Charlotte Roller Girls

Charlotte Roller Girls

Metro area	Charlotte, North Carolina
Country	United States
Founded	2006
Teams	All-Stars B Dazzlers Block'Em Sock'Em Rollers Cockpit Candies Fraid Knots
Track type(s)	Flat
Venue	Grady Cole Center
Affiliations	WFTDA
Website	charlotterollergirls.com

The Charlotte Roller Girls are an all-female flat track roller derby league in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States.

History

Roller derby was introduced to the Queen City in 2006 shortly after a few local women were made aware of the sport. After researching online and learning of its resurgence, they posted fliers in their neighborhood to gauge interest. The response was immediate and the Charlotte Roller Girls all-female flat track roller derby league was formed.

The group found a practice venue and began honing their skills. Some had skating experience, but most were novices. Classes and seminars were held to accelerate their progress. Within a few months, enough women had joined to allow them to compete.

On September 2, 2007, the Charlotte Roller Girls faced the Palmetto State Rollergirls in its first bout. Despite suffering a loss, the league’s spirit and determination was not dampened. A total of five bouts were held in 2007 and the Charlotte Roller Girls closed out its first season with a 2-3 record.

After competing on the road in 2007, the league was ready to host its first home bout. On January 27, 2008, the Charlotte Roller Girls took on the Columbia Quad Squad. The bout was held at Bojangles' Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina and the reception was outstanding. A crowd of 1,000 was anticipated yet 2,170 enthusiastic fans attended. The attendance that night was one of the largest in the sport’s modern history. Roller derby had arrived in Charlotte.

In 2008, the Charlotte Roller Girls experienced incredible growth. League membership tripled and home bouts enjoyed an average attendance of 1,400 fans, well above the national average. The league has one of the largest fan followings in the nation.

With so many skaters, the Charlotte Roller Girls achieved a benchmark of any start-up roller derby league - the formation of more than one team. In August, the Block'em Sock'em Rollers and the Cockpit Candies were born. The two new teams were formed to allow for intra-league competition. The group skated under the Charlotte Roller Girls name for interleague competition. The Charlotte Roller Girls ended the season with an interleague record of 6-3.

The 2009 season brings continued growth to the league. For interleague competition, CLTRG has two teams - Charlotte Roller Girls All-Stars and Charlotte Roller Girls B Dazzlers. Its intra-league teams are the Block'em Sock'em Rollers, Cockpit Candies and Fraid Knots.

In April, 2010, the Charlotte Roller Girls were accepted into the Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice Program. Charlotte's membership in WFTDA was announced in June 2011,^[1] and they will complete in WFTDA's East Region.^[2]

In August, 2010, the league moved from their practice space in Gastonia, North Carolina to a new practice space in the NoDa neighborhood in Charlotte.

See also

• Roller derby
• History of roller derby
• List of roller derby leagues

References

1. ^ "WFTDA Welcomes 8 New Member Leagues". WFTDA. http://wftda.com/news/new-members-june-11. Retrieved 12 June 2011. 
2. ^ "WFTDA's East Region". http://wftda.com/leagues/regions/east. Retrieved 12 June 2011. 

External links

• Charlotte Roller Girls (official website)