|
Roller Derby was conceptualized on a restaurant napkin in the mid-1930’s by Leo Seltzer. Taking the premise from the great bicycle races in the Depression Era, Seltzer developed the Transcontinental Roller Derby. Between 1935 and 1950, physical contact and scoring system were introduced to the game. From the 1950’s to the mid 1970’s, Roller Derby became incredibly popular with the American public due to televised broadcasts, playing to huge crowds all over the nation.
After the initial excitement around Roller Derby died down, there were many reincarnations of the game that eventually proved unsuccessful until two women in Austin started a Roller Derby league that gained credibility with locals in that city. Eventually, another league, the Texas Roller Girls (TXRG) formed in Austin, starting the grassroots, “by the skaters, for the skaters” trend that many forming leagues around the United States are following.
There are currently more than 40 all-girl roller derby leagues around the United States. Thirty of these leagues are members of the first ever "for the skaters, by the skaters" national flat-track roller derby association, the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
Additionally, there are some remaining teams from the national leagues who continue to compete today.
(Written with information from rollersports.com and wikipedia.org) |