Charlotte Roller Derby (CLTRD), formerly Charlotte Roller Girls, is a women's flat track

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...

league based in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, operating as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Founded in 2006, Charlotte Roller Derby is a member of the

Women's Flat Track Derby Association The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is the international governing body for the sport of women's flat track roller derby, and association of leagues around the world. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Co ...

(WFTDA). Charlotte Roller Derby consists of two travel teams, three local home teams, and one co-ed youth team. Adult travel teams consist of the "Charlotte All-Stars" representing the league internationally in competition and B team Charlotte's "B-Dazzlers". Three adult local home teams play only in Charlotte, NC and surrounding areas and consists of the "NoDa Narwhals", "Ballantyne Bombers" and "South End Sirens". CLTRD's co-ed

junior roller derby Junior roller derby is the sport of roller derby, modified for children and adolescents up to 18 years of age. The sport is played in both modified-contact, known as "positional blocking," and full-contact approaches, to facilitate safety across ...

team, "Charlotte Junior Roller Derby" consists of kids ages 10–17 years old and is a member of the Junior Roller Derby Association (JRDA).

History

The Charlotte Roller Girls were founded in 2006 as a skater-owned and operated league. On September 2, 2007, the league faced Palmetto State Roller Derby in its first bout. A total of five bouts were held in 2007 and Charlotte closed out its first season with a 2–3 record. After competing on the road in 2007, on January 27, 2008, the Charlotte Roller Girls took on the

Columbia Quadsquad Columbia Roller Derby is a roller derby league based in Columbia, South Carolina. Founded in 2007, the league has two travel teams: Columbia Quad Squad (A) and Soda City Jerks (B) as well as a junior roller derby team, Columbia Junior Roller Der ...

in Charlotte's first home bout, at then-named

Cricket Arena Bojangles Coliseum (originally Charlotte Coliseum and formerly Independence Arena and Cricket Arena) is an 8,600-seat multi-purpose arena located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is operated by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, which als ...

in Charlotte. A crowd of 1,000 was anticipated yet roughly 2,100 fans attended. In 2008, league membership tripled and home bouts enjoyed an average attendance of 1,400 fans. In August, the Block'em Sock'em Rollers and the Cockpit Candies were formed to allow for intra-league competition. The group skated under the Charlotte Roller Girls name for interleague competition. Charlotte ended the season with an interleague record of 6–3. The 2009 season brought continued growth to the league. For interleague competition, CLTRD fielded two teams - Charlotte Roller Girls All-Stars and Charlotte Roller Girls B Dazzlers. The 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 The Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice is the program affiliate of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). In operation from 2009 until early 2019, the Apprentice Program served to onboard new member leagues into the WFTDA. ...

Program. Charlotte's membership in WFTDA was announced in June 2011, initially as part of the WFTDA's East Region. In August, 2010, the league moved from their practice space in

Gastonia, North Carolina Gastonia is the largest city in and county seat of Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest satellite city of the Charlotte area, behind Concord. The population was 80,411 at the 2020 census, up from 71,741 in 2010 ...

to a new practice space in the

NoDa NoDa (short for "North Davidson") is a popular arts district in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It is located in the North Charlotte neighborhood on and around North Davidson Street and 36th Street, approximately one mile northeast of Up ...

neighborhood in Charlotte. In 2013, the Charlotte All-Stars became a

WFTDA Division 2 The Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 2 (WFTDA Division 2) was the second-highest level of play in women's flat track roller derby from 2013 through 2017. Comprising different structures over that time, in early 2018 the Women's Flat Tr ...

team, moving up to one of the top 100 ranked WFTDA leagues internationally.

WFTDA rankings

References

External links

Charlotte Roller Derby
(official website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Charlotte Roller Derby Sports in Charlotte, North Carolina Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 3 Roller derby leagues in North Carolina Roller derby leagues established in 2006 2006 establishments in North Carolina