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Metro area | Fort Wayne, IN |
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Country | United States |
Founded | 2005 |
Teams | Bomb Squad (A team) SWAT Team (B team) The Academy (rookie team) |
Track type(s) | Flat |
Venue | Parkview Fieldhouse and Parkview Icehouse |
Affiliations | WFTDA |
Website | www |
Fort Wayne Roller Derby (FWRD) is an open gender flat track roller derby league based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Founded in 2005 originally as Fort Wayne Derby Girls, the league currently consists of a women’s team and an open gender team that compete against teams from all over the United States and Canada. Fort Wayne Roller Derby is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).[1]
History
[edit]FWDG was the first flat track roller derby league in Indiana, founded in October 2005 by Danielle Nicolette (Abbott), who skates under the derby name "Little D Evil" and Tonya Vojtkofsky, who skated as "Minx", after they saw the Rat City Rollergirls in Seattle.[2]
The league played its first exhibition bout in May 2006, to a crowd of 1,200 fans.[2] According to Amber Recker, the first skater to respond to Minx's call for a new team, "We kind of had to get butts in seats by playing up the fighting and more of the sexy aspect of it. As we've evolved... we're much more sports driven".[3] FWDG first played a team from another league in January 2007, when it took on the Gem City Rollergirls,[4] and, in the same month, it joined the Women's Flat Track Derby Association,[2] (and was announced as a new member by the WFTDA in May 2007)[5] and by the end of the year was ranked 29th in the WFTDA.[6]
In 2009, it formed a B team, scrapping its intraleague teams.[7] In 2013, Fort Wayne hosted a WFTDA Division 1 Playoff at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.[8]
FWDG hosts the annual Spring Roll tournament, featuring women's, men's and junior roller derby games.[9]
WFTDA competition
[edit]While Fort Wayne has hosted a WFTDA Playoff tournament they have yet to qualify to compete at one.
Rankings
[edit]Season | Final ranking[10] | Playoffs | Championship |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | 29 WFTDA[6] | DNQ | DNQ |
2008 | 6 NC[11] | DNQ | DNQ |
2009 | 14 NC[12] | DNQ | DNQ |
2010 | 15 NC[13] | DNQ | DNQ |
2011 | 14 NC[14] | DNQ | DNQ |
2012 | 16 NC[15] | DNQ | DNQ |
2013 | 105 WFTDA[16] | DNQ | DNQ |
2014 | 85 WFTDA[17] | DNQ | DNQ |
2015 | 76 WFTDA[18] | DNQ | DNQ |
2016 | 105 WFTDA[19] | DNQ | DNQ |
In the community
[edit]The league also focuses on charitable fundraising,[3] and had donated more than $26,000 to charities by June 2008,[20] and $110,000 by September 2013.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ "Fort Wayne Derby Girls – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ a b c Stefanski, Charlotte (5 January 2017). "Derby Girls on a roll | Features | Journal Gazette". www.journalgazette.net. Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ a b Ryan, Chad (7 January 2010). "Derby Girls ready to roll on 5th season". Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ "Fort Wayne Derby Girls - Entertainment - Pro Sports". www.fortwaynenightout.com. Fort Wayne Night Out. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ "WFTDA Newsletter - May 2007". WFTDA. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
- ^ a b "Current WFTDA Rankings", Derby News Network, October 2007
- ^ Ryan, Chad (9 January 2009). "Derby Girls on fire to win". Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ a b Reichel, Aubree (1 September 2013). "Derby Girls roll out welcome wagon Play host to playoffs". Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Archived from the original on 20 September 2013.
- ^ Larson, Cindy (13 May 2011). "Rockin' and rollin'". Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ "Current Rankings", WFTDA
- ^ "Rankings – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ "Current Rankings". WFTDA. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ "Current Rankings". WFTDA. Archived from the original on 2 March 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ "Current Rankings". WFTDA. Archived from the original on 25 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ "Current Rankings". WFTDA. Archived from the original on 20 March 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ "Rankings: December 31, 2013". WFTDA. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ "Rankings: December 31, 2014". WFTDA. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ "Rankings: December 31, 2015". WFTDA. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ "Rankings: December 31, 2016 – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
- ^ Swanson, Andrew (8 July 2008). "Derby Girls give back to community". Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2017.