Many of today’s skaters may never have heard of the movie, Kansas City Bomber. This classic film featured Raquel Welch as a banked track skater and introduced the country to what had been, up to that date, an obscure sport that was treated much the same as professional wrestling. The poster for the movie proclaimed […]
The recent high profile of flat track roller derby has led some to describe it as a new sport. The Minnesota RollerGirls might not agree. This weekend the St. Paul based team celebrated a decade of roller derby with a home match on Saturday at Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
The USA Roller Sports organization (USARS) will hold its National Championship of Roller Derby in Tulsa, OK later this month. Regional winners will convene in Tulsa the weekend of Oct. 25-27 to choose their version of the national champion. While not the only sanctioning body for women’s roller sports, the USARS is recognized internationally and […]
The first days of roller derby provided an escape for a country still reeling from World War II. The invention of television helped catapult it to success, but may have overexposed the game, leading to its downfall. Roller Derby was a mere flash in the pan, lasting only a few years in America before traveling […]
Roller skating is so common in our culture it’s easy to take it for granted sometimes. But have you ever stopped and wondered what sparked the idea for roller skates? It started back in the 1700s, when a Dutchman decided he wanted to go ice skating in the summer time. Nicknamed “skeelers,” the first skates […]
Jerry Seltzer remembers a time he organized a roller derby bout on the USS Ranger. Rollerderbytape.com is your source for news in the roller derby industry, as well as tips and information about track tapes (gaffers tape, floor tape, duct tape, and vinyl tape.) Share your comments and questions with us. To read about it from Jerry, click here. […]
Here’s some fun roller derby history facts: 1 Sugar Ray Robinson, the boxing champion, had another champion in his family. His son Ronnie Robinson was a derby star in the late 60s and early 70s, leading his team to their league title. Learn more here. 2. The first two people inducted into the Roller Derby […]
Though there were many stars and famous athletes of the early days of derby, one name rings a little louder than the west: Joan Weston, aka The Blonde Bomber. This derby dame, who played for The San Francisco Bay Bombers, was the star of the sport in its 50s and 60s heyday. Click here for […]
In 1936 a Japanese school teach improved upon the idea of roller skates by adding tractor treads to them. They were described as looking like a “pair of toy army tanks” in an old magazine, and sported the ability to “skate over rough surfaces that would stop conventional skates.” Though a novel idea, these all-terrain […]