Arizona Roller Derby

Arizona Roller Derby is Arizona's first all female roller derby league. It was founded in 2003 making it one of the oldest resurgence roller derby leagues in America. Arizona Roller Derby, abbreviated as AZRD, is one of the founding members[1] of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association.[2]

Arizona Roller Derby
Metro areaPhoenix, Arizona
CountryUnited States
Founded2003
TeamsArizona All-Stars (A team)
Arizona Rising (B teams)
Bad News Beaters
Surlies
Midnight Storm
Skate Riot Project
Rumbleweeds
Valley Rollers
Desert Phantoms
Track type(s)Flat
VenueAbility 360 Sports and Fitness Center
AffiliationsWFTDA (West Region)
Org. typenon-profit
Websitearizonarollerderby.com

AZRD is based in Phoenix, Arizona and holds their games at Ability 360.

History

Tucson splits to form TRD

In the early days of AZRD, there was a separate chapter in Tucson called Tucson-Arizona Roller Derby, which had a single team called the Furious Truckstop Waitresses. The logistics of being a two-city league were not cost-effective, and the chapter split from AZRD to create Tucson Roller Derby.[3] Upon its split from AZRD, Tucson Roller Derby became the first 501(c) roller derby league in the nation.[3]

Rules and league splits

The first AZRD games were "no rules/no holds barred".[4] As the overall sport was starting to evolve and establish rules, some skaters would split away from AZRD to form other leagues:

  • AZRD team French Kiss Army left AZRD to form Renegade Rollergirls, a league that continues to play the no-rules no-holds-barred style of roller derby.
  • In 2005, four skaters from AZRD left to create Arizona Derby Dames (AZDD), with the ambition of becoming a banked track roller derby league. After skating four seasons on a flat track, AZDD became a banked track organization in 2010.

Arizona Bruisers, LLC

In 2007, members of the Bruisers team, with the aim of raising funds specific to the team and having more opportunities to skate, formed a limited liability company (LLC) called Arizona Bruisers, LLC.[5] Citing violations of the league's "non-compete" policies, AZRD threatened the skaters with expulsion from the league. In addition, issues were reported as a result of the registration of the name "Bruisers" with the Arizona Corporation Commission relating to an agreement that AZRD has with the Brewcity Bruisers, a WFTDA member league from Milwaukee.

In January, 2008, despite efforts to settle differences, the Arizona Bruisers announced that they were now independent of Arizona Roller Derby in an effort to position themselves as a high-level travel team.[6] AZRD continued to use the "Bruisers" name for one of their home teams.

After two scrimmages between a squad from Duke City Derby and the Copper Queens from Tucson Roller Derby, the Arizona Bruisers would eventually be called the Phoenix City Rollers and then by March, 2008 would ultimately dissolve.[7]

The Bruisers were revived as one of the four AZRD bouting teams. For the 2009–2010 season, amid a declining membership experienced in 2008 and 2009, AZRD reduced the number of home teams from 4 to 3. As a result, AZRD would use the name "Bruisers" to identify their secondary travel team (or B-Team). This reflects an ongoing trend in WFTDA to form B-teams to help develop skaters to eventually play on the sanctioned travel (A) team as well as to help train apprentice leagues. They were "reinstated" as a beginner home team squad in 2012, only to be removed once again due to membership fluctuations.

Restructure as a 501(c) corporation

At a 2010 league meeting, AZRD league management decided to restructure the league from a limited liability company to a non-profit corporation under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code. This allowed the league to solicit tax deductible funding from sponsors.[8]

Travel Teams
2006 map showing the first 30 WFTDA member leagues

The Tent City Terrors, named after the Tent City jail created by Sheriff Joe Arpaio as a cost-effective way to address jail overcrowding,[9] is AZRD's travel team that plays in bouts sanctioned by WFTDA.

