Nashville Roller Derby 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

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. Founded as Nashville Rollergirls, the league 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 structure

The league was founded in 2006 as Nashville Rollergirls and became a member of the WFTDA in 2008. In the league's early years games were held at the

Tennessee State Fairground Sports Arena The Nashville Fairgrounds, also known as The Fairgrounds Nashville and the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, is an entertainment complex in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The site is located southeast of Downtown Nashville on the Nolensville Pike. ...

, where by 2010 they were averaging 1,200 fans at games, before moving to the

Nashville Municipal Auditorium The Nashville Municipal Auditorium is an indoor sports and concert venue in Nashville, Tennessee. It opened October 7, 1962 with both an arena and exhibition hall. The former exhibition hall has been permanent home to the Musicians Hall of Fame ...

. In early 2019, the league announced it had rebranded as Nashville Roller Derby. Nashville Roller Derby has two travel teams. The Music City All Stars are the premier travel team featuring the top skaters of the league. The Music City Brawl Stars are the B-team showcasing up-and-coming skaters.

WFTDA competition

Nashville first qualified for WFTDA Playoffs in 2009, entering the

WFTDA South Central Regional Tournament The WFTDA South Central Regional Tournament or WFTDA South Central Region Playoffs was one of four annual roller derby regional qualifying tournaments for the WFTDA Championships. The Tournament was organised by the Women's Flat Track Derby Assoc ...

as the sixth seed and finishing in sixth place with a 126–66 loss to the

Atlanta Rollergirls Atlanta Roller Derby (ARD) is a women's flat-track roller derby league based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 2004, as Atlanta Rollergirls, the league finished their fourteenth season in November 2018. Atlanta Roller Derby is a founding member leag ...

. In 2010, Nashville was the fifth seed at the South Central Regional, and came up against Atlanta again, this time in the third-place game, and won 132–73 to qualify for

WFTDA Championships The International Women's Flat Track Derby Association Championships ("WFTDA Championships" or "Champs" for short) are the leading competition for roller derby leagues. The Championships are organised by the Women's Flat Track Derby Association ( ...

for the first time. At Championships in Chicago in November, Nashville lost to the

Oly Rollers The Oly Rollers are a women's flat-track roller derby league based in Olympia, Washington. Founded in February 2006, the Oly Rollers have won both the WFTDA Championship and the USARS National Championship. The Oly Rollers are a member of the Wom ...

214–53 in the opening round and was eliminated. At the 2011 South Central Regional, with a score of 213-38 Nashville again defeated Atlanta to finish in third place and qualify for Championships. At Championships, Nashville did not make it past the first round again, this time eliminated by

Rocky Mountain Rollergirls Rocky Mountain Roller Derby (RMRD) is a flat-track roller derby league based in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 2004, Rocky Mountain is a founding member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), and has qualified for WFTDA Playoffs every ...

by a score of 198–58. In 2012, Nashville was the fourth seed at the South Central Regional Playoff, but fell to a sixth-place finish after losing the fifth place game to

No Coast Derby Girls The No Coast Roller Derby is a co-ed flat track roller derby league based in Lincoln, Nebraska. Founded in 2005, the league currently consists of two mixed teams which compete against teams from other leagues. No Coast is a member of the Women's ...

152–126. In 2013, the WFTDA moved to a top-40 Division system for Playoffs, and Nashville qualified at the Division 1 level for the tournament in Asheville, North Carolina where they entered as the eighth seed and finished in eighth place after a 200–131 loss to

Oklahoma Victory Dolls Twister City Roller Derby (TCRD) (formerly the Oklahoma Victory Dolls (OKVD) ) is a flat-track roller derby league based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Founded in 2007, the league currently consists of two competitive teams which compete internation ...

. At the 2014 Division 1 Playoff in Evansville, Indiana, Nashville was the eighth seed but moved up to a sixth-place finish, culminating with a narrow 183–180 loss to

Arizona Roller Derby Arizona Roller Derby is Arizona's first all female roller derby league. It was founded in 2003 making it one of the oldest resurgence roller derby leagues in America. Arizona Roller Derby, abbreviated as AZRD, is one of the founding members of th ...

. In 2015, Nashville dropped into Division 2 Playoffs at Detroit as the top seed and won the tournament with a 194–189 victory over Sacred City Derby Girls, and also qualified for the Division 2 Championship in St. Paul, Minnesota. At Championships, Nashville rematched with Sacred City and fell 211-163 to finish in second place. Nashville returned to Division 2 Playoffs in 2016 at Wichita as the third seed, and finished in fourth place with a 132–118 loss to Jet City Rollergirls.

Rankings

Nashville Rollergirls - 2011 Championships 06

References

External links

Official Website
{{Tennessee Sports Roller derby leagues in Tennessee Women's sports in the United States Sports in Nashville, Tennessee Roller derby leagues established in 2006 2006 establishments in Tennessee Women's sports in Tennessee