Rat City Rollergirls
Encyclopedia
The Rat City Rollergirls are a flat-track roller derby
league in Seattle, Washington. The league is composed of four member teams for intra-league
play, an all-star travel team that competes with other leagues, and another travel team that plays in exhibition games with other leagues. Founded in 2004 as Rat City Rollergirls, LLC, the league has incorporated alternative cultural influences, and has inspired and mentored other leagues. Prominent players, coaches, and other participants come from various backgrounds which is typical of the diverse culture of Seattle, and the diverse culture within the sport. The Rat City Rollergirls have been among the most successful leagues in athletic competition, placing second in the WFTDA National Championships in 2006 and 2007. The league and individual participants have been depicted in media as exemplary role models who are smart, sexy and tough.
The travel teams are:
and many other current and former adult skaters from local leagues.
The member teams, aged 11 to 17, of the Seattle Derby Brats are:
Division II age 11 to 17 Full contact
All Star Full Contact Travel Team
Division I age 11 to 17 Positional
The youngest group of girls, also known as the Tootsy Rollers, are loosely split into two teams: the Orange Crush and the Turquoise Terrors. They play a positional-blocking version of roller derby with little contact.
On June 5, 2010, the Sockit Wenches defeated Grave Danger to win the season 6 championship. During the evening, it was announced that they had sold out Key Arena.
from the hangars at Magnuson Park
to the KeyArena
at Seattle Center and ShoWare Center in Kent
.
Ticket sales for the first bout of the season vastly exceeded the preparations of the venue management, filling more than 4,000 of KeyArena's 5,500 seat capacity in what is referred to as the 'lower bowl'.
to win the tournament. Tickets quickly sell out for each bout of the 2008 season.
On the weekend of November 14–16 the Rat City Rollergirls and the Rose City Rollers host the Northwest Knockdown national championships at the Portland Expo Center. Entering the competition ranked third in the nation, the Rat City Rollergirls were defeated in the first round of competition by the Windy City Rollers
.
. In the qualifying round, they beat the 2006 and 2005 national champions, the Texas Rollergirls
, who placed third. Eight teams went to Austin to compete in the 2007 Texas Shootout National Championships, four from the eastern regional division and four from the western regional division, these notable teams included: the Carolina Rollergirls
(fourth place), the Gotham Girls Roller Derby
, the Tucson Roller Derby
, the Detroit Derby Girls
, and the Windy City Rollers
.
The Rat City All-Stars beat the Rose City Rollers
in Portland, Oregon.
Sweeping the WFTDA Western Regional Tournament
, the Tucson Dust Devil, in an upset of the formerly top ranked Texas Texecutioners, the Rat City All-Stars rose to first in the national roller derby rankings, up from third, and rose to the first seed for the championships.
at Seattle Center
. The Texas Rollergirls won the championship, retaining undefeated status. The Rat City Rollergirls finished second.
Within the Rat City Rollergirl league the Sockit Wenches won the season championship at Sand Point
on October 21, 2006. They beat the formerly undefeated Derby Liberation Front, scoring the decisive points in the final seconds of the match, and of the season.
, the reexamination and re-creation of 1950s recreational pursuits, new burlesque style, a do-it-yourself ethic, and sports for all women. As the number of roller derby leagues have increased exponentially since 2005, the Rat City Rollergirls have provided inspiration and peer mentorship to other leagues.
and Sydney
, Australia
, as well as Aarhus
, Denmark
. It will be released on DVD in Canada in October 2009 and will release on DVD in the United States in January 2010.
and the Women's Flat Track Derby Association
.
initiated an inquiry as to trademark infringement
between the Starbucks logo and the Rat City Rollergirls "skater portrait in a circle" logo. After casual observers noted the absence of similarity, the matter was dropped in September 2008 without further legal action.
The Rat City Rollergirls logo artwork was designed by Scott Ego.
