Lilac City Roller Derby is a 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

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

. Founded in 2006, the league consists of a women's team, an affiliated men's team, and a supported

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 m ...

team. Lilac City 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).

History and organization

Lilac City was founded by Stacie Ellis in 2006, the first flat-track roller derby league in the city, and began competing with leagues from across the northwest in its second season. The league was 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 in July 2010,WFTDA Apprentice Program welcomes 16 new leagues
", 8 July 2010 and became a full member of the WFTDA in March 2012.WFTDA Welcomes 14 New Member Leagues
", 1 March 2012 In 2013 Lilac City Roller Girls relocated their practice facility to a rented warehouse in Airway Heights, and began holding their bouts at the Spokane Fairgrounds, and the

Spokane Convention Center Spokane Convention Center is the primary convention center in Spokane, Washington, in the northwest United States, and consists of two interconnected buildings along the south bank of the Spokane River in downtown Spokane. The facility, owned and ...

for larger events. That year Lilac City added Spokane's first all-male roller derby team, the River City Wreckers as well as a new coed team, the Quad Forsaken. In 2017, following a reorganization, the Lilac City Roller Girls became Lilac City Roller Derby. Their all-women's team dropped the gap-toothed princess and re-branded as the Spokane Sass. The league includes a

Men's Roller Derby Association The Men's Roller Derby Association (MRDA) is the international governing body of men's flat track roller derby. It was founded in 2007 under the name Men's Derby Coalition (renamed to Men's Roller Derby Association in 2011), and currently has 59 ...

(MRDA) apprentice Sass men's team, the Abominations, and a new Sass junior team, the Wendigo.

WFTDA rankings

Lilac City became a WFTDA member in 2012. As of January 2020, they are ranked #206 in the

Women's Flat Track Derby Association Rankings Rankings for the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) are used to determine placement in overall standings (rather than win–loss record) and also to determine seedings at WFTDA Playoffs. Achieving high rankings is also a goal for teams ai ...

compiled by the WFTDA.

In the community

In 2011, the league cleaned up a space underneath

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...

to use for practice.McKay Allen,
Roller girls take back 'filthy' practice rink
", '' KXLY'', September 13, 2011

References

{{Washington Sports Sports in Spokane, Washington Roller derby leagues established in 2006 Roller derby leagues in Washington (state) Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 3 2006 establishments in Washington (state)