonfive - Official Magazine of the WFTDA
• Blood and Thunder Magazine
• Derby News Network - Comprehensive WFTDA Bout Data and News
• Flat Track Stats - Statistical Aggregation of WFTDA Sanctioned Roller Derby