Roller derby
Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short matchups in which both teams designate a scoring player who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team...
league in Seattle, Washington. The league is composed of four member teams for intra-league
Intramural sports
Intramural sports or intramurals are recreational sports organized within a set geographic area. The term derives from the Latin words intra muros meaning "within walls", and was used to indicate sports matches and contests that took place among teams from "within the walls" of an ancient city...
play, an all-star travel team that competes with other leagues, and another travel team that plays in exhibition games with other leagues. Founded in 2004 as Rat City Rollergirls, LLC, the league has incorporated alternative cultural influences, and has inspired and mentored other leagues. Prominent players, coaches, and other participants come from various backgrounds which is typical of the diverse culture of Seattle, and the diverse culture within the sport. The Rat City Rollergirls have been among the most successful leagues in athletic competition, placing second in the WFTDA National Championships in 2006 and 2007. The league and individual participants have been depicted in media as exemplary role models who are smart, sexy and tough.
Teams
The home teams for play within the Rat City league are:- Derby Liberation Front - 2005, 2008, and 2009 Season Champions.
- Grave Danger - 2007 and 2011 Season Champions
- Sockit Wenches - 2006 and 2010 Season Champions
- Throttle Rockets
- Rat Lab - Introduced in 2010, it's the training ground for the next superstars of the Rat City Rollergirls and consists of new skaters on the league who have not yet been placed on a home team.
The travel teams are:
- The Rain of Terror - The travel team that competed in the 2008 Rust Riot exhibition tournament with northwest roller derby leagues.
- Rat City Rollergirl All-Stars - The all star travel team for competition with other leagues in the Women's Flat Track Derby AssociationWomen's Flat Track Derby AssociationThe Women's Flat Track Derby Association is an association of women's flat track roller derby leagues in the United States. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Coalition but was renamed in November 2005. It is registered in Raleigh, North Carolina as a 501 business...
.
Junior League
In 2007 a junior league was established, the Seattle Derby Brats. The Seattle Derby Brats is an independent, but loosely associated organization. They are the fourth team to be part of the JRDA, the Junior Roller Derby Association. At the 2007 National Tournament, the Seattle Derby Brats skated against Tucson's junior team between the tournament games. The Seattle Derby Brats are supported and coached by Krista Lafontaine ("Betty Ford Galaxy") of Rat City, Reanna Williams ("Anna Mosity") of the Jet City Rollergirls in Everett, WashingtonEverett, Washington
Everett is the county seat of and the largest city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. Named for Everett Colby, son of founder Charles L. Colby, it lies north of Seattle. The city had a total population of 103,019 at the 2010 census, making it the 6th largest in the state and...
and many other current and former adult skaters from local leagues.
The member teams, aged 11 to 17, of the Seattle Derby Brats are:
Division II age 11 to 17 Full contact
- Toxic AvengHers
- Mighty Rollers
All Star Full Contact Travel Team
- Galaxy Girls
Division I age 11 to 17 Positional
- Poision Skid'les
- Evil Angels
Age 8 to 11
- Tootsy Rollers
The youngest group of girls, also known as the Tootsy Rollers, are loosely split into two teams: the Orange Crush and the Turquoise Terrors. They play a positional-blocking version of roller derby with little contact.
PFM Practice Squad
Another independent, but loosely associated organization is the PFM Practice Squad. Composed of skaters in training, as well as recreational derby players who do not wish to commit at the level of league play, the PFM Practice Squad has had a number of their alumnae go on to league play with the Rat City Rollergirls, the Dockyard Derby Dames, the Jet City Rollergirls and the Tilted Thunder Rail Birds.2010
On March 6, 2010, Rat City Rollergirls had a turnout of 5,185 in KeyArena. According to announcements that evening this was record attendance for both Rat City Rollergirls and the largest attendance to women's roller derby in history.On June 5, 2010, the Sockit Wenches defeated Grave Danger to win the season 6 championship. During the evening, it was announced that they had sold out Key Arena.
2009
The Rat City Rollergirls announced a change of venueSport venue
Sport venue is an arena, a stadium or similar building in which a sporting competition is held.-Types of sports venues:*Sport hall*Motorsport venues *Horse racing venues *Swimming pool*Shooting range*Bullring...
from the hangars at Magnuson Park
Magnuson Park (Seattle)
Magnuson Park is a 350 acre park on Sand Point at Pontiac Bay, Lake Washington, in the Sand Point neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The park is the second largest in Seattle, after 534 acre Discovery Park in Magnolia. It is located on the spot of the former Naval Station Puget Sound...
to the KeyArena
KeyArena
KeyArena at Seattle Center , is a multipurpose arena, in Seattle, Washington. It is located north of downtown in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, the Century 21 Exposition...
at Seattle Center and ShoWare Center in Kent
Kent, Washington
Kent is a city located in King County, Washington, United States, and is the third largest city in King County and the sixth largest in the state. An outlying suburb of Seattle, Kent is also the corporate home for companies such as REI and Oberto Sausage...
