Ralph Valladares (July 31, 1936 – November 13, 1998), often known as Ralphie Valladares, was a

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leaguesA Roller Derby league is synonymous with an individual club or team in other team sports, as ...

skater and coach. Born in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, Valladares moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with his family when he was twelve years old. He hoped to become a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

, but his weight reached , and he turned his attention to

roller skating Roller skating is the act of travelling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreation, recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on s ...

.Lorette Behrens,
Ralph Valladares
, ''Derby Memoirs'' He joined the roller derby at the age of seventeen, initially skating for the Los Angeles Braves. He soon moved to the Miami Westerners and, despite being the shortest male skater, he immediately became regarded as a star, leading the scoring. Valladares joined the rival

Roller Games Roller Games was the name of a sports entertainment spectacle created in the early 1960s in Los Angeles, California, — This source is detailed but not neutral; better sources are needed for all of its claims. as a rival to the Jerry Seltzer-ow ...

on its inception, in 1960, becoming a founder member of the Los Angeles Thunderbirds team.Tom Johnson, "These Skates Have Been Through Hell", ''

Milwaukee Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the ...

'', October 24, 1986 He spent the next thirty years with the organization, and was involved in coaching, and also in setting up events in Japan and Australia.Andre Mouchard, "After a decade of dormancy, roller derby is poised to attempt one more comeback", ''

Orange County Register ''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily List of newspapers in California, newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digit ...

'', November 30, 1998 He retired from skating in 1987, but returned for the '' RollerGames'' television show. Valladares kept the same skates through the majority of his career. He noted that he once ran over them with his own car, and they also survived being frozen under of ice, following the evacuation of a venue in which he was competing. Outside roller derby, Valladares appeared as a shipping clerk in a 1980s television commercial for

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

. He had previous acting experience as a skater in the ''

Kansas City Bomber ''Kansas City Bomber'' is a 1972 American sports drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Jerrold Freedman and starring Raquel Welch, Kevin McCarthy and Jodie Foster in her second appearance in a feature film. Plot The film is ...

'' movie. He married fellow roller derby skater Gloria "Honey" Sanchez twice, on both occasions on March 17. The couple had a daughter, Gina, who also skated with the Roller Games. Both of Valladares' marriages ended in divorce, although the couple remained close and spent much time together until Valladares' death."Cheap Seats", '' Spokesman-Review'', November 19, 1998 He died in 1998 at home in

Pico Rivera, California Pico Rivera is a city located in southeastern Los Angeles County, California. The city is situated approximately southeast of downtown Los Angeles, on the eastern edge of the Los Angeles basin, and on the southern edge of the area known as the ...

, having suffered with liver cancer for some time. In 2004, Valladares was posthumously inducted into the

Roller Derby Hall of Fame The Roller Derby Hall of Fame, also known as the National Roller Derby Hall of Fame, was founded in 1952,William H. Young and Nancy K. Young, ''World War II and the Postwar Years in America'', p.596 by the editors of the ''Roller Derby News'' paper. ...

. Personally Ralphie was a very sweet down to earth man who was a loyal friend with an extremely good reputation. He had a keen quick sense of humor & was there for his friends. Never to be forgotten, Ralphie was a rare Soul, not to be replaced.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valladares, Ralph 1936 births 1998 deaths Guatemalan roller skaters Roller derby skaters Sportspeople from Los Angeles Guatemalan emigrants to the United States