Ralph Valladares

Ralph Valladares (July 31, 1936 – November 13, 1998), often known as Ralphie Valladares, was a roller derby skater and coach.

Ralph Valladares
Personal information
Nickname(s)The Guatemalan Flyer
Little Ralphie
NationalityGuatemalan
Born(1936-07-31)July 31, 1936
DiedNovember 13, 1998(1998-11-13) (aged 62)
Height5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Sport
SportRoller derby
TeamLos Angeles Braves
Miami Westerners
Los Angeles Thunderbirds

Born in Guatemala, Valladares moved to Los Angeles with his family when he was twelve years old. He hoped to become a jockey, but his weight reached 115 pounds (52 kg), and he turned his attention to roller skating.[1] He joined the roller derby at the age of seventeen,[2] initially skating for the Los Angeles Braves.[1] He soon moved to the Miami Westerners and,[3] despite being the shortest male skater, he immediately became regarded as a star, leading the scoring.[4]

Valladares joined the rival Roller Games on its inception, in 1960, becoming a founder member of the Los Angeles Thunderbirds team.[5] He spent the next thirty years with the organization, and was involved in coaching, and also in setting up events in Japan and Australia.[6] He retired from skating in 1987,[5] but returned for the RollerGames television show.[6]

Valladares kept the same skates through the majority of his career. He noted that he once ran over them with his own car, and they also survived being frozen under 2 feet (0.61 m) of ice, following the evacuation of a venue in which he was competing.[5]

Outside roller derby, Valladares appeared as a shipping clerk in a 1980s television commercial for IBM.[5] He had previous acting experience as a skater in the Kansas City Bomber movie.[1] He married fellow roller derby skater Gloria "Honey" Sanchez twice, on both occasions on March 17. The couple had a daughter, Gina, who also skated with the Roller Games.[7]

Both of Valladares' marriages ended in divorce, although the couple remained close and spent much time together until Valladares' death.[8] He died in 1998 at home in Pico Rivera, California,[9] having suffered with liver cancer for some time.[8]

In 2004, Valladares was posthumously inducted into the Roller Derby Hall of Fame.[10]

References
  1. Lorette Behrens, "Ralph Valladares", Derby Memoirs
  2. "Roller Derby Action Scheduled on Ventura County Fair Track", Press-Courier, August 16, 1987
  3. "Westerners Nab Third Victory", Miami News, January 21, 1955
  4. "Roller Derby Returns Here", Miami News, January 13, 1955
  5. Tom Johnson, "These Skates Have Been Through Hell", Milwaukee Sentinel, October 24, 1986
  6. Andre Mouchard, "After a decade of dormancy, roller derby is poised to attempt one more comeback", Orange County Register, November 30, 1998
  7. Robert Rogers, "Derby brings back the '70s", San Bernardino County Sun, October 19, 2007
  8. "Cheap Seats", Spokesman-Review, November 19, 1998
  9. "Obituaries: Ralphie Valladares; Starred With Roller Derby's T-Birds", Los Angeles Times, November 15, 1998
  10. "Events and Inductees", Roller Derby Hall of Fame
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