.
Ticket sales for the first bout of the season vastly exceeded the preparations of the venue management, filling more than 4,000 of KeyArena's 5,500 seat capacity in what is referred to as the 'lower bowl'.
2008
In February the Rat City Rollergirls host the first Rust Riot Pacific Northwest Roller Derby Tournament with skaters from Washington, Oregon and Idaho and defeats Rose City RollersRose City Rollers
The Rose City Rollers are an all-female flat track roller derby league founded in Portland, Oregon, United States. Established in 2004, the Rose City Rollers comprises four local home teams and two all-star traveling teams that represent the league in competition with other leagues...
to win the tournament. Tickets quickly sell out for each bout of the 2008 season.
On the weekend of November 14–16 the Rat City Rollergirls and the Rose City Rollers host the Northwest Knockdown national championships at the Portland Expo Center. Entering the competition ranked third in the nation, the Rat City Rollergirls were defeated in the first round of competition by the Windy City Rollers
Windy City Rollers
The Windy City Rollers are an all-female flat-track Roller Derby league located in Chicago, the city where roller derby first emerged as a sport in 1937...
.
2007
The Rat City All-Stars competed in the WFTDA National Championships in Austin, Texas. They placed second, to the 2007 national champions the Kansas City Roller WarriorsKansas City Roller Warriors
The Kansas City Roller Warriors are a roller derby league in Kansas City, Missouri. The league, founded in 2004, is composed of four member teams for play within the league and two travel teams that represent the league in competition with other leagues...
. In the qualifying round, they beat the 2006 and 2005 national champions, the Texas Rollergirls
Texas Rollergirls
The Texas Rollergirls are a flat track roller derby league based in Austin, Texas, . The full trademarked name of the league is Texas Rollergirls Rock-n-Rollerderby...
, who placed third. Eight teams went to Austin to compete in the 2007 Texas Shootout National Championships, four from the eastern regional division and four from the western regional division, these notable teams included: the Carolina Rollergirls
Carolina Rollergirls
Founded in January 2004, the Carolina Rollergirls, known as CRG or Carolina Roller Derby, Inc. is an all-women, flat-track roller derby league with a stated mission to foster an alternative sport in North Carolina while training for national competition. Operating as a 501 non-profit organization,...
(fourth place), the Gotham Girls Roller Derby
Gotham Girls Roller Derby
Gotham Girls Roller Derby is a flat track roller derby league based in New York City, New York. Founded in late 2003, Gotham Girls Roller Derby was the first skater-operated flat track roller derby league in the metropolitan New York area...
, the Tucson Roller Derby
Tucson Roller Derby
Tucson Roller Derby is a women's roller derby league located in Tucson, Arizona. TRD is a 501 nonprofit public charity organization. A member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association , Tucson Roller Derby is a skater-run non-profit organization formed in late 2003...
, the Detroit Derby Girls
Detroit Derby Girls
The Detroit Derby Girls, or DDG, are a women's flat-track roller derby league based in Detroit, Michigan. The league was formed in January, 2005 and held their first bouts in February, 2006...
, and the Windy City Rollers
Windy City Rollers
The Windy City Rollers are an all-female flat-track Roller Derby league located in Chicago, the city where roller derby first emerged as a sport in 1937...
.
The Rat City All-Stars beat the Rose City Rollers
Rose City Rollers
The Rose City Rollers are an all-female flat track roller derby league founded in Portland, Oregon, United States. Established in 2004, the Rose City Rollers comprises four local home teams and two all-star traveling teams that represent the league in competition with other leagues...
in Portland, Oregon.
Sweeping the WFTDA Western Regional Tournament
WFTDA Western Regional Tournament
The WFTDA Western Regional Tournament or WFTDA West Region Playoffs is one of four roller derby qualifying tournaments for the WFTDA Championships....
, the Tucson Dust Devil, in an upset of the formerly top ranked Texas Texecutioners, the Rat City All-Stars rose to first in the national roller derby rankings, up from third, and rose to the first seed for the championships.
