Angel City Derby Girls
 | |
| Metro area | Los Angeles, CA |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Teams |
Hollywood Scarlets Rocket Queens Shore Shots Road Ragers |
| Track type(s) | Flat |
| Venue | Culver City Veterans Auditorium |
| Affiliations | WFTDA |
| Website |
www |
-1033.jpg)
The Angel City Derby Girls (ACDG) is the original women's quad-skate flat track roller derby league based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 2006 by a collective of skaters, the league is composed of more than 150 members divided into four teams (and referees) who skate on a flat track and compete against teams from all over the state of California, the Western Region, and the world. The league is skater-owned and operated, "by the skater, for the skater," a completely do-it-yourself, volunteer-feuled effort by the women (and men) involved in the organization.
Teams
The league currently consists of 4 teams: the Hollywood Scarlets (WFTDA Internationally competitive charter team), the Rocket Queens and the Shore Shots (Western Regional teams) and the Road Ragers (local travel team), who compete against teams from other leagues. Members training to be placed on any of the four teams participate in the league as Rising Stars and Fresh Meat.
Team History and Development
Angel City was the second roller derby league in Los Angeles, after the Los Angeles Derby Dolls, and the first to play on a flat track. ACDG played their first game on June 30, 2006 at World on Wheels in Los Angeles, and played its first full competitive season in 2007, based in a warehouse named "Heaven's Gate." Angel City initially had 3 home teams: the Berzerkers, Shore Shots and Block Steady Crew, and a travel team called the Road Ragers competing against other WFTDA travel teams.[1] The home teams were dissolved after the 2008 season and changed to structure consisting of an A and B level travel team (the Hollywood Scarlets and The Rocket Queens, respectively).
In 2010 and 2011, the league saw a growth in membership and began to build out the program to include a sub pool of Rising Stars. The continued growth lead to the addition of a C level team to the A-B structure, and the team was called the Road Ragers (in homage to the original name of the travel team that would eventually become the Hollywood Scarlets). In 2014, yet another team was added to the structure, the Shore Shots (in homage to the disbanded home team), competing at the same skill level as the Rocket Queens. The teams are no longer denoted by an A-B-C level, and instead by the level of competition they face: International (Hollywood Scarlets), Regional and Local.
Internationally Competitive Play
ACDG was one of the first leagues in Southern California to become a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).[2] The Hollywood Scarlets represent Angel City at the WFTDA competitive level and play for international rankings in the organization. The WFTDA-level travel team was originally called The Road Ragers, but was re-named and re-branded at the beginning of the 2009 season. The Scarlets qualified as the tenth seed for the WFTDA West Region Playoffs in 2009, taking eighth place;[3] next qualifying in 2011 again as tenth seed, taking ninth place overall.[4] In 2012, they qualified for the West Region Playoffs as the #8 seed and ended the tournament in the same position.
In 2013, the Scarlets would enjoy a meteoric rise in the rankings, parallel with the WFTDA's shift from a Regional structure to a Division-based structure. [5] The Scarlets qualified for the 2013 WFTDA Playoffs ranked #5 globally, and with the withdrawal of the Oly Rollers from the Playoffs, would enter the Richmond tournament as a #1 seed. They left as a #3 seed and qualified for the 2013 WFTDA Championships in Milwaukee, WI, for the first time in the history of the Angel City Derby Girls. The Scarlets matched up against Rocky Mountain Rollergirls in the first round at Championships and after defeating them 228-298, moved on to play the Denver Roller Dolls but losing in the 2nd round of the bracket and getting knocked out of the single-elimination style tournament.
In 2014, the Scarlets ranked #7 globally, entering the Division 1 Playoffs in Salt Lake City as a #2 seed and leaving at the same position, qualifying them for the Championship Tournament in Nashville, TN. They matched up against the 2013 Championship runners-up, the Texas Rollergirls in the first round of the tournament. This was the first time the team from Angel City played against the heralded "godmothers of roller derby" and Texas was victorious.
Hollywood Scarlets WFTDA Rankings
| Season | Final ranking[6] | Playoffs | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 6 (W) | — | — |
| 2009 | 8 (W) | 8[3] | DNQ |
| 2010 | 12 (W) | DNQ | DNQ |
| 2011 | 9 (W) | 9[4] | DNQ |
| 2012 | 8 (W) | 8[7] | DNQ |
| 2013 | 5 (D1) | 3[8] | 6[9] |
| 2014 | 7 (D1) | 3[10] | 9[11] |
References
- ↑ Zach Behrens, "Angel City Derby Girls Open Their Season", Laist, 20 May 2007
- ↑ "January 2011 Featured League: Angel City Derby Girls", WFTDA, 4 January 2011
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Derby on the Rocks 2009 Western Regionals", WFTDA
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Bridgetown Brawl WFTDA 2011 West Region Playoffs", WFTDA
- ↑ http://wftda.com/news/wftda-divisions-and-rankings-systems-details-announced
- ↑ "Current Rankings", WFTDA
- ↑ "Bay of Reckoning", WFTDA
- ↑ "2013 D1 Playoffs: Richmond", WFTDA
- ↑ "2013 Championships: Milwaukee", WFTDA
- ↑ "2014 D1 Playoffs: Salt Lake City", WFTDA
- ↑ "2014 Championships: Nashville", WFTDA
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
