Arizona Derby Dames (AZDD) is an all-women's amateur roller derby league based in the

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Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

metropolitan area. The league currently plays banked-track roller derby. AZDD was founded by four skaters, Suzy Homewrecker (XXX), Joan Threat (50), All The Way Mae (213) and Prima Donna (32). These skaters aspired for AZDD to become Arizona's first banked-track roller derby league. Suzy Homewrecker originally skated for

TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls Texas Roller Derby (TXRD), formerly known as Texas Lonestar Rollergirls, is a banked-track roller derby league based in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2001, TXRD is one of several leagues considered responsible for the modern roller derby revival. ...

, one of the first leagues that was established of the current resurgence of roller derby, and the league featured on ''

Rollergirls ''Rollergirls'' is a 2006 A&E Network reality show examining the personalities, antics and motivations of the women involved with the Austin, Texas, Lonestar Rollergirls roller derby league. According to their website, the league was founded i ...

''. These founding skaters were originally members of

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 ...

. AZDD normally holds one doubleheader bout per month. Between 2006 and 2008, these bouts were held at the Castle Sports Club in Phoenix. In late 2008, the league announced that the 2009 season would be held in the

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. The Castle Sports Club is still the venue for Arizona Roller Derby and Desert Dolls Roller Derby. On March 20, 2010, AZDD played their first doubleheader at the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum using a newly designed banked track. The last known banked-track events in Arizona were in the 1960s with the Arizona Raiders of the National Skating Derby. The crowd, estimated to be over 4,000, is a record for the league and a record crowd for "resurgence era" roller derby in Arizona. Arizona Derby Dames became a founding member of the Roller Derby Coalition of Leagues in January 2012.

Teams

The Arizona Derby Dames has six home teams: * The Bombshells are themed after the

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girls of the 1940s. Teams colors are Army green and red . (team captain: Skid Vicious) * The Brutal Beauties are the beauty queen rejects of the league, apparently inspired by

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, the team sports pink and has the motto "pink por vida" (pink for life). (team captain: Princess Slaya) * The Coffin Draggers wear neon green and black colors on their uniforms. Some team members will wear face make-up and much fake blood. They are dubbed "the prettiest girls in the morgue". (team captain: The Panda Face Killer) * The Doomsday Valkyries are the league's 2016 expansion team. Team colors orange and silver. Some team members will wear face make-up. They are "post-apocalyptic warrior women on skates". (team captain: Hot N Ready) * The Schoolyard Scrappers are the league's 2007 expansion team. Team colors Royal blue and yellow and wear plaid, these "good girls gone bad" reminiscent of the

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bully. (team captain: Nikki BadAzz) * The Runaway Brides was the league's 2008 expansion team. This team was inspired by the story of Jennifer Wilbanks. Team colors: White and Maroon. (team captain: Ellie Mayhem)

"Fresh Meat"

AZDD recruits members through tryouts that are held about every few months. Those new recruits who pass the tryouts start attending required practices and will eventually need to pass a skills test and a scrimmage test before being drafted to a team. While waiting for placement on a team, the "fresh meat" skaters perform other tasks at the bout such as the sale of raffle tickets, talking to fans, and cleanup duties throughout bout nights. "Fresh Meat" is a common term used in roller derby to define a skater who is still in training.

References

External links

Arizona Derby Dames official website
{{Arizona Sports Sports in Phoenix, Arizona Roller derby leagues established in 2005 Roller derby leagues in Arizona Roller Derby Coalition of Leagues 2005 establishments in Arizona