Bradentucky Bombers All-Female Flat Track Roller Derby

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		BRIEF DERBY HISTORY “Roller derby—the campy ‘sport’ that filled low-rent arenas from the 1930s to the 1970s—is back, rowdier and more raucous than ever.” - Kelley Shannon, Associated Press Today’s all-girl flat-track roller derby is one of only three modern team sports invented from scratch in the US (the others are volleyball and basketball). Created by Leo Seltzer in 1935, it has its roots in a Depression-era spectacle, a 3,000-mile roller skating marathon around a banked track. For a crowd that was used to dance-a-thons and pole sitters, the collisions and athleticism of Roller Derby created quite a stir. Seltzer evolved the game over time to appease the crowd. Roller derby eventually became a thrills and spills competition between two co-ed teams, each with a sprinting jammer dodging through a pack of slower-moving blockers. Roller derby has survived quite a roller coaster, peaking in popularity in the 1950s, resurging in the late 1960s with cheesy movies like Raquel Welch’s “Kansas City Bomber,” stopping all together in the late 70s, and having its last fling in the 1990s with the pyrotechnics and spandex of cable TV’s Rollerjam. The rebirth of Roller Derby started in early 2000 with the Texas Roller-girls, now one of 30+ leagues in the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). These new leagues are totally DIY—skater owned and operated. Roller Derby is now the fastest growing sport in the nation.

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BRIEF DERBY HISTORY

“Roller derby—the campy ‘sport’ that filled low-rent arenas from the 1930s to the 1970s—is back, rowdier and more raucous than ever.”
- Kelley Shannon, Associated Press

Today’s all-girl flat-track roller derby is one of only three modern team sports invented from scratch in the US (the others are volleyball and basketball). Created by Leo Seltzer in 1935, it has its roots in a Depression-era spectacle, a 3,000-mile roller skating marathon around a banked track. For a crowd that was used to dance-a-thons and pole sitters, the collisions and athleticism of Roller Derby created quite a stir. Seltzer evolved the game over time to appease the crowd. Roller derby eventually became a thrills and spills competition between two co-ed teams, each with a sprinting jammer dodging through a pack of slower-moving blockers.

Roller derby has survived quite a roller coaster, peaking in popularity in the 1950s, resurging in the late 1960s with cheesy movies like Raquel Welch’s “Kansas City Bomber,” stopping all together in the late 70s, and having its last fling in the 1990s with the pyrotechnics and spandex of cable TV’s Rollerjam.

The rebirth of Roller Derby started in early 2000 with the Texas Roller-girls, now one of 30+ leagues in the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). These new leagues are totally DIY—skater owned and operated. Roller Derby is now the fastest growing sport in the nation.