In 2012, Arizona qualified for West Region Playoffs as the 7th seed, and finished the tournament in 10th place.[10]

In 2014, Arizona made their first appearance at Division 1 Playoffs in Evansville, Indiana, entering the weekend as the 10th seed, and finishing in 5th place.[11] Arizona returned to D1 Playoffs in 2015 as the 8th seed in Tucson, and finished in 9th place.[12]

In 2016 Arizona finished their D1 Playoff again in 9th place, having entered the Vancouver tournament as the 10th seed.[13] In 2016, a second travel team was founded, Phoenix Rising. In August 2016, they played against five teams from California in the Golden Bowl, a tournament hosted by Bay Area Derby.[14]

In 2017, Arizona lost the opening game of the Dallas Division 1 playoff 163–108 to Philly Roller Derby,[15] and also lost their consolation round game to Dallas Derby Devils, 183–153.[16] The league announced in September 2017 that they would be retiring the Tent City Terrors name following the 2017 season.[17]

In 2018 the league declined their invitation to the WFTDA Playoffs in A Coruña, Spain.[18]

A third travel team, The Chain Gang is a mixture of state and city level skaters and has skated against teams in Arizona and Texas.

In 2018, the league rebranded their travel teams. The Tent City Terrors is now the Arizona All-Stars, Arizona Rising has remained the same and The Chain Gang is now the Rumbleweeds.

Rankings
Season Final ranking[19] Playoffs Championship
2006 4 WFTDA[20] — 3[21]
2007 12 WFTDA[22] R2 W[23] R1[24]
2008 N/A[25] DNQ DNQ
2009 12 W[26] DNQ DNQ
2010 13 W[27] DNQ DNQ
2011 13 W[28] DNQ DNQ
2012 13 W[29] 10 W[10] DNQ
2013 72 WFTDA[30] DNQ DNQ
2014 34 WFTDA[31] 5 D1[11] DNQ
2015 36 WFTDA[32] 9 D1[12] DNQ
2016 35 WFTDA[33] 9 D1[13] DNQ
2017 29 WFTDA[34] CR D1[16] DNQ
2018 20 WFTDA[35] DNP[18] DNQ
  • CR = consolation round
  • DNP = did not play

Home teams

For Season 17 in 2020, Arizona Roller Derby has six home teams competing at two levels.

AZRD's four state teams play each other in intra-league play, as well as teams from Tucson, Flagstaff, and Northern Arizona in the Arizona State Conference. They are:

  • Skate Riot Project have a project mayhem theme. Their colors are neon green and pink.
  • The Bad News Beaters have a baseball theme. Their colors are blue and yellow.[36]
  • The Surlies have a pirate theme. Their colors are black and red.[37]
  • Midnight Storm have a storm theme. Their colors are silver and purple.

One team bridges the gap between the city and state level skaters, the Rumbleweeds.

City level teams play each other at home bouts. They are:

  • The Valley Rollers have a casino theme. Their colors are green and gold.[38]
  • The Desert Phantoms have a dark phantom theme. Their colors are black and purple.[39]

Cycles

Prior to being drafted to a team, new skaters go through three training cycles. In the first (C1), they learn basic skate skills to ensure safety. In the second, (C2), new skaters begin to learn basic elements of game play and contact, and in the third (C3) they begin scrimmaging and learning more advanced game play techniques, preparing them for being placed on a city team.

Junior Roller Derby

AZRD has an open junior roller derby program for kids age 8-17, founded in 2010. There are two junior home teams, and a travel team that participates in play at the national level. Once junior skaters turn 18, they can become eligible to begin skating on an adult team. The junior skaters play under the Junior Roller Derby Association (JRDA) ruleset.

Standings

2008–2009 Season

Seed Team Bouts Win Lose PF PA (+/-)
Bruisers 2 2 0 196 118 +39.0
Brawlarinas 3 2 1 299 252 +15.6
Bad News Beaters 2 1 1 218 198 +10.0
Surly Gurlies 3 0 3 213 358 -48.3

The April 2009 bout between the Beaters and the Bruisers was cancelled as a result of flooding at the Castle Sports Club.[40] AZRD decided to do the Championship bout in the format of a round-robin tournament involving all 4 teams. In the tournament, the Surly Gurlies, a team who had an 0–3 regular season record would win all three of their games and be the 2008–2009 AZRD Champions.[41]

2007–2008 Season

Seed Team Bouts Win Lose PF PA (+/-)
1 Bad News Beaters 3 3 0 350 210 +46.7
Bruisers (see note) 3 1 2 207 212 -4.3
2 Surly Gurlies 3 1 2 212 258 -15.3
3 Brawlarinas 3 1 2 190 271 -27.0

During this season a group of skaters who were mainly on the Bruisers left AZRD to form their own independent team. The one win in the record was from the pre-split Bruiser team. A new Bruiser team was formed mid-season with Ivanna S. Pankin as team captain. At the end of the season, it was decided that the Surly Gurlies and the Brawlarinas would be moved up in the rankings and those three teams would go to the post season.