2006
The Rat City Rollergirls hosted the 2006 Roller Derby "Bumberbout" Flat Track Invitational on Saturday, September 2, 2006, in the KeyArenaKeyArena
KeyArena at Seattle Center , is a multipurpose arena, in Seattle, Washington. It is located north of downtown in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, the Century 21 Exposition...
at Seattle Center
Seattle Center
Seattle Center is a park and arts and entertainment center in Seattle, Washington. The campus is the site used in 1962 by the Century 21 Exposition. It is located just north of Belltown in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood.-Attractions:...
. The Texas Rollergirls won the championship, retaining undefeated status. The Rat City Rollergirls finished second.
Within the Rat City Rollergirl league the Sockit Wenches won the season championship at Sand Point
Sand Point
Sand Point is a peninsula that juts into Lake Washington from north Seattle, Washington, USA. It is mostly occupied by Magnuson Park and gives its name to the Sand Point neighborhood to the west. Formerly a U.S. naval air station, it is mostly public park area, but with a portion occupied by...
on October 21, 2006. They beat the formerly undefeated Derby Liberation Front, scoring the decisive points in the final seconds of the match, and of the season.
Cultural significance
The league is a prominent example of a subcultural trend which combines diverse strains of postpunk, third-wave feminismThird-wave feminism
Third-wave feminism is a term identified with several diverse strains of feminist activity and study whose exact boundaries in the historiography of feminism are a subject of debate, but often marked as beginning in the 1980s and continuing to the present...
, the reexamination and re-creation of 1950s recreational pursuits, new burlesque style, a do-it-yourself ethic, and sports for all women. As the number of roller derby leagues have increased exponentially since 2005, the Rat City Rollergirls have provided inspiration and peer mentorship to other leagues.
Business Structure
As a business enterprise, the league is registered as a limited liability corporation, Rat City Rollergirls, LLC, which is owned by the skaters. Although stakeholders in the enterprise, the skaters are not currently paid for their participation.Documentary Film
The 2007 documentary, Blood On The Flat Track: The Rise of the Rat City Rollergirls, was directed by Lainy Bagwell and Lacey Leavitt. It played at 14 film festivals around the world, including screenings in BrisbaneBrisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, as well as Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. It will be released on DVD in Canada in October 2009 and will release on DVD in the United States in January 2010.
Feature article on MSNBC
Several of the members of the Rat City Rollergirls were profiled in an article on MSNBC.Video Games
In 2008 the Rat City Rollergirls were a featured league in a video game developed by Frozen CodebaseFrozen Codebase
Frozen Codebase is an independent video game developer founded in 2006 by Ben Geisler. The company develops games for Microsoft's Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Sony's PlayStation 3, Nintendo's Wii and WiiWare.-Teams:...
and the Women's Flat Track Derby Association
Women's Flat Track Derby Association
The Women's Flat Track Derby Association is an association of women's flat track roller derby leagues in the United States. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Coalition but was renamed in November 2005. It is registered in Raleigh, North Carolina as a 501 business...
.
Trademark Dispute with Starbucks
In May 2008, StarbucksStarbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
initiated an inquiry as to trademark infringement
Trademark infringement
Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees...
between the Starbucks logo and the Rat City Rollergirls "skater portrait in a circle" logo. After casual observers noted the absence of similarity, the matter was dropped in September 2008 without further legal action.
The Rat City Rollergirls logo artwork was designed by Scott Ego.
External links
- Rat City Rollergirls official website.
- "Blood on the Flat Track, the Rise of the Rat City Rollergirls," documentary film.
- "Roller Derby Revival in Seattle," radio news feature, 88.5 FM, KPLU, Seattle, May 25, 2007.
- PFM Practice Squad Alumnae
- "Roller derby enjoys rollicking resurgence," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Sports, Friday, August 17, 2007.
- "Rat City Rollergirls," Prost Amerika, Sports.
- "Archive for the 'Rat City Rollergirls' Category," Derby News NetworkDerby News NetworkDerby News Network is an internet broadcast network featuring the international sport of roller derby, using the internet to collect remote streaming video, photographs, audio, and text from reporters around the world, and distribute it internationally. DNN is frequently cited as an authoritative...
- "Rat City Rollergirls," Lead Jammer