Playoff Game: (#2)Surly Gurlies 74 vs. (#3)Brawlarinas 60 - Surly Gurlies advance to the Championship Game.

Championship Game: (#1)Bad News Beaters 113 vs. Surly Gurlies 50 - Bad News Beaters win championship.

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gollark: I think I remember seeing some screenshots of an early version on here.
gollark: Did that web-based reactor planner thing someone was working on ever get written?
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References
  1. Joulwan, Melissa. Rollergirl: Totally True Tales from the Track. Simon and Schuster. p. 267. ISBN 9781416538554. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  2. "Member Leagues - Women's Flat Track Derby Association". Wftda.com. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  3. "A Brief History of TRD". Tucson Roller Derby. Archived from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  4. "Rollergirl catfights". YouTube. 2008-11-17. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  5. Arizona Derby Report #3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj1z2YtxfCg
  6. "Bruisers announce league split from AZRD". Derby News Network. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  7. "DerbyData.com". Az.derbydata.com. 2013-11-01. Archived from the original on 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  8. "Blogger". Azrollerderby.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  9. "Jail Information". Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  10. "2012 WFTDA West Region Playoffs - Women's Flat Track Derby Association". wftda.org. WFTDA. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  11. "London Rollergirls Win WFTDA Playoffs Evansville - LatestNews - Women's Flat Track Derby Association". wftda.org. WFTDA. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  12. Defiance, Brooklyn (6 September 2015). "D1T 9th Place: #8 Arizona Terrorizes #10 Tri-City, 239-170". Derby Central. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  13. Sherman, Zach Nomad (18 September 2016). "D1V: #10 Arizona holds down #6 Naptown, 197-142". Derby Central. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  14. "Upcoming Events | 2016 Golden Bowl – August 6 & 7 | Bay Area Derby". www.bayareaderby.com. Bay Area Derby. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  15. Khaos, Merry (22 September 2017). "D1D: #8 Philly pushes past #9 Arizona, 163-108". Derby Central. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  16. Deadwards, Lisa (24 September 2017). "D1D: #10 Dallas finishes off #9 Arizona, 183-153". Derby Central. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  17. "Arizona Roller Derby All Stars Skate One Last Season as the Tent City Terrors". Arizona Roller Derby. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  18. "2018 WFTDA Playoff Bracket Releases to a Record Number of Declines". The Apex. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  19. "Current Rankings", WFTDA
  20. "12/8/2006 WFTDA National Rankings", WFTDA [version of 23 February 2007]
  21. "February 2006 Dust Devil Invitational Rankings", WFTDA [version of 23 February 2007]
  22. "Current WFTDA Rankings", Derby News Network, October 2007
  23. "Dust Devil 2007", Flat Track Stats
  24. "Texas Shootout 2007", Flat Track Stats
  25. "WFTDA Releases 2008 Fourth-Quarter Rankings | Derby News Network". 30 January 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  26. "Current Rankings". WFTDA. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  27. "Current Rankings". WFTDA. Archived from the original on 2 March 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  28. "Current Rankings". WFTDA. Archived from the original on 25 January 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  29. "Current Rankings". WFTDA. Archived from the original on 20 March 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  30. "Rankings: December 31, 2013 – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  31. "Rankings: December 31, 2014 – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  32. "Rankings: December 31, 2015 – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  33. "Rankings: December 31, 2016 – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  34. "Rankings: December 31, 2017 – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  35. "Rankings: December 31, 2018 – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  36. "The Bad News Beaters". Arizona Derby Girls. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  37. "The Surly Gurlies". Archived from the original on August 9, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  38. ""The Gaudylupes"". Archived from the original on August 9, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  39. ""The Brawlarinas"". Archived from the original on August 9, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  40. "DerbyData.com". Az.derbydata.com. 2013-11-01. Archived from the original on 2013-12-30. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  41. "DerbyData.com". Az.derbydata.com. 2013-11-01. Archived from the original on 2013-12-30